Dodgers' offense came through in NLDS Game 3 but there's still reason to worry

On Tuesday night, the Los Angeles Dodgers overcame the greatest obstacle the Atlanta Braves had to put in their way: Chris Sale. Mookie Betts' leadoff at-bat against him set the tone for what would become just a five-inning start. Betts worked his way up to a 3-2 count and the singled on the seventh pitch he saw.

The Dodgers forced Sale to labor and he was pulled at 95 pitches, but only after giving up a two-run homer to Kiké Hernández and a solo shot to Freddie Freeman.

It was all LA needed to win, thanks to a characteristically dominant seven-inning, one-run start courtesy of Yoshinobu Yamamoto, and a sometimes precarious but scoreless two innings from Tanner Scott and Edwin Díaz.

Tyler Mahle, Atlanta's next starter, pitched great in Game 2 against the Philadelphia Phillies during the NL Wild Card Series, but he's no Sale. A lot has been made of LA's offense looking "rejuvenated" after Game 3. It could be smooth sailing for the Dodgers from here, right?

'Rejuvenation' might be taking this a step too far. The Dodgers scored just one more run than they did in Game 2, which they lost. They're still 0-for-13 with runners in scoring position, and all of their runs have come via the homer.

Let's slow our roll on praise for Dodgers' offense until they can actually hit with RISP

There's an argument to be made that they still managed to do it against a Cy Young award-winner who should receive votes again this season. But if Yamamoto had been just a little shakier, if Scott and Díaz had blown it, we'd be looking at those three runs and bemoaning all that the offense wasn't able to do.

Shohei Ohtani went 0-for-2 with a walk at his new spot at No. 5 in the lineup. Will Smith collected a hit but struck out three times. Teoscar Hernández went 0-for-4.

To be fair, the Dodgers managed to get by barely scoring any runs last postseason, too, but that doesn't mean that fans were ever satisfied with that. A win is a win, but the margin for error is slim-to-none, and they won't always have Yamamoto on the mound. If the Dodgers advance to the NLCS against the Milwaukee Brewers or San Diego Padres, they're going to need to up their game.

Working more competitive at-bats against a potential future Hall of Famer is a good place to start, but more timely hitting is the biggest thing they're still missing.

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