The Los Angeles Dodgers are one round closer to a three-peat. With a 4-1 win over the Atlanta Braves on Wednesday night at Truist Park, the Dodgers took the National League Division Series three games to one and punched their ticket to the NL Championship Series for the third consecutive season, the New York Post reported. The Dodgers NLCS 2026 run is officially underway — and the two-time defending champions never looked comfortable until the very end.
Andy Pages played the hero in the clincher. With the bases loaded and two outs in the top of the seventh inning, the 25-year-old center fielder worked a full count against Braves reliever Robert Suarez and swatted a 99.7 mph fastball into center field for a two-run single that broke a 1-1 tie, USA Today reported. It was the Dodgers’ first hit with runners in scoring position all series — they finished 1-for-16 in those spots — and it finally unlocked a game that had been deadlocked for six innings.
Andy Pages Breaks the Dodgers NLCS 2026 Drought With Runners On
The seventh inning began with the Dodgers clinging to a 1-1 tie and searching for their first clutch hit of the entire series. They loaded the bases against Braves pitching — Tyler Mahle had started and worked into the seventh before being lifted — and Pages came to the plate with two outs. He drove in Teoscar Hernández and Tommy Edman to give Los Angeles a 3-1 lead.
The moment was redemptive for a player who endured a nightmare 2025 postseason. USA Today noted that Pages went 0-for-10 in the first two games of this series and that manager Dave Roberts had admitted to being “a little bit” concerned about the young outfielder. Big swings in Games 3 and 4 quieted that concern for good.
Max Muncy added the exclamation point in the top of the ninth — a 389-foot solo shot to right field, his third home run of the series and the 19th of his postseason career, extending his Dodgers franchise record, according to USA Today. Edwin Díaz then closed it out with a perfect ninth, striking out pinch-hitter Rowdy Tellez on a 99.1 mph fastball before inducing a series-ending flyout from Austin Riley, NBC Sports reported.
Tyler Glasnow Grinds, Bullpen Delivers in the Dodgers NLCS 2026 Clincher
The Dodgers won this series despite a start that was shaky on paper. Tyler Glasnow lasted only 4 ⅔ innings and walked five batters, never quite finding his command. But the damage was limited: the Braves scored their only run in the first inning on a Glasnow wild pitch that allowed Michael Harris II to come home.
From there, Los Angeles’s relief corps took over and shut the door. Alex Vesia entered with two runners on in the bottom of the fifth and needed just one pitch to get an inning-ending groundout from Matt Olson. Edgardo Henriquez escaped a jam an inning later, and Tanner Scott bridged to Díaz — 5 ⅓ spotless innings from the bullpen, per the New York Post.
The Braves, meanwhile, were haunted by missed chances. They went 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position in Game 4, and Fox Sports reported that the NL East champions have now failed to advance past the NLDS since winning the 2021 World Series — a five-year drought that will sting all winter.
How the Dodgers Won the Series: Game-by-Game Recap
Game 4 followed the pattern of the whole series: Dodger arms bending but not breaking, Atlanta’s lineup coming up empty in the biggest spots. In Game 3, Yoshinobu Yamamoto struck out a postseason career-high 10 over seven innings while Kiké Hernández and Freddie Freeman homered in the same inning off Braves ace Chris Sale for a 3-1 win. The series had opened with a Dodgers win in Game 1 before Atlanta took Game 2 to briefly make things interesting.
The Braves’ lone Game 4 run came in the first. The Dodgers answered in the second when Shohei Ohtani scored on shortstop Mauricio Dubón’s throwing error, and the game stayed tied until Pages’ seventh-inning breakthrough. Mahle deserved better for Atlanta: he surrendered two runs — one earned — over 6 ⅓ innings with four strikeouts, lowering his postseason ERA to 1.48, according to NBC Sports.
What Comes Next: NLCS Opponent Still Undecided
With the clinch secured, the Dodgers now wait on the winner of the other NLDS between the Milwaukee Brewers and San Diego Padres. The Dodgers NLCS 2026 opener is set for Sunday on FOX. If Milwaukee advances, the series opens in Wisconsin; if San Diego completes its comeback, the Dodgers host at Dodger Stadium, per the New York Post.
The three-peat chase — no National League team has ever won three straight World Series, and only the 1998-2000 Yankees have done it in MLB’s modern era, per Fox Sports — takes its next step this weekend. Given how hard Atlanta pushed them, the Dodgers will need cleaner baseball to survive the pennant round.
FAQ
What was the final score of Dodgers vs Braves Game 4?
The Dodgers beat the Braves 4-1 on October 7, 2026, at Truist Park in Atlanta, winning the NL Division Series three games to one. Andy Pages drove in the go-ahead runs with a seventh-inning two-run single, and Max Muncy homered in the ninth.
How many straight NLCS appearances do the Dodgers have now?
Three. The 2026 berth marks the Dodgers’ third consecutive National League Championship Series appearance. They are trying to become the first NL franchise ever to win three straight World Series titles.
Who did the Dodgers get big performances from in Game 4?
Andy Pages broke a 1-1 tie with a bases-loaded two-run single in the seventh — the Dodgers’ only hit with runners in scoring position in the entire series (1-for-16). Max Muncy hit a 389-foot solo homer in the ninth, his 19th career postseason HR and a Dodgers franchise record. Tyler Glasnow battled through 4 ⅔ innings with five walks, and the bullpen threw 5 ⅓ scoreless frames.
When does the 2026 NLCS start and who will the Dodgers face?
NLCS Game 1 is Sunday on FOX. The Dodgers will face either the Milwaukee Brewers or the San Diego Padres, depending on the outcome of their NLDS series, which was still being decided as of Wednesday night.
Sources: New York Post, Fox Sports, USA Today
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