NL DIVISION SERIES: BRAVES VS DODGERS

October 6, 2026

Freddie Freeman

Truist Park

Los Angeles Dodgers

Postgame 3 Press Conference

Dodgers - 3, Braves - 1

Q. What was the team-wide approach to facing Sale tonight? And was there anything that you guys did differently compared to how you faced a normal starter going into a game like this?

FREDDIE FREEMAN: No, obviously we talked about trying to get him in the middle of the zone -- righties lay off the inside fastballs if he throws it there take it, try to push him out over. Lefties are a different story. It's hard. He's throwing behind us.

So it's more of trying to get him in the middle of the zone, don't try to make early outs. And if that's all we could do, get him out early, and we were able to do that.

Q. How did you guys just feel after those first three innings? Obviously putting him under stress you have the one robbed. Even to not score there, did it feel like you were executing the plan the way you wanted to?

FREDDIE FREEMAN: Yeah, especially when you're at 60 pitches after three with him. Getting Chris Sale out of the game after five innings is a huge win no matter what the score is.

We felt really good about our at-bats. We just missed, they made good plays. That's kind of how it was going. But getting Chris out after five innings, that was huge for us.

Q. What did you see on your home run?

FREDDIE FREEMAN: Just a sinker in, I got to it. Try and see strikes, again.

Q. You have experienced a lot of moments in postseason, especially in this ballpark. How does it feel to do it in another uniform in this ballpark?

FREDDIE FREEMAN: Obviously I've been coming here for five years now. So I don't think anybody's really looking at who played for what teams in the past. It's all hands on deck, just trying to win a baseball game.

Been blessed by this game for a long time. So been in a lot of different scenarios. So I'm kind of expecting what was tonight. It's a great place to play. It was really loud. And that was what was happening tonight. But Yamamoto was incredible and we scored enough runs.

Q. You said coming into this series you thought you found something. What was that? What does that feel like? And also did you hear the crowd reaction?

FREDDIE FREEMAN: To be honest, I don't really hear much out there. It's just noise because it's so loud.

But yeah, the first couple of days of the bye week, you're just trying to figure out and looking at the video what's worked in the past, what it looks like in setup.

We found something where my shoulders were a little too turned. All I really did was opened my shoulders a couple inches. Baseball is a game of inches.

Q. She asked if you heard the reaction after your at-bats tonight. There were some fans booing, and you have such a powerful relationship with the Braves community. If you didn't hear those, how do you interpret that response as your first time playing in the postseason here at Truist Park?

FREDDIE FREEMAN: I've got a gray uniform on. I expect boos. It's okay.

Like I've always said, I've enjoyed my 12 years in this organization, the Big Leagues, 15 overall. It's a great place to play. They pack the house out.

I've had wonderful experiences with the white uniform on here, and I loved every second of it. I get it. This is a game. We're trying to win the game. They want to win it for their team.

When you get on the field, you really don't really hear anything because it's so loud. It's just noise. I would be surprised if they cheered me in October. So it's okay. It's all love. I still love everybody here and I'm looking forward to tomorrow.

Q. You're looking ahead at Mahle tomorrow, a guy who has had a lot of success here since coming to Atlanta. What do you kind of expect from him, and what have you seen from him thus far in your early parts your preparation?

FREDDIE FREEMAN: So it's just heaters up at the top of the, splitters down below, so you really gotta get him off the bottom. If you're chasing splitters down below you are going be in trouble. That's his best -- that's his weapon off the heater at the top.

So just like we did with Sale, you gotta get him in the zone, get him off of the bottom and hopefully he makes mistakes and you're on time for him.

I wish baseball was so much more of this is what we're gonna do. But sometimes if you just strip it down it's pretty, not that complicated. So if we just get him up off the bottom of the zone, hopefully we can have some great success tomorrow.

We've gotta treat every game like an elimination game and go out there and play with urgency.

Q. Three games into this series, all the runs have been on homers. You still don't have, as a team, a hit with a runner in scoring position and you're up 2-1. How much does that speak to how important the long ball and doing that in the big moments can be in postseason play?

FREDDIE FREEMAN: That just means we're due. You keep getting guys on. We'll get those hits. But postseason is very hard to string three, four hits along in the playoffs.

The pitching is great. Every team is really, really good. Pitching staff's are great. So if you can get a guy on and hit the home run, then so be it. Because who cares how you win the game as long as you win the game. So I think we'll get a hit at some point with runners in scoring position. Hopefully it's tomorrow.

Q. Kiké has been asked a lot about the difference when he gets into October. What do you guys see from him in these games, either in how he prepares or how he goes about it during the game that leads to this?

FREDDIE FREEMAN: I wish there was a recipe for that so we can all take it from him. He's incredible. He shows up when you need him. I mean, he hasn't had a start in a while and he goes out there and does what he did. And not just the home run but defensively he made unbelievable plays at third base and then he gets put out in left field in the ninth inning.

So he's all over the place. It's incredible. He's a Swiss Army knife and he's ready to go at all times. So I'll wait for him to explain it so then we can maybe take a little bit from him.