ATLANTA _ Baseball is not predicated on violence. The sport revolves around grace and grit, subtlety and subterfuge, deception and dexterity. The game does not celebrate the brutal.
Yet there is no other way to describe what transpired in the seventh inning on Monday: Manny Machado committed a violent act against a baseball, unleashing all his frustration and force on a 95-mph fastball, launching a concussive, three-run homer that solidified the Los Angeles Dodgers' capture of the National League Division Series with a 6-2 victory in Game 4 over the Atlanta Braves.
The blast stunned SunTrust Park and delighted the Dodgers. Inside the dugout, Rich Hill gasped. Clayton Kershaw skipped. Cody Bellinger held his arms aloft. Machado popped a wad of Dubble Bubble before he rounded the bases. A parade of hitters flowed up the steps to greet him.
"Get that money," Joc Pederson cried. "Get that money."
Over the winter, when Machado dives into free agency, his net worth will expand. For now, he still can play a prominent role in the Dodgers' pursuit of a championship. For the fourth time in six seasons, the team will compete in the National League Championship Series. Milwaukee hosts Game 1 on Friday.
To get there, the Dodgers bullied a youthful Braves team. They rebounded from a shaky outing by Walker Buehler in Game 3 to finish the job on Monday. David Freese supplied a go-ahead, two-run single in the sixth inning. Machado unloaded on Braves reliever Chad Sobotka an inning later to pad the lead.
Machado had spent his tenure as a Dodger searching for a signature moment. His talent can be so overwhelming that his lapses loom larger. He showed both qualities on Monday. He drove in four runs at the plate, yet committed a fielding gaffe that could have allowed the game to spiral out of control.
The error occurred in the fifth inning, the final one thrown by Hill. He departed with one out and the bases loaded after Machado fumbled a grounder. Down a run, Ryan Madson doused the flames, which set the table for the flurry in the sixth and the seventh.
To start the day, the Dodgers faced a misaligned pitcher. Mike Foltynewicz lasted only two innings in Game 1, throwing 50 pitches under stressful conditions. He returned to start on three days of rest for the first time in his career. His command wavered at the start, issuing a two-out walk to Max Muncy in the first inning.
Machado did not wait for a hitter's count. He cracked a first-pitch double down the third-base line. Muncy pumped his arms as he rounded second, eyes up to catch the sign for home from third-base coach Chris Woodward. As outfielder Ronald Acuna searched for the baseball, Muncy scored the game's first run.
Their efforts to pad the advantage were stymied by Foltynewicz and their own missteps. Pederson whiffed with runners at second and third to end the second. Bellinger decided to steal second base with two outs in the fourth _ allowing Foltynewicz to intentionally walk Yasiel Puig and strike out Hill.
As Hill tried to protect the lead, he appeared to have more difficulty with umpire Tom Hallion's strike zone than he did the Braves. Hallion charged Hill with two-out walks in the first and third innings. On both occasions, with runners at first and second, Hill defused the threats by inducing first-pitch popups.
In the fourth, the inability of Hill to link up with Hallion's zone proved more problematic. Hill issued back-to-back walks to start the frame. In both at-bats, Hallion refused to give Hill credit for curveballs that nipped the top of the zone. After the runners were bunted into scoring position, pinch hitter Kurt Suzuki lined a curveball into left for a two-run single.
The defense created a quagmire for Hill in the fifth. Justin Turner could not corral a hard-hit grounder from first baseman Freddie Freeman. Hill walked outfielder Nick Markakis on four pitches. Machado booted a double-play grounder to load the bases and end Hill's afternoon.
Manager Dave Roberts asked Madson to put out the fire. Madson obliged. He picked up a pair of popups to keep the deficit at one.
Freese powered the breakthrough in the sixth. He came to the plate after singles by Enrique Hernandez and Puig. Puig hit a flare into right field, which advanced the lead runner to third base, then stole second with Freese at the plate. Braves reliever Brad Brach tried a full-count, 96-mph fastball. Freese stroked a two-run single up the middle to put the Dodgers back in front.
The hit took the crowd out of the game. The next inning left them stunned. The table was set with a single by Turner and a walk by Muncy. Machado redirected the fastball from Sobotka with an exit velocity of 109 mph to send his team into the next round.
