Dodgers rewrite MLB record book with NLCS scoring barrage

Dodgers rewrite MLB record book with NLCS scoring barrage vs. Braves

Dodgers' historic first inning if Game 3 of the NLCS against the Atlanta Braves on Oct. 14, 2020.

Staff Writer

Oct. 14, 2020 Updated 8:48 PM PT

The Dodgers said they wanted to carry over the momentum from their late-game rally in Game 2 of the National League Championship Series, but no one could have expected this. In a record-breaking display, the team scored 11 runs in the first inning of Wednesday’s Game 3 and had a 15-0 lead by the third. The Dodgers went on to win, 15-3.

Here are a few of the all-time records the Dodgers either broke or matched with their early-game flurry at the plate:

11 first-inning runs: Most by any team in a single half-inning in MLB playoff history; third-most runs in the first inning of any MLB game since 2010.

18 total bases in the first inning: Most in any inning in MLB postseason history.

Three home runs in the first inning: Ties the most in an inning in MLB postseason history, and is only the second time it has happened in an NLCS.

Max Muncy’s four first-inning RBIs: Ties the most by any player in one inning in NLCS history. The most recent previous occurrence: Kiké Hernández’s four RBIs in Game 5 of the 2017 NLCS.

Five first-inning extra-base hits: Ties all-time postseason record for most in an inning.

Back-to-back home runs from Joc Pederson and Edwin Ríos in the first inning: First back-to-back home runs by the Dodgers in a postseason game since the 2004 NLDS, when Shawn Green and Milton Bradley Jr. did it against St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Jason Marquis in Game 2 of that series.

Five first-inning base hits with an exit velocity of 105 mph or more: Most such hits in a single inning of any game in the Statcast era (since 2015).

14 batters in the first inning: Ties the most batters sent to the plate in the first inning of a playoff game, matching what the Cardinals did to the Braves in Game 5 of last year’s NLDS.

Five home runs in the first three innings: Most home runs in the first three innings of a postseason game ever.

Eight runs charged to Braves relief pitcher Grant Dayton: Matches the most runs given up by a single pitcher all time in a playoff game.

15 runs: A record for most by the Dodgers all-time in a postseason game. It also matched the record for most by a team in an NLCS game.

Joc Pederson’s four-hit game: Ties the franchise mark for most hits by an outfielder in a playoff game and makes him the 10th Dodger with four hits in a playoff game. It came on his daughter’s second birthday.

Other notable stats

All nine Dodgers batters reached base by the third inning. Four had at least two hits. Corey Seager had three.

Ten of the Dodgers’ 11 first-inning runs were scored with two outs. They reached base safely in nine consecutive at-bats during that stretch. The team started the day five for nine with runners in scoring position and left only two men on base in the opening three innings.

The five Dodgers left-handed batters — Seager, Muncy, Pederson, Cody Bellinger and Edwin Rios — all hit home runs and were a combined 12 for 23 with 13 RBIs.

Combined with their Game 2 comeback bid, the Dodgers scored 22 total runs over a six-inning span. After collecting only six hits and only one extra-base hit in the series’ first 15 innings, they went 21 for 40 with seven homers, four doubles and a triple in the next six innings, good for a slash line of .525/.568/1.200 and on-base-plus-slugging percentage of 1.768.

The Braves’ postseason team ERA rose from 0.90 after the sixth inning of Game 2 to 3.68 following the third inning of Game 3.