Dodgers’ Dave Roberts ties Tony La Russa for second all-time in postseason wins appeared first on ClutchPoints. Add ClutchPoints as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
The Los Angeles Dodgers are one win away from a third straight trip to the National League Championship Series, and their latest victory pushed Dave Roberts into rare company. With a 3-1 win over the Atlanta Braves in Game 3 of the NL Division Series on Tuesday at Truist Park, Roberts earned the 71st postseason win of his managerial career.
That ties him with Tony La Russa for the second-most playoff victories by a manager in MLB history. Only Joe Torre, with 84, has more. Roberts has now passed or matched a long list of legendary skippers, sitting ahead of Bobby Cox (67), Dusty Baker (57) and Bruce Bochy (57).
What makes the climb stand out is how quickly Roberts got there. La Russa needed parts of six decades and stints with the Chicago White Sox, Oakland Athletics and St. Louis Cardinals to reach 71 postseason wins. Torre built most of his total with the New York Yankees before a brief run with the Dodgers. Roberts has done all of his October work in Los Angeles since taking over in 2016.
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Tuesday’s win followed a familiar formula. Yoshinobu Yamamoto struck out a postseason career-high 10 batters over seven innings, allowing one run on four hits and a walk. The only Atlanta run came on a Drake Baldwin groundout in the fifth inning.
The Dodgers did all their damage in the fourth against Chris Sale. Kike Hernandez drilled a two-run homer after an Andy Pages single, and Freddie Freeman followed with a solo shot. It was the 17th career postseason homer for Hernandez and the 18th for Freeman. Edwin Diaz handled the ninth to close it out.
The two-time defending champions now lead the best-of-five series 2-1. Tyler Glasnow will start Game 4 on Wednesday against Tyler Mahle, with a chance to send the Braves home and set up another NLCS run.
If the Dodgers keep winning, Roberts will have La Russa in his rearview mirror before long.
A victory Wednesday would move him alone into second place, and a deep October run would chip away at Torre’s lead. Catching Torre will take time, but at the pace Roberts has set in Los Angeles, it no longer looks out of reach.
Related: Dodgers’ Mookie Betts shows Chris Sale ultimate respect after beating him in Game 3
Related: Dodgers star Freddie Freeman was ‘prepared to die’ facing Chris Sale in NLDS Game 3
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