LOS ANGELES — They were bound to start off hot – one way or the other.
Teoscar Hernandez, Kyle Tucker and Max Muncy each homered to back Tarik Skubal as the Dodgers beat the Atlanta Braves, 5-3, in Game 1 of their best-of-five National League Division Series on Saturday afternoon.
With Southern California baking in an October heat wave, the Dodgers announced attendance of 50,194 – their lowest for a postseason game at Dodger Stadium since Game 4 of the 2016 NLDS against the Washington Nationals (49,617). That game was played in much more pleasant weather than Saturday’s 100 degrees at first pitch – but on a Tuesday afternoon.
Skubal certainly made himself at home.
The first six postseason starts of Skubal’s career – all as he tried to drag the Detroit Tigers deeper into October – came on the road. Saturday afternoon was the first time he took the mound for a home team in a postseason game.
It started with a single by Braves leadoff man Drake Baldwin (who went 6 for 12 with two doubles and a home run in the Braves’ three-game sweep of the Dodgers in Atlanta in August). Skubal put his foot down after that, retiring the next 15 Braves in order, including seven on strikeouts.
He didn’t even go to a three-ball count until facing Austin Riley in the fifth inning. He struck him out to end the inning.
But the heat might have finally gotten to Skubal in the sixth. He gave up a leadoff home run to Sean Murphy and walked two in the inning, throwing 28 pitches to drive his pitch count to 94 for the day.
Even with the wobble in the sixth, it was a real-time expression of the biggest advantage the Dodgers have in this series – and the value of the first-round bye that is making it even bigger.
Skubal had a week off since his last regular-season start, long enough to throw two bullpen sessions in preparation for his first postseason start with the Dodgers – and long enough for the Dodgers to line up their formidable starting rotation (another two-time Cy Young Award winner, Blake Snell, will start Game 2).
On the other side, Braves manager Walt Weiss was brutally honest when questioned about his pitching plan before the game. Already limited in his starting pitching options due to injuries, Weiss used his best one (Chris Sale) to close out the third game of their Wild Card Series against the Philadelphia Phillies on Thursday.
“Look – I don’t know how this is going to go,” he said, faced with the prospect of opening the NLDS with back-to-back bullpen games.
It was going pretty well for three innings with left-hander Dylan Dodd in the game. He held the Dodgers to two singles while striking out four in the first three innings.
But Weiss’ plan went off the rails in the fourth inning. Right-hander Victor Mederos walked Freddie Freeman and then left a cutter over the heart of the plate to Hernandez. He sent it 431 feet into the left-field pavilion for a two-run home run, his ninth home run in 34 postseason games with the Dodgers.
Two innings later, AJ Smith-Shawver had taken over. He gave up a one-out single to Hernandez then Tucker got his own fat fastball, 97 mph at the top of the zone, and turned on it. Four hundred and eight feet later, the Dodgers had a 4-1 lead.
Two batters later, it was 5-1 after Muncy sent a towering fly ball into the seats down the right field line.
Brock Stewart and Alex Vesia each followed Skubal with a hitless inning of relief. But Tanner Scott gave up a two-run home run to Ozzie Albies – the fifth home run of the day in the overheated atmosphere – before Dodgers manager Dave Roberts turned to Evan Phillips to get the final out.
More to come on this story.
