The Dodgers played their way into a third straight National League Championship Series on Wednesday night by doing what October clubs have to do when the inning starts to wobble: keep the game from getting away. Tyler Glasnow did not have his cleanest command at Truist Park, but he gave Los Angeles 4 2/3 gutsy innings in a 4-1 Game 4 victory over the Braves, and the bullpen finished the job.
Glasnow walked five and needed 78 pitches to get within one out of completing the fifth. Atlanta managed only one hit against him, a softly struck ground-ball single, and scored once. The right-hander struck out five, working mostly off his fastball while trying to keep Braves runners from taking advantage of the traffic.
“When runners get on, that has been a difficult area for me this year,” Glasnow said. “I was changing my holds and getting the ball to the plate quicker. With the way I felt, that helped me work through it.”
When Glasnow left with two men aboard in the fifth, manager Dave Roberts turned to Alex Vesia for the left-on-left matchup with Matt Olson. Vesia got the groundout Los Angeles needed, leaving both runners stranded and preserving the Dodgers’ lead. From there, the relief corps closed a series in which Dodgers pitching allowed Atlanta only eight runs in four games.
“Once the starter is out, we’re working through every possibility,” Vesia said. “I got warm more than once and was ready for any situation. Dave has plenty of options.”
A postseason track record keeps growing
The Game 4 win lifted Los Angeles to 7-0 in postseason games featuring Glasnow, including four starts and three relief appearances. In seven October outings with the Dodgers, he owns a 1.73 ERA.
His résumé already includes an unusual piece of World Series history. In Game 6 against the Blue Jays in the 2025 World Series, Glasnow became the first pitcher in the pitch-count era, which began in 1988, to record a save while throwing at least one inning on three pitches or fewer. He then returned for 2 1/3 scoreless innings of relief in Game 7.
That October familiarity helped carry him through a long interruption this season. Glasnow opened 2026 with a 2.72 ERA over seven starts before lower-back spasms put him on the injured list in early May. He missed 111 days, made a Triple-A Oklahoma City rehab stop and returned on Aug. 25 against these same Braves. In that first outing back, he gave up three earned runs on six hits across five innings, striking out seven.
“Getting hurt during the regular season is frustrating,” Glasnow said. “But it is good to know you can still get back and help the club when it matters.”
Freddie Freeman saw the larger story in the Dodgers’ staff, which repeatedly turned Atlanta’s scoring chances into quiet walks back to the dugout.
“Everybody on this roster has a part in winning a series like this,” Freeman said. “Our pitching staff won this one again. They were outstanding.”
Glasnow credited the group’s poise to its accumulated October mileage. The games are louder, the margins are smaller and the adrenaline is different, but he believes the Dodgers have learned how to keep their execution from changing when the pressure rises.
“We know what we can do,” Glasnow said. “In the big spots, everyone locks in. The experience helps, the stuff gets better and nobody gives in.”
Los Angeles will carry that conviction into NLCS Game 1 on Sunday.
