ATLANTA -- Joc Pederson credits his postseason success to "not making any moment bigger than it needs to be."
With another jolt, Pederson put the Atlanta Braves on the verge of advancing in the playoffs.
Pederson kept enhancing his "Joctober" nickname with a three-run, pinch-hit home run and the Braves shut down Milwaukee once again, beating the Brewers 3-0 on Monday to take a 2-1 edge in the National League division series.
"It was pretty special," Pederson said of the fifth-inning drive.
"To come up big in a moment like that was pretty cool."
In a matchup dominated by pitching, Ian Anderson and the Braves' bullpen combined on a five-hitter and won by a 3-0 score for the second consecutive game.
Boosted by shortstop Dansby Swanson's athletic defense, Atlanta can try to reach its second consecutive NL Championship Series when it hosts Game 4 today.
Pederson's home run was his second of the series, both as a pinch-hitter against Adrian Houser. Pederson singled as a pinch-hitter in his only other at-bat in this series, and has driven in four of Atlanta's seven runs.
Pederson has hit 11 postseason home runs overall and helped the Los Angeles Dodgers win the World Series last year with his longballs. He then signed as a free agent with the Chicago Cubs in the winter and was traded to Atlanta in July.
"He's been in the big moment, the big stage, and he's performed and guys appreciate that," Braves Manager Brian Snitker said.
Since winning the opening game of the series, the NL Central champion Brewers have not scored in 19 consecutive innings. They were 0 for 8 with runners in scoring position Monday.
Asked about the poorly timed offensive slump, Milwaukee Manager Craig Counsell said, "We're in it. I thought we swung the bats better today. ... We've got to catch a break, frankly."
Anderson was dominant for the NL East champion Braves, allowing 3 hits over 5 innings with no walks and 6 strikeouts. Will Smith, the fourth Braves reliever, pitched a perfect ninth for his second save of the series.
Milwaukee starter Freddy Peralta pitched four scoreless innings and was pulled for a pinch-hitter when the Brewers threatened in the fifth.
Houser gave up singles to Travis d'Arnaud and Swanson to open the fifth. Pederson, hitting for Anderson, pulled a high, inside fastball deep into the right-field seats for a 3-0 lead.
"It didn't look like a bad pitch to me, but give him credit," Counsell said.
Asked how he pulled the high pitch for the home run, Pederson shrugged and said, "I guess I'm a pretty good player, I don't know. I knocked it out of the yard."
Adam Duvall made a crucial baserunning mistake when he tried to advance from first to second as Austin Riley tried to score from third on d'Arnaud's flyball in the second. Left fielder Christian Yelich nailed Duvall for the third out before Riley crossed the plate, costing Atlanta a run.
The Brewers hit only .183 in the first two games of the series, including a 3-0 loss in Game 2. Counsell made one lineup change, inserting Luis Urias at third base for Eduardo Escobar.
The Brewers couldn't score in the fifth after putting runners on second and third with no outs. Urias, hit by a pitch, moved to third on a double by Omar Narvaez.
Anderson escaped when Lorenzo Cain's sharp grounder was stopped by a diving Swanson, who held the baserunners before throwing to first. Urías was caught in a rundown on pinch-hitter Daniel Vogelbach's grounder to third base, and Kolten Wong lined out to Freddie Freeman at first base to end the inning.
Swanson turned an acrobatic double play to end the eighth after Luke Jackson walked Jace Peterson and gave up a one-out single to Willy Adames.
Running at full speed, Cain crashed into the wire fence as he tried to catch Duvall's drive in the fourth from his center field spot. Cain held the ball in his glove before hitting the ground and losing control. Cain stayed down as Duvall raced to third with the two-out triple.
Cain remained in the game after a visit from Counsell and a trainer. Peralta struck out Eddie Rosario to end the inning.
"He was fortunate he just jammed his shoulder," Counsell said. "It's probably going to be a little sore tomorrow, but I'm optimistic."
