Andy Pages lifts Dodgers past Braves, into third straight NLCS - ESPN

ATLANTA — What frustrates opponents of the Los Angeles Dodgers more than the gobs of money they spend and defer is what it buys them. For all the stars they boast, all the names befitting a team made for Hollywood, it's the nine-deep lineups, the handfuls of starting-pitching options and the relentless parade of bullpen arms that, more than anything, allow the Dodgers to bully, batter and eventually break their foes.

«You never know who the guy's going to be,» Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said in the aftermath of their 4-1 victory over the Atlanta Braves on Wednesday that clinched a third consecutive National League Championship Series appearance and a rematch against the top-seeded Milwaukee Brewers beginning Sunday night.

The previous two ended in World Series titles. And the ease with which the Dodgers dispatched Atlanta — in four games, allowing a total of eight runs in the series — reinforced the reality anyone in their path faces: A championship runs through Los Angeles until it doesn't.

Nine-hole hitter Andy Pages was the guy in Game 4, lacing a two-run single in the seventh inning to break a 1-1 tie and silence most of the 41,173 fans at Truist Park who hoped to see the Braves save their season. Instead, it ended like the previous seven postseason teams that came at the Dodgers: with a low, gurgling whimper.

«They're going for their third straight world championship for a reason,» Atlanta manager Walt Weiss said. «Their arms just keep coming at you.»

Five of them combined to limit Atlanta to three hits — and none in seven at-bats with runners in scoring position. The Braves went 1-for-23 in the series in such situations, flummoxed by Los Angeles' deep reservoir of power arms. Starter Tyler Glasnow worked around