The Los Angeles Dodgers completed their comeback from a 3-1 deficit in the National League Championship Series (NLCS) with a 4-3 victory over the Atlanta Braves to advance to the World Series where they’ll face the Tampa Bay Rays.

“I’m just so proud of these guys,” said manager Dave Roberts after the game. “It’s been a crazy year, guys away from their families, social injustices, our fans stuck together, these guys have stuck together, we have a lot of work to do, but for the Dodgers fans that are here, the ones that aren’t here, we love you, we’re thinking about you, and this year is our year, this is our year!”

The game started off a bit rocky for the Dodgers, however, when starting pitcher Dustin May opened the game with back-to-back four pitch walks and then an RBI single to Marcell Ozuna for an early 1-0 Braves lead.

May settled in and closed out the inning, but already the ghosts of past playoff losses began to creep into the mind of Dodger fans.

Those concerns weren’t eased when Tony Gonsolin took over on the mound for May in the second inning and proceeded to give up a lead off home run to Dansby Swanson to put the Dodgers down 2-0.

Again the Dodgers didn’t panic and Gonsolin managed to work through the inning without any more damage and pitched a scoreless third as well.

In the bottom of the third, the Dodgers were back at the top of their order and their bats finally came to life against Braves starting pitcher Ian Anderson.

The inning opened with two outs, but then Justin Turner took first base on a walk, Max Muncy doubled and the Dodgers had runners in scoring position.

Will Smith stepped up to home plate and swung at the first pitch he saw for a two-RBI single to send Turner and Muncy home and tie the game up at 2-2.

The Braves answered right back in the top of the fourth after Gonsolin walked the first two batters and Austin Riley singled to bring Ozzie Albies home to retake the lead 3-2.

The score was enough to end the night for Gonsolin, Blake Treinen came in to take over and finished out the inning.

Mookie Betts made the defensive play of the night in the sixth when he robbed Braves first baseman Freddie Freeman of a would-be home run with a leaping catch at the wall.

MOOKIE AGAIN. pic.twitter.com/SlSttMLcVj

— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) October 19, 2020

In the bottom of the sixth, the Braves brought A.J. Minter out of the bullpen and Dave Roberts made the call to pinch hit Kike Hernandez for Joc Pederson. Hernandez certainly answered the call as he launched a homer to left field to tie things back up at 3-3.

The Braves kept Minter in there and while he managed to finish out the sixth without any more damage done, but in the seventh he gave up the go-ahead score to Cody Bellinger on a solo home run blast to right field to give the Dodgers their first lead of the night 4-3.

STRUT ON 'EM, CODY. pic.twitter.com/083UekW8sI

— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) October 19, 2020

After the game, Bellinger was asked how the Dodgers had the confidence to believe they could come back after they fell behind 3-1 in the series.

“We’re resilient, I think when you see every day you see the lineup we have, you’ve got Joc hitting eighth you’ve got C.T. hitting nine, we can do this, why can’t we do this,” said Bellinger after the game. “We’re only down two games, we’ve won three games before all the time.”

Julio Urías had taken over on the mound for the Dodgers in the seventh and stayed in through the ninth to close out the game, raising perhaps some persisting questions about the Dodgers late game pitching options amid the joy of an NLCS victory.

After the game, the Dodgers were presented with the NL Championship trophy and Corey Seager was named the NLCS MVP with nine hits, five home runs, 11 RBI and eight runs.

“It wasn’t me, it was this whole team,” said Seager. “Defensively, pitching, game calling, planning, everything, we grinded all the way through this series, this wasn’t an easy one and we’re glad to be on top.”

The Dodgers now advance to the World Series for the third time in four years where they’ll face off against the American League champion Tampa Bay Rays.

The World Series is set to kick off Tuesday in Arlington, Texas at Globe Life Field at 5:09 p.m.

KHTS Sports is your place for 2020 Santa Clarita high school sports and Los Angeles Dodgers coverage. Find all the latest news and updates on your hometown schools here as they compete in the Foothill League, Heritage League, Western State Conference and GSAC.

THE LOS ANGELES DODGERS ARE BROUGHT TO YOU LOCALLY BY: