Major League Baseball

Braves close to NLDS elimination after 13-6 loss

Published Oct. 7, 2013 3:07 a.m. ET

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On the brink of elimination, manager Fredi Gonzalez found something for his Atlanta Braves to build on.

The Los Angeles Dodgers led by nine runs in the ninth inning before bringing in closer Kenley Jansen to get the final out.

''You always think that's a good thing,'' Gonzalez said. ''We didn't roll over. We went out there and scored some runs.''

Still, the Braves lost 13-6 on Sunday night and trail 2-1 in the best-of-five National League division series.

Jason Heyward's two-run homer in the ninth marked Atlanta's only runs after the third inning. It wasn't enough to keep the Braves out of a hole on the road.

''We've got to win a ballgame tomorrow and try to get back to Turner Field and see what we can do in Game 5,'' outfielder Justin Upton said.

Veteran right-hander Freddy Garcia will start Game 4 for the Braves on Monday night against Ricky Nolasco.

Atlanta scored all five of its runs in the first two games with two-out hits, and got on a similar roll in the first inning Sunday. Evan Gattis and Chris Johnson came through in the clutch with two-out RBI singles for a 2-0 lead.

''We were aggressive early, got good pitches to hit and scored a few runs,'' Upton said. ''We just couldn't hold on. It was kind of surprising.''

Atlanta tied it 4-all in the third, helped by Dodgers rookie Hyun-Jin Ryu's miscues.

The left-hander loaded the bases on consecutive singles by Upton, Freddie Freeman and Gattis with no outs. Brian McCann grounded into a fielder's choice to first base, and Ryu got there late. He missed the bag after taking the throw and desperately stuck his right foot back to tap the bag, but a sprinting McCann was already safe.

Ryu's second mistake followed on Johnson's dribbler up the first base line that allowed Freeman to score on the fielder's choice groundout. Ryu took the ball and threw to the plate with no chance to get Freeman.

But rookie starter Julio Teheran fared no better for Atlanta.

Teheran took the loss, giving up six runs and eight hits in 2 2-3 innings. The 22-year-old right-hander struck out five, walked one and threw a wild pitch.

''Julio has been throwing the ball well for us all year, but today he got off to a little bit of a rough start and they got it rolling and were swinging the bats well,'' Upton said. ''He didn't seem rattled to me. He just didn't hit his spots. Against a team like this, if you don't hit your spots, they're going to capitalize.''

The 13 runs allowed by the Braves equaled the most in club history for a postseason game.

''I don't think the emotions or the crowd or anything had anything to do with it. I think we just had some mistakes,'' Gonzalez said.

Carl Crawford hit a three-run homer and Juan Uribe added a two-run shot to highlight Los Angeles' high-powered offense.

Hanley Ramirez and Yasiel Puig each had three hits and scored three times for the Dodgers, who matched a franchise record for runs in a postseason game. Brooklyn beat the New York Yankees 13-8 in Game 2 of the 1956 World Series.

Crawford made the play of the game when he tumbled head over heels to catch an eighth-inning foul ball at the low retaining wall in left field. The speedy leadoff man also scored three times, including once in the eighth when the Dodgers made it 13-4.

Chris Capuano won in relief of Ryu, striking out three and walking three in three hitless innings.

Los Angeles regained the lead for good in the third after Atlanta tied it in the top of the inning. The Dodgers went up 6-4 on RBI singles by Adrian Gonzalez and Skip Schumaker, then scored four more times in the fourth.

The NL West champions scored four runs in the second to take a 4-2 lead, highlighted by Crawford's three-run homer with two outs.

Teheran and Ryu both made inauspicious postseason debuts in the first matchup of rookie pitchers in the playoffs since 2007.

Ryu allowed four runs and six hits in three innings, becoming the first South Korean-born pitcher to start a postseason game in the major leagues.

NOTES: It was the first time in Teheran and Ryu's careers as starters that their pitching lines had more runs than innings. ... Teheran became the youngest pitcher (22 years, 252 days) to make a postseason start for the Braves since Steve Avery (22 years, 193 days) in the 1992 World Series, according to STATS. ... The Braves were the only division winners with a losing road record (40-41) in the regular season.

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