Dansby Swanson, right, celebrates with Ozzie Albies after scoring the winning run on Eddie Rosario’s RBI single in the ninth inning Sunday night as Atlanta won Game 2 of the NL Championship Series against the Dodgers, 5-4. John Bazemore/Associated Press
ATLANTA — The Braves won with a walk-off hit for the second night in a row when Eddie Rosario lined a two-out single off shortstop Corey Seager’s glove, giving Atlanta a 5-4 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers on Sunday night and a 2-0 NL Championship Series lead.
Atlanta twice rallied from two-run deficits before Rosario came up with his fourth hit of the game, a 105 mph scorcher up the middle on the first pitch after closer Kenley Jansen reliever. Seager tried for a backhand snag, but the ball went under his glove into the outfield.
Dansby Swanson raced around from second with the winning run, dropping his helmet as he crossed the plate, a virtual repeat of Game 1, when Austin Riley came through with a winning hit in the ninth for a 3-2 victory.
The series resumes in Los Angeles, where Game 3 is set for Tuesday.
The Braves need two more victories for their first World Series appearance since 1999, but they can’t celebrate just yet.
A year ago, they held leads of 2-0 and 3-1 over the Dodgers in the NLCS, only to lose the last three games. Los Angeles went on to beat Tampa Bay in the World Series, while the Braves stewed for another shot.
They are halfway there after rallying in the eighth off Julio Urías, who pitched three hitless innings to finish Game 7 against the Braves last October.
Seager and Atlanta’s Joc Pederson traded two-run homers – Pederson adding to his “Joctober” lore with his third homer of this postseason and first off his longtime team – before Chris Taylor put the Dodgers ahead again with a two-run hit in the seventh. Los Angeles again wasted chances, going 1 for 10 with runners in scoring position and dropping to 2 for 18 in the series.
Six outs away from tying the series, the Dodgers brought in expected Game 4 starter Urías to protect the lead before turning it over to Jansen in the ninth.
Urías, a 20-game winner, couldn’t get it done. Rosario led off with a single and moved up to second on Freddie Freeman’s flyout to left.
Ozzie Albies lined one to right for another hit off Urías. Rosario zipped around third as third-base coach Ron Washington sent him home, just beating the throw with a brilliant slide that avoided the swipe by catcher Will Smith.
Then it was Riley, the Game 1 star, coming through again. He ripped a double to the wall over the head of center fielder Mookie Betts, bringing Albies all the way around from first with the tying run.
Travis d’Arnaud led off the ninth with a broken-bat single to center on a 101 mph pitch from Brusdar Graterol and was replaced by pinch runner Cristian Pache. Swanson tried to move Pache along with a bunt, only to have the attempted sacrifice result in a forceout at second when Seager made a backhand stop on Graterol’s bounced, offline throw.
But Swanson managed to get to second himself when Guillermo Heredia grounded out to third base. The Dodgers turned to their closer to face Rosario, who connected on the very first pitch for the fifth walk-off in 23 postseason games this year.
Braves closer Will Smith picked up the win with a 1-2-3 top of the ninth, breathing a big sigh of relief when Trea Turner’s drive was caught at the base of the wall in left.
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