ATLANTA - The chants began almost before Dansby Swanson crossed home plate in the bottom of the ninth inning to make the Atlanta Braves 5-4 winners over the Los Angeles Dodgers in Game 2 of the National League Championship Series on Sunday night.
"Eddie! Eddie! Eddie!" some 41,873 deliriously happy fans at Truist Park chanted for Eddie Rosario, whose fourth hit in five at-bats gave the Braves a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven series.
Then, as those same fans filed for the exits and a short night's sleep after a game that lasted four hours: "Beat L.A.! Beat L.A.! Beat L.A.!"
The Braves almost beat L.A. a year ago in the NLCS, racing out series leads of 2-0 and 3-1 before dropping the final three games to come up one win shy of reaching the franchise's first World Series since 1999. The Dodgers went on to win their first World Series title since 1988.
This NLCS now shifts locations to Los Angeles, beginning with Game 2 on Tuesday night, and if it is far from over, it also has a different feel to it after the Braves won for the second time in two nights in the bottom of the ninth.
Said Joc Pederson, whose 454-foot, two-run homer off Dodgers starter Max Scherzer in the fourth tied the game at 2: "This is 25 of us pulling for a common goal."
And no one pulled for that goal more than Rosario, who was acquired from the Cleveland Indians at the trade deadline in late July, part of the rebuilt outfield Braves general manager Alex Anthopoulos assembled after All-Star Ronald Acuña Jr. was lost for the season due to a knee injury.
"We asked guys about him," said manager Brian Snitker, who has guided the Braves to four straight NL East Division titles. "They all said Eddie gets big hits. They all said you want him up there in big situations, and he's showing it."
AP photo by John Bazemore / Atlanta Braves shortstop Dansby Swanson, right, celebrates with second baseman Ozzie Albies after scoring the winning run on Eddie Rosario's RBI single during the bottom of the ninth inning in Sunday night's home game against the Los Angeles Dodgers.But there were also the big hits from Pederson and Austin Riley, who had the winning hit and a home run earlier in Saturday's game and a tying double in the eighth inning Sunday.
"That's what it takes," Snitker said. "It takes all these guys."
To that point, Rosario said of his winner against Dodgers closer Kenley Jansen: "I faced him yesterday. He got me out. Today I got a base hit. But this is huge. It's very important for me. Very important for the team. We all have that goal to get to the World Series."
Sunday night in Truist Park felt like a World Series game from its earliest moments, thanks to a packed stadium and a first-pitch temperature that registered 56 degrees, then got colder from there, even as the bats warmed. All-time Braves favorite Dale Murphy threw out the first pitch, but not before pulling off an Atlanta jersey from his era to reveal a No. 27 Austin Riley jersey and slipping on a string of pearls as a nod to playoff hitting hero Pederson.
Soon after that, Atlanta Hawks scoring sensation Trae Young grabbed a microphone and implored the crowd: "Let's play ball!"
Beyond that, it was Snitker's 66th birthday, not that anyone mentioned it afterward.
AP photo by John Bazemore / Los Angeles Dodgers catcher Will Smith can't make the tag as the Atlanta Braves' Ozzie Albies scores on a single by Austin Riley in the eighth inning in Game 2 of the NL Championship Series on Sunday night in Atlanta.Nor was Dodgers manager Dave Roberts necessarily stunned at the outcome, despite owning that 4-2 lead after seven innings.
"Nothing's really surprised me," he said afterward. "We knew coming in they were very aggressive. They can catch the baseball. You really have to make a good pitch on that first pitch."
Which is exactly what Jansen didn't do against Rosario, though Braves second baseman Ozzie Albies, who scored the tying run in the eighth off a crushing double by Riley, said that aggressiveness is by design.
"If you're playing scared, you're never going to score the runs you need," Albies said. "Riley and Rosario came up huge tonight. That's what we do."
They've now done enough to get halfway home to the World Series.
"These guys keep coming back," Snitker said. "You better not leave early. You'll miss the best part. These guys never quit. They haven't for years."
He's right, but they've also never acted as if they truly believed they could go all the way.
Now fans are holding up signs that read "It's Joctober" - and the team is smiling and laughing and acting as if this is no longer a surprise.
Not that it's over. After a travel day, the Dodgers will start Walker Buehler on Tuesday. Atlanta will counter with Charlie Morton.
Said Roberts of what lies ahead and what's already done: "The most important factor, they've got a two games to none lead."
The most important factor for the Braves is whether that will prove to be different this year than last.
Contact Mark Wiedmer at mwiedmer@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @TFPWeeds.