page_title: 2018 Los Angeles Dodgers season
section_title: National League Division Series
hierarchical_section_title: 2018 Los Angeles Dodgers season / Postseason / National League Division Series
caption_attribution_description: Manny Machado
context_page_description: The 2018 Los Angeles Dodgers season was the 129th for the franchise in Major League Baseball, and their 61st season in Los Angeles, California. They played their home games at Dodger Stadium. The Dodgers suffered a season-ending injury to star shortstop Corey Seager early in the season and started the season 16-26, but went 76-45 to close out the season. Rookie pitcher Walker Buehler had a break out season, as did pitcher Ross Stripling and infielder Max Muncy.
  They defeated the Colorado Rockies in the 2018 National League West tie-breaker game to claim their sixth straight National League West Championship and became the first team to win six straight division championships since the New York Yankees won nine straight from 1998-2006 and only the third overall. They opened the playoffs by defeating the Atlanta Braves in four games in the Division Series and defeated the Milwaukee Brewers in seven games in the National League Championship Series. It was the third straight NLCS appearance for the Dodgers, a franchise record and the second consecutive National League pennant. They lost to the Boston Red Sox in the 2018 World Series, their second straight World Series loss.
context_section_description: The Dodgers, as the second seed in the National League, opened the playoffs with home field advantage in the 2018 National League Division Series against the third seeded Atlanta Braves.
  In the first game, Hyun-jin Ryu got the start in a surprise decision over Clayton Kershaw, who had started the Dodgers six previous playoff openers. He pitched well, with seven shutout innings, striking out eight while allowing only four hits and no walks. Joc Pederson hit a leadoff homer, Max Muncy added a three-run shot the next inning and the Dodgers cruised to a 6–0 victory.
  Kershaw started the second game, and pitched eight scoreless innings, while allowing only two hits. Manny Machado hit a two-run home run in the first inning and Yasmani Grandal added a solo homer in the fifth inning to account for the only scoring in the Dodgers 3–0 win. They were only the second team in history to shutout their opponent in the first two playoff games, joining the 1921 New York Yankees.
  Walker Buehler started game three for the Dodgers at SunTrust Park, while Sean Newcomb started for the Braves. Atlanta took a 5–0 lead in the bottom of the second inning. The first run came when Sean Newcomb forced a run with a bases-loaded walk, the first time in postseason history a pitcher has done this. Four more runs were scored on a grand slam by Ronald Acuña Jr. Los Angeles got back two runs in the top of the third, on an RBI single by Justin Turner with the second run scoring on error by Acuña.  A two-run homer by Chris Taylor and a solo homer by Muncy tied the game in the fifth inning. After the second inning, Buehler settled down and pitched five innings with only two hits and seven strikeouts. He also walked two and allowed the five runs. The Braves recaptured the lead when Freddie Freeman homered off Alex Wood in the sixth inning. The Dodgers got a couple of baserunners on in the ninth but Arodys Vizcaíno managed to close out the win for the Braves, 6–5, forcing the series to a fourth game.
  In the fourth game, Rich Hill started and pitched 4​¹⁄₃ innings, allowing two runs on four hits and five walks. Machado drove in four runs, on a double and a three-run home run and David Freese drove in two with a pinch-hit single as the Dodgers won 6–2 to clinch the series and advance to the National League Championship Series for the third straight year, a franchise record.
caption: Manny Machado, who joined the Dodgers at the trade deadline, had two hits and four RBIs in Game 4 of the NLDS.
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