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Tribune News Service

Sport

Steve Hummer

This time, Braves on the right side of big postseason inning

The Atlanta Braves' Ronald Acuna reacts after scoring a run on a double by Freddie Freeman against the Los Angeles Dodgers during the sixth inning in Game 4 of the National League Championship Series at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas, on Thursday, Oct. 15, 2020. The Braves won, 10-2, for a 3-1 series lead. (Curtis Compton/Atlanta Journal-Constitution/TNS)

Is there anything sweeter than settling a score by scoring yourself in Costco-like bulk?

The Braves would tell you no, not really. One night after yielding an embarrassing 11-run inning, they came back to hang a sixth-inning six-spot on the Los Angeles Dodgers on the way to a 10-2 Game 4 NLCS victory Thursday.

Doesn't feel so good, does it Dodgers?

The Atlanta Braves' Cristian Pache, left, and Johan Camargo celebrate in the dugout after teammate Marcell Ozuna hit a solo home run against the Los Angeles Dodgers during the fourth inning in Game 4 of the National League Championship Series at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas, on Thursday, Oct. 15, 2020. The Braves won, 10-2, for a 3-1 series lead. (Curtis Compton/Atlanta Journal-Constitution/TNS)

Big innings have defined the Braves most painful playoff moments of late. There was the 10-run inning to start the deciding division series game against St. Louis last season. And the 11-run abomination that sent Braves fans to their beds early Wednesday. Life is hard on the wrong side of record outbursts.

Now, finally, one big inning to be proud of. Here's one to frame and hang on the clubhouse wall.

While their own eruption didn't exactly reach double digits, it was plenty big enough to propel the underdog Braves to a 3-1 lead in this NLCS.

Atlanta Braves first baseman Freddie Freeman, right, greets manager Brian Snitker after a 10-2 win against the Los Angeles Dodgers in Game 4 of the National League Championship Series at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas, on Thursday, Oct. 15, 2020. The Braves now hold a 3-1 series lead. (Curtis Compton/Atlanta Journal-Constitution/TNS)

Let's assess the carnage of the sixth. Eleven Braves came to the plate. They pumped out seven hits, three of them for extra bases. They were 5-for-8 with runners in scoring position.

To begin it all, appropriately, it was the furiously beating heart of the Braves that set the tone.

Consecutive hits by the top three in the Braves order _ Ronald Acuna, Freddie Freeman and Marcell Ozuna _ marked the end of the night for Dodgers starter Clayton Kershaw. Class hitters chased the class starter.

Los Angeles Dodgers third baseman Justin Turner dives but can't reach a sixth-inning RBI double by the Atlanta Braves' Dansby Swanson in Game 4 of the National League Championship Series at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas, on Thursday, Oct. 15, 2020. (Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times/TNS)

The night may not have begun so well for the Braves top of the order. Temporarily blinded by gust-driven dust, Freeman struck out in the first. And Ozuna hit into an inning-ending double play. But they decided to keep playing anyway.

Amid this fully engaged offense, Ozuna stood out. Stood out big, with a 422-foot home run to right in the fourth inning that tied the game at one. And another, 433 feet to center, in the seventh. Four hits and four RBI for the night. But it was his double in the sixth, which scored Freeman, who had doubled in front of him, that was the satisfying part of a group effort.

That inning the contagion of hitting swept through the Braves.

Los Angeles Dodgers starting pitcher Clayton Kershaw talks with the home plate umpire after the first inning against the Atlanta Braves in Game 4 of the National League Championship Series at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas, on Thursday, Oct. 15, 2020. (Curtis Compton/Atlanta Journal-Constitution/TNS)

Ozzie Albies, who had been hot verses the Dodgers, hitting .467 with two homers to that point, stayed that way, lashing a single to right.

Then Dansby Swanson, who was not hot, 2-for-14 in the series until he turned a 99-mph sinking fastball into a double off Dodgers reliever Brusdar Graterol. That scored Albies and Ozuna.

And still the line kept moving, regardless of age or experience.

The Atlanta Braves' Dansby Swanson hits a two-run double against the Los Angeles Dodgers during the sixth inning in Game 4 of the National League Championship Series at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas, on Thursday, Oct. 15, 2020. The Braves won, 10-2, for a 3-1 series lead. (Curtis Compton/Atlanta Journal-Constitution/TNS)

Austin Riley singled off Graterol, scoring Swanson.

Into the game came a third Dodgers pitcher trying to staunch the bleeding, Victor Hernandez, who promptly walked Johan Camargo. And up stepped young Cristian Pache, the 21-year-old called in to start because of injury to Adam Duvall. He got his first postseason home run Wednesday, and added to his October RBI total Thursday with a single that scored Riley.

With that, the Braves returned to the top of their lineup and went quietly with a 7-1 lead at that stage, having exacted a fair share of vengeance for certain past innings that had gotten away from them.