Category: Baseball

This season I have probably watched more Braves baseball than any other season. And one of the recurring themes of this season and some of the previous seasons is the idea of “punting”. It’s saving your best pitchers, or designating which three of four of the bottom end of the bullpen will only pitch that particular game. It rubs many of you the wrong way.

To be honest, to me a punted game in May is disappointing but somewhat expected. To survive a 162-game season over 6 months, you need to reserve your strength. You don’t have to major in it as was done in 2024, and have it bear no fruit fruitlessly in the penultimate game. But it’s a cost of doing business. To survive, you may have to utilize you 12th or 13th best pitcher on your roster more than you would like. Or in some cases, 17th and 18th best. We at Battery Power are aware of this because we write up every roster move.

But Walt, this isn’t May, June, or even September.

What is this?

Or this? Why is objectively your 12th best pitching option serving meatballs in a NLDS game?

We can’t have this. This game deserved Dylan Dodd for three, Brent Suter for three, and perhaps AJ Smith-Shawver if necessary for three hitters or less. Then you see where you are in the seventh. If you are down, maybe downshift. If it’s remotely close then upshift.

Because for exactly this reason here.

The only excuse for today would be if Chris Sale cannot pitch Game 2. If he can’t, today could make sense. If he can, it’s absolutely infuriating and completely unnecessary. You saved your premium options only for Chris Sale to possibly go into the eighth inning tomorrow.

I am going to tell you that I really like AJ Smith-Shawver. He should not lose heart. He should absolutely be ready to mow down three hitters right now and break into the starting rotation in 2027. I love Victor Mederos. I think he’s been a revelation and I love his enthusiam. But we scrimp and save for seven months just for the opportunity to get into the Postseason. The Braves should spend their options lavishly and perform with their best players when we get there. If Sale is available tomorrow, I don’t want to hear it.

Weiss told reporters that “today was going to be tough for us to chase from behind because of how we emptied the tank on Thursday night.” I don’t know, Walt. if it was so tough, why pursue it with Brent Suter for two innings in the eighth? Walt did reveal later, “Look, you’ve got Sale and Mahle still. Tomorrow a much more rested bullpen. Yeah, I don’t have any worries about … having enough pitching. We’ve got plenty of pitching.” And also, “We weren’t going to pitch Fuentes from behind. It would have been 4 out of 5. Then he’s at risk tomorrow in a game that we’re up. Suarez was down because of the elbow, missing three months. We weren’t going to use him at all.” It rather sounds as if he approached this game as if Sale would not pitch, and the punt was on.

It’s been hard enough for Atlanta in the Postseason as it is. It’s harder when you don’t have your best options available, or decline to use them.

Max Muncy continues to thrive in October.

During the Dodgers’ 5-3 NLDS Game 1 victory against the Atlanta Braves on Saturday, Muncy extended his team postseason home-run record to 17 after blasting a solo shot to the right-field bleachers in the sixth inning.

Muncy originally became the team leader for home runs in the postseason during Game 1 of the NLCS against the Milwaukee Brewers last year, surpassing Corey Seager, who was previously tied with Muncy for the team record at 13.

In the postseason, Muncy now has a career batting average of .217, with 38 RBIs and 57 hits.

“It’s awesome,” Muncy told Ken Rosenthal during a postgame interview on Fox. “It means a lot to me. The thing about that, that means the most to me is it means I’ve had a lot of opportunities to play in October, and that’s obviously what this is all about, is you want to have a chance to win the World Series.”

Muncy’s solo shot came just after his teammate Kyle Tucker knocked a two-run shot to give them a commanding 4-1 lead. Teoscar Hernandez was the first player on the team to homer with a 2-run blast in the fourth inning.

Like Muncy, Tucker has also built a reputation for thriving in baseball’s postseason, as he is a former World Series champion with the Houston Astros in 2022.

Both Muncy and Tucker have a combined 27 home runs in the postseason.

The Atlanta Braves have opened up this five-game series on the short-end of the stick to start things off, as they took a 5-3 loss on the chin against the Los Angeles Dodgers to begin the 2026 NLDS.

It’s a bit of a flattering result, since Tarik Skubal spent most of the game in complete control and the Braves were down by as much as four after AJ Smith-Shawver gave up a pair of dingers that really gave the Dodgers serious control of the game.

As far as the questions go about who did or didn’t pitch for the Braves today, it’s clear that Walt Weiss had bullpen load management in mind with some of the decisions that he made today. “It’s a challenge. Even today was going to be tough for us to chase from behind because of how we emptied the tank on Thursday night,” said Weiss when he was asked about how the bullpen is looking for the rest of the series.“

“We weren’t going to pitch Fuentes from behind. It would have been 4 out of 5. Then he’s at risk tomorrow in a game that we’re up. Suarez was down because of the elbow, missing three months. We weren’t going to use him at all.”

When Weiss was asked about whether or not the Braves have enough pitching to make it through this series, Weiss remained bullish about the pitching staff. “Look, you’ve got [Chris] Sale and [Tyler] Mahle still. Tomorrow a much more rested bullpen,” stated Weiss. Yeah, I don’t have any worries about that, about having enough pitching. We’ve got plenty of pitching.“

Speaking of Chris Sale, his potential availability for the Los Angeles portion of this series has been a big question. Obviously, the Braves would like to steal one on the road and gain home field advantage for the rest of the series and it’ll be a big question as to whether or not Sale can or will be fully effective since he’s already taken on a heavy workload here in the Postseason.

Weiss was asked directly about his pitching plan for Game 2 and whether it involved Chris Sale started and he explained that it’s too soon to figure it out. “We still haven’t decided yet. The game just got over,” said Weiss. “We’ll have some conversations about this. So not sure who’s going to start. That’s where we’re at right now.”

I’d imagine that they’re going to think it over and wait until tomorrow afternoon to announce who the starter is. If it’s Sale, then I’d imagine that it’d be a similar case to what happened the morning of Game 3 where Sale barges into Weiss’s office and tells him that he’s good to go. If it happens, it’ll be very intriguing to see how long he goes and how effective he’ll be. It’ll certainly be one of the future Hall-of-Famer’s biggest tests of his career — and doing so at age-37, no less.

Either way, it’s tough to win games when the offense lies dormant for most of it and that was the case for the Braves. All of the runs today were scored via the long ball, but Atlanta was unable to really do much of anything to Tarik Skubal while he was out there (outside of Sean Murphy’s homer) and then only Ozzie Albies’s ninth-inning dinger kept the score respectable in the end. The offense will have to be more consistent — easier said than done, I know, but it’s the Postseason. The job’s gotta get done.

Either way, Weiss tipped his cap to Skubal and the performance he put on against Atlanta’s lineup today. “[Skubal] looked like he was in top form today. He’s obviously a really good pitcher. Yeah, he was tough,” said Weiss when he was asked about Skubal’s start. “We knew it was going to be a rough ride, but yeah, he did a helluva job.”

It’s not going to get much easier going forward considering the quality of LA’s pitching staff but again, there’s no choice but to execute and the lineup has to get better going forward. Momentum is a bit overrated in my opinion but hopefully what the Braves were able to do in the ninth inning of Game 1 will carry over to Game 2. Otherwise, Atlanta might be in a hole once they return to Cobb County. We’ll see what happens, folks.

After a well-deserved week of rest, the Milwaukee Brewers are finally set to start their postseason action. A week filled with preparation, simulated games and workouts all leads up to the Crew’s first ever postseason matchup against the San Diego Padres.

The Brewers will have their ace on the mound in Jacob Misiorowski. The leading NL Cy Young contender, Misiorowski led the league in ERA (1.80) and strikeouts (252). The Padres will have the veteran left-hander Robbie Ray on the bump. Ray pitched to a 3.59 ERA this year, making 30 starts. He was a deadline acquisition from the San Francisco Giants. In Ray’s nine starts with the Padres, he had a 5.02 ERA.

The Padres used their two best starters to get through the Cubs in the Wild Card series. We’ll see just how deep into the game the Padres are looking to have Ray go against this Brewers lineup.

Even though there’s a left-handed starter on the mound, Pat Murphy elected to not put Andrew Vaughn in the starting lineup and went with Christian Yelich as the DH. When asked for the calculus as to why, Murphy said “I don’t think there’s calculus involved in that one.” Referring to Yelich’s body of work over his career as a large factor in the decision.

Murphy went on to say that Jake Bauers is still dealing with the toe and shin injuries and that if Bauers were 100% healthy, that he could have been an option in the outfield and put Vaughn at first. But the “risk of less defense” led him to keep Bauers at first base and put Lara in right.

That wasn’t the only interesting lineup decision from Murphy for Game 1. Cooper Pratt is batting 6th in the starting lineup, marking the first time in his young career that he has started higher than 7th. Pratt has been hitting .315 with a .794 OPS over the last 28 days, so he’s on a hot streak.

“You’re considering the other team, your own team, your individual player, his psyche, the options it gives you later, the mindset of who’s pitching” Murphy said. “We feel like with what we’re facing, Cooper is the best option there and letting Joey [Ortiz] hit down in the order.”

Brandon Woodruff also shared an update pregame that he will start throwing off a mound soon, though he does not have an exact date. The earliest he could possibly return would be if the Brewers made it to the World Series.

The Padres are staggering four lefties throughout their lineup against Jacob Misiorowski: Dustin Harris (2nd), Jackson Merrill (5th), Ethan Salas (7th) and Jake Cronenworth (9th). But mixed in between are some heavy hitters with Fernando Tatis Jr, Manny Machado, Ty France, Xander Bogaerts, and Luis Campusano.

Game 1 is here. The Brewers have their ace on the mound and need him to set the tone. We’ve seen Misiorowski step up in big moments before, and the energy of the playoffs will light up the radar gun.

Though the Dodgers would eventually break open the game via the long ball, and despite the Atlanta Braves being forced to throw a bullpen game coming out of a taxing wild-card round, Game 1 of the National League Division Series began as a pitching duel.

Braves left-hander Dylan Dodd held the Dodgers to just two hits through three scoreless innings. But Dodgers left-handed starter Tarik Skubal was even more impressive, despite the heat. He set the Dodgers up for a 5-3 victory to take control of the series.

“A really good starting rotation obviously is really helpful, but it is very impactful for quality of life,” president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman said before the game. “We have gone through years where our starting rotation hasn’t been as good. In ’24 that wasn’t a strength of our roster. We won the World Series. The quality of life is way more difficult than being able to pencil in a Skubal, a [Blake] Snell, a [Yoshinobu Yamamoto], and a [Tyler Glasnow.]”

The temperature at first pitch was 100 degrees, and still climbing, making it the second-hottest recorded first-pitch temperature in postseason history, behind only Game 1 of the 2017 World Series between the Dodgers and Astros (103), according to Elias Sports Bureau.

The announced attendance was over 50,000, but far fewer fans were in their seats in the dangerous temperatures.

Skubal’s command wasn’t at its sharpest in the first inning, with his changeup consistently missing high. But he adjusted before the second and went on to limit the Braves to one run through six innings.

The difference was clear when contrasting Braves leadoff hitter Drake Baldwin’s first and second at-bats against Skubal.

Skubal fell behind with his first pitch of the game, a fastball below the zone. He worked back, with another fastball for a strike and a foul-tipped changeup low and away. But then, in a two-strike count, Skubal missed his spot, giving Baldwin a thigh-high changeup that he could drive.

That sharp single through the middle of the infield was one of just two hits he gave up Saturday. And after it, he retired 15 straight batters.

By the time Skubal faced Baldwin again, with two outs in the third, his whole arsenal was dialed in. Four of the last five outs he’d recorded were strikeouts, with a different putaway pitch for each: slider, sinker, curveball, changeup.

This time, Skubal was the aggressor, getting to a 0-2 count with a slider and sinker inside. Then Baldwin avoided chasing a pair of sliders to even the count. Skubal came back inside with a fastball that Baldwin fouled off.

So, to end the at-bat, Skubal went to his signature changeup, which he’d regained feel for the previous inning. It dove out of the bottom of the strikezone, and Baldwin swung through it, ending the inning on a strikeout.

Skubal strutted off the mound, hit the palm of his glove twice, and slapped hands with catcher Will Smith.

Skubal didn’t allow another baserunner until the sixth inning, when Sean Murphy launched a top-rail sinker for a solo homer.

The Dodgers’ lead, however, remained intact. Two innings earlier Dodgers left fielder Teoscar Hernández broke up the scoreless tie with a two-run homer.

Hernández knows how to fire up a crowd in a big postseason moment. And he seized his chance when he got a cutter down the middle from Braves reliever Victor Mederos. Hernández tossed his bat back toward the home dugout, and it sliced through the air end-over-end.

With the Dodgers’ lead cut to one run, Skubal labored through the rest of the sixth inning, issuing a pair of walks, his first of the game. Smith and pitching coach Mark Prior came out for separate mound visits. But manager Dave Roberts stayed in his seat and trusted his Game 1 starter to face Braves cleanup hitter Matt Olson for a third time.

Skubal escaped the inning by getting Olson to chase an outside fastball and fly out to left field.

In the bottom half of the inning, the Dodgers’ bats came alive. Right fielder Kyle Tucker, in his first postseason game as a Dodger, hit a two-run home run. And Max Muncy joined in with a solo homer of his own.

Dodgers relievers Brock Stewart and Alex Vesia each retired the side in order, in the seventh and eighth innings, respectively. Lefty Tanner Scott, whom Roberts plans to use in a fireman role, surrendered a two-run homer to Ozzie Albies in the ninth. But right-hander Evan Phillips came in to record the final out.

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

The Braves had a mountain to climb as heavy underdogs against Tarik Skubal and the Death Star Dodgers, with a bullpen game opened by Dylan Dodd on tap.

The story of the first couple innings was a horrid strike zone being called by home plate umpire Roberto Ortiz. There was a flurry of challenges and missed calls against both teams, but it was really an embarrassment for MLB on this big of a stage. Dylan Dodd matched Skubal with 3.0 scoreless innings on 4 strikeouts, throwing 46 pitches. That’s a massive performance from Dodd, following in Ray Kerr’s footsteps from Thursday.

Skubal continued to cruise through the fourth with a little bit of BABIP luck, while Victor Mederos took over for Atlanta. The Mederos experience did not go well, as he recorded one out before walking Freeman on four pitches and giving up a massive two-run homer to Teoscar Hernandez. He then allowed a bloop single to Tucker before giving way to Smith-Shawver. AJ did well to stabilize things, keeping it at 2-0 going into the sixth inning. Sean Murphy brought one back with a big solo homer off of a 99 MPH Skubal sinker at the top of the zone to lead off the sixth.

Ha-Seong Kim chipped in with a walk, following Murphy, driving up Skubal’s pitch count and giving them a baserunner for the top of the order. Baldwin and Acuna chopped out, but avoided the double play. Ozzie was able to draw a walk, with Skubal struggling for command a bit. Olson flied out after a decent AB to end the inning, but the Braves now were only down by 1 run and had Skubal’s pitch count up near 100. Unfortunately, AJ allowed a single and two homers to Kyle Tucker and Max Muncy, giving the Dodgers a strong 5-1 lead in the bottom of the sixth and giving Murphy’s homer right back and more. The decision to leave Smith-Shawver in long enough to see Tucker and especially Muncy is definitely a debatable one, given what was a close game coming into the inning.

The Braves offense didn’t have anything to offer against the first arm out of the LA bullpen and sent the game on to the bottom of the seventh. Brent Suter got the bottom of the inning, perhaps with an eye towards covering multiple innings in the absence of offense. Suter worked around a Freeman single to get the job done in a scoreless inning, but the Braves were running out of time to show up on offense. The offense instead put up another 1-2-3 frame in the eighth and Suter came back out for another frame and continued to do his job with a scoreless frame.

Ronald singled to lead off the ninth against Tanner Scott and Ozzie hit a homer swinging from the right side to give the Braves a glimmer of hope now down 5-3 with no outs in the ninth. Olson and Harris gave Scott two quick groundouts, but the Dodgers went to Evan Phillips to face Dubon for the platoon split out of the bullpen. Dubon drew a walk, making Austin Riley the tying run at the plate with two outs in the ninth. Austin took a hanging breaking ball at the start of his plate appearances and grounded out to end the game.

There are fair questions to ask about the lack of urgency in terms of bullpen management from Weiss, but 3 runs seems unlikely to win a game against the Dodgers in a bullpen game started by Dylan Dodd. Perhaps the Braves win this game with more aggressive bullpen management when they got within one run with Skubal departing, but we still need to see more from the offense for this season to be winnable. Two home runs from Murphy and Albies is an encouraging sign to that point. We also really need a better home plate umpire.

Join us again tomorrow at 8 PM ET for a critical Game 2 before the series heads back to Atlanta.

LOS ANGELES — It took a while for the Dodgers offense to get going, but they eventually did feast on the underbelly of the Atlanta Braves relief corps, backing a strong start by Tarik Skubal in a 5-3 win in Game 1 of the National League Division Series on a toasty Saturday afternoon at Dodger Stadium.

Injuries and ineffectiveness wreaked havoc on the Braves rotation down the stretch, and they needed the full three games to beat the Philadelphia Phillies in the wild card game. So Saturday was always going to be a scramble for Atlanta.

“The advantage for us is we have an opportunity to not let their pitching staff come up for air, and how do you do that? You have to exhaust the starter,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said Friday. “You have to get in their pen, and you have to have them deploy arms as soon as possible and get that carousel going and continue to beat starters. Then you can suffocate them.”

But the Braves got three scoreless innings and four strikeouts out of left-hander Dylan Dodd to open Game 1 against the Dodgers in what had to be a best-case scenario, similar to the 10-out shot in the arm provided by Ray Kerr on Thursday night to beat Philadelphia.

The suffocating began once Dodd left.

Freddie Freeman walked with one out in the fourth off right-hander Victor Mederos, then Teoscar Hernández smashed a two-run home run into the left field pavilion to open the scoring.

The home run by Hernández traveled 431 feet, long enough to satisfy a requirement for fans to sign up to receive a free soft drink out of the deal, as Dodger Stadium public address announcer Todd Leitz announced to the crowd during the pitching change shortly after Hernández’s (baja) blast.

Production from corner outfielders was a problem for the Dodgers for most of the season. But beginning with an August 30 home run in Detroit, Hernández ended his season on a hot streak, with 10 extra-base hits while hitting .352/.433/.582 with a 179 wRC+ over his last 25 games of the regular season.

Hernández also singled in the sixth inning off AJ Smith-Shawver, bringing up Kyle Tucker, who similarly came alive in September, hitting .262/.354/.536 with a 140 wRC+ and six home runs. Tucker also hit a two-run home run, just his sixth at Dodger Stadium all year compared to 12 long balls hit on the road.

Max Muncy added a solo shot, also in the sixth inning off Smith-Shawver, to widen the Dodgers lead. Muncy’s 17 postseason home runs are the most in Dodgers history, as are his 143 home runs at Dodger Stadium in the regular season and postseason combined.

Skubal’s first postseason start with the Dodgers — and the first time in seven career postseason starts that he pitched at home — was a good one, with seven strikeouts in his six innings.

“The biggest thing with him is just his presence of commanding the ball,” Game 2 starter Blake Snell said of Skubal on Saturday. “If he’s throwing it and he’s confident, it’s going to be a tough day for any offense.”

Atlanta got just two hits off Skubal, a single by leadoff batter Drake Baldwin in the first inning, then a solo home run by Sean Murphy to open the sixth. In between, Skubal retired 15 in a row. The sixth was the only truly taxing inning for Skubal, who had only one three-ball count in the first five innings but had three in the sixth inning, including walks of Ha-Seong Kim and Ozzie Albies.

Both were stranded, but the 28-pitch inning ended Skubal’s outing on a 100-degree day in Los Angeles, the second-hottest postseason game in Dodger Stadium history.

Skubal has lasted at least six innings in all seven of his career postseason starts, with a minuscule 1.97 ERA with 63 strikeouts (a 37-percent strikeout rate) against only seven unintentional walks in 45 2/3 innings. Pretty much exactly what the Dodgers hoped for when they traded for him in August.

Brock Stewart in the seventh and Alex Vesia in the eighth each pitched perfect innings. Tanner Scott ran into some trouble in the ninth, allowing a leadoff single to Ronald Acuña Jr. before Ozzie Albies hit a two-run shot to cut the Dodgers lead in half. Scott retired his next two batters before giving way to Evan Phillips.

Phillips, who has 46 career saves with the Dodgers and has never allowed a run in his now 13 postseason appearances, walked Mauricio Dubón before inducing an Austin Riley groundout to record his first postseason save.

Notes

• The Dodgers improved to 25-8 (.758) when hitting at least three home runs in a postseason game, including wins in their last six such games dating back to the 2024 World Series.
• Since 2013, the Game 1 winner in the Division Series has won 42 of 52 series (.808).

NLDS Game 1 particulars

Home runs: Teoscar Hernández (1), Kyle Tucker (1); Sean Murphy (1), Ozzie Albies (2)

WP — Tarik Skubal (1-0): 6 IP, 2 hits, 1 run, 2 walks, 7 strikeouts

LP — Victor Mederos (0-1): 1/3 IP, 2 hits, 2 runs, 1 walk

Sv — Evan Phillips (1): 1/3 IP, 1 walk

Up next

The Dodgers tapped another left-hander in Blake Snell to start Game 2 on Sunday evening (5:03 p.m., FS1). The Braves might go with ace left-hander Chris Sale, but after heavy usage this week might not decide that until Sunday morning to see how Sale feels, manager Walt Weiss said Saturday.

When the Dodgers won the World Series last year, three of their four starters pitched in relief in the playoffs. The other started a game on short rest.

Would Tarik Skubal be up for doing something like that this October if the situation called for it?

“Yeah,” he said. “Absolutely.”

In that case, Skubal should start mentally brace himself for the possibility.

Because while Skubal was spectacular in the Dodgers’ 5-3 victory over the Atlanta Braves on Saturday in Game 1 of their National League Division Series, the bullpen looked as if it could be as combustible as it was last year.

After Skubal retired 15 consecutive batters and limited the Braves to a solitary run over six innings, manager Dave Roberts’ most-trusted reliever turned what should have been a comfortable win into a nerve-wracking experience.

Assigned to take down the last three outs of a four-run game, Tanner Scott reverted to his form from his disastrous first season with the Dodgers last year.

Scott started the inning by throwing a fastball over the middle of the plate to Ronald Acuña Jr., who singled to center.

The very next pitch delivered by Scott was also down the middle – this one a 97-mph fastball that Ozzie Albies blasted into the left-field pavilion.

Suddenly, a 5-1 lead was down to 5-3.

Scott collected himself and retired the next two batters, but Roberts didn’t want the left-hander to the right-handed-hitting Mauricio Dubón. 

Evan Phillips entered the game and made the one mistake he couldn’t make: He walked Dubón.

With former All-Star Austin Riley due up, the Braves were within a swing of leveling the score.

The nightmare scenario never materialized, as Riley grounded out to end the game, but the problem that was exposed by the inning remained.

Roberts said he “was not going to waver” on his thoughts of how to approach the ninth inning, but common sense indicates changes will be made. Roki Sasaki, who came out of nowhere to become the primary closer in the playoffs last year, figures to be next in line to get a shot at closing. 

Beyond that, the most likely choice figures to be displaced $69-million closer Edwin Díaz, who finished the season with a 8.68 earned-run average. 

The Dodgers could be forced to do what they did last year, which will be to have their starters pitch as many innings as possible, whatever the role.

Yoshinobu Yamamoto famously pitched the final 2 ⅔ innings of Game 7 of the World Series a day after making a six-inning start in Game 6.

The pitcher who covered the 1 ⅓ innings before Yamamoto entered that Game 7?

Blake Snell, who will start for the Dodgers on Sunday in Game 2 of this NLDS.

The Dodgers’ other starter in this postseason, Tyler Glasnow, was used as a reliever three times last October, including in Games 6 and 7 of the World Series.

Two-way player Shohei Ohtani, who won’t pitch in these playoffs because of right arm and left knee problems, started the final game of the World Series last year on three-days’ rest.

The Dodgers could soon be asking Skubal to make a similar sacrifice, even though he is a pending free agent who is expected to land a contract worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

Skubal embraced the October spotlight on Saturday.

Taking the mound in 100-degree heat, Skubal joked that he’d pitched in hotter environments before. Skubal grew up in Arizona.

“I played a Little League game in 127,” he said with a smile. “Lake Havasu, yeah.”

Skubal seemed unaffected, giving up a single to Drake Baldwin to open the game but proceeding to retire the next 15 batters.

He touched 101 mph with his fastball and struck out seven.

Skubal encountered a scare in the sixth inning, which he started by serving up a home run to Sean Murphy that reduced the Dodgers’ lead to 2-1.

The two-time Cy Young Award winner followed that up by walking the No. 9 hitter, Ha-Seong Kim.

“I can’t walk Kim there,” Skubal said.

He got a couple of force outs at second base, then fell behind in the count against Albies with a runner on first base. Liking his chances against the left-handed-hitting Matt Olson on deck, Skubal didn’t take any chances with Albies and walked him.

“Just understanding the situation,” Skubal said. “A walk isn’t the worst thing in the world there.”

Olson flied out to left field, and the Dodgers preserved their advantage.

That kind of thinking will serve Skubal well this month – whether he’s starting or pitching in relief.

The trap had been set.

A five-day layoff. A seemingly worn-down opponent. An afternoon start amid 100-degree temperatures. Empty seats littered throughout the blistering hot ballpark.

The Dodgers entered this October trying to keep a narrowed focus amid their quest for a World Series three-peat. They talked of ignoring the bigger historical stakes and suffocating outside expectations.

In Game 1 of the National League Division Series on Saturday, that mindset was tested.

The result: A 5-3 victory over the Atlanta Braves.

“It all starts with winning Game 1,” manager Dave Roberts said. “I do think that momentum is certainly in our favor.”

On paper, Saturday was always a matchup the Dodgers should have won. They had a reigning two-time Cy Young Award winner on the mound in Tarik Skubal. They were facing a Braves team that was forced to grind through a three-game wild-card series against the Philadelphia Phillies this week –– while the Dodgers were enjoying a first-round bye –– and had no choice but to run a bullpen game in the best-of-five series opener.

Still, danger loomed.

Would their hitters still be in rhythm after their extended pre-NLDS pause? Would Skubal hold up during the hottest Dodger Stadium playoff game since the 2017 World Series? Would they be able to immediately flip the switch in search of a third-straight title?

The answers were resounding.

Yes, yes and yes.

“I thought guys were going out there, they were getting really good swings off, and that’s not always easy to do after you’ve had several days off and you haven’t been in game action,” third baseman Max Muncy said. “[You can’t replicate] just the emotion of playing in a postseason game. And to be able to see the aggressiveness out of the entire lineup, I think that was really big for us. I think it helped us out.”

Skubal was largely dominant over a six-inning, one-run, seven-strikeout start.

Teoscar Hernández produced his latest October highlight by crushing a two-run homer to open the scoring in the fourth.

And the Dodgers pulled away late behind more big flies from Muncy and Kyle Tucker.

Game 2 of this series will be back at Dodger Stadium on Sunday night at 5 p.m.

But already, the two-time defending champions passed their first big test of this postseason trek, side-stepping a potential trap game to strike first in the NLDS.

Playing before a generously listed, and heat-averse, crowd of just 50,194 –– the Dodgers’ smallest for a playoff game since 2016 –– it did take the club a few innings to find its way. 

Skubal’s command wasn’t crisp in the top of the first, as he worked around a leadoff single from Drake Baldwin by ultimately stranding him at second. The Dodgers’ lineup couldn’t get a bead on left-handed Braves opener Dylan Dodd, who gave the Braves three scoreless frames on a season-high 47 pitches.

The slow start, however, was snapped in a two-batter sequence in the bottom of the fourth, swinging the game in the Dodgers’ favor for good.

With Braves right-hander Victor Mederos on the mound, Freddie Freeman drew a four-pitch walk with one out in the inning. Then, Hernández stepped up to the plate and got a 1-1 cutter right down the middle.

The 431-foot drive was such a no-doubter, Hernández watched it all the way from the left-handed batter’s box, then flung his bat almost all the way back to the dugout with an authoritative underhand toss.

“It’s about what can I do in an at-bat, pitch by pitch, to help this team win ten more games this year,” Hernández said.

For a moment, the 2-0 lead felt almost insurmountable. 

Skubal was looking so dominant –– retiring 15 batters in a row after Baldwin’s game-opening single –– a group of fans in the left-field pavilion passed the time in the top of the fifth by doing an impromptu roll call (Yankee Stadium-style) for all the Dodgers fielders on defense.

Alas, trouble would arise in the sixth. Braves catcher Sean Murphy jumped on an elevated two-strike sinker to send a leadoff home run to center. Walks to light-hitting No. 9 hitter Ha-Seong Kim and infielder Ozzie Albies followed later in the inning, prompting a mound visit from pitching coach Mark Prior as the Dodgers’ bullpen began to stir.

The Dodgers, however, acquired Skubal at the trade deadline for moments like this.

And even with the Braves’ best hitter, first baseman Matt Olson, at the plate, the superstar left-hander didn’t waver, getting Olson to fly out to left field to cap off his 94-pitch start.

“We’re up 2-1 there, and I’m doing my best to keep it there as we come in,” Skubal said. “To be able to get out of the inning with just one run was huge.”

Minutes later, the Dodgers would pull away.

After hitting just five home runs in the entire regular season at Dodger Stadium, Tucker continued his recent turnaround by launching a two-run blast to right off AJ Smith-Shawver. Two batters later, Muncy also left the yard, padding his lead as the Dodgers’ all-time postseason home run leader with the 17th long ball of his October career.

Leading 5-1 at that point, the Dodgers turned to the bullpen. Brock Stewart and Alex Vesia provided a couple perfect innings in the seventh and eighth. Tanner Scott then created a brief scare in the ninth, giving up a two-run homer to Ozzie Albies, before settling down with a couple groundouts and turning things over to Evan Phillips to put the game away.

In the end, despite the heat and the bye-week and the trap-game circumstances, the Dodgers prevailed.

It was a decisive first step toward adding to their dynasty.

One win down. Ten more to go.

Today marks Dave Winfield’s 75th birthday.

Winfield enjoyed a remarkable 22-year Major League Baseball career, earning a spot in the Hall of Fame and playing a memorable season with the Blue Jays.

In 1992, at age 40, Dave joined the Blue Jays as a free agent. The team was strong but lacked a designated hitter, a role Winfield filled exceptionally well. He hit .290/.377/.491, producing 26 home runs and 108 RBI. Batting cleanup behind Devon White and Roberto Alomar—who frequently reached base—Winfield was in a prime position to drive in runs. Notably, he batted .303/.419/.545 with runners in scoring position.

Winfield emerged as a vocal leader for the team. In 1992, when Jays fans were seen as too quiet and polite, he famously encouraged them to make more noise—a moment later written about by Minor Leaguer.

Winfield, along with Joe Carter, once played a practical joke on rookie Derek Bell by pretending to give away his car as a prize on Fan Appreciation Day.

Winfield developed a reputation for struggling in the playoffs. George Steinbrenner dubbed him ‘Mr. April,’ a play on Reggie Jackson’s ‘Mr. October’ nickname. Winfield notably struggled in the 1981 World Series, going just 1-for-22 during the Yankees’ six-game loss to the Dodgers.

With the Blue Jays, Winfield performed better in the postseason. He hit .250/.357/.542 with 2 home runs in 6 ALCS games against the A’s. In the World Series against the Braves, he hit .227/.292/.273 with 3 RBI, and ultimately earned his only World Series ring.

Over his career, Winfield hit .283/.353/.475 with 465 home runs across 2,973 games. He was an excellent defensive right fielder, possessed good speed (stealing 223 bases), and was always entertaining to watch.

Happy birthday, Dave!

Today is Darrin Fletcher’s 60th birthday.

Darrin spent 14 seasons as a Major League catcher, including five with the Blue Jays and six with the Expos.

Fletcher joined the Blue Jays as a free agent prior to the 1998 season. In 1997, the team’s catcher, Benito Santiago, hit .243/.279/.387, highlighting the need for an upgrade.

The left-handed hitting Fletcher batted .276/.318/.434 with 61 home runs in 540 games as a Blue Jay. His best season came in 2000, when he posted a .320/.355/.514 line with 20 home runs. The following year saw a decline, as he hit .226/.274/.353 with 11 homers. He played 45 games in 2002 before retiring.

Over his career, Fletcher hit .269/.318/.423 with 124 home runs in 1,245 games.

He was regarded as a solid hitter but a below-average defensive catcher, particularly due to his weaker arm. It’s difficult to assess how well he handled his pitchers.

Fletcher also worked as a TV analyst for Jays broadcasts. I thought he did a good job, perhaps in part because he wasn’t on air for 150 games a year—so we never had a chance to tire of him.

Happy birthday, Darrin!

Today is Junior Felix’s 59th birthday.

Well, perhaps he’s turning 59—rumours circulated that Felix was older than he claimed. In those days, fake birth certificates were common in the Dominican Republic. Younger prospects had an advantage: a 17-year-old with the physique and skills of a 22-year-old would be seen as having greater growth potential, whereas at 22, teams expected less development.

Some believe he could have been as much as ten years older than his reported age.

So, today might be his birthday—or it might not.

Regardless…

Junior Felix was an outfield prospect for the Jays. After the team traded Jesse Barfield to the Yankees for Al Leiter in April, opening up a spot in the outfield for Felix.

In 1989, Felix hit .258/.315/.395 with 9 home runs, 8 triples, and 18 stolen bases over 110 games, primarily in right field. The Jays made the playoffs that year, and Felix went 3-for-11 in the three-game series loss to the A’s.

The next season, Felix hit .263/.328/.441 with 15 home runs and 13 stolen bases in 127 games. At just 22 years old—or so it was believed—I thought we had a promising outfielder for the future. It’s funny how quickly a player can become a favorite.

After that season, the Jays traded Felix and Luis Sojo to the Angels for Devon White, Willie Fraser, and Marcus Moore. I recall not being thrilled with the move. At 28, White had hit .247/.295/.389 over six seasons with the Angels, and despite his defense and speed, I didn’t see him as an upgrade. I was mistaken.

Felix played four more MLB seasons, batting .266/.313/.408 with 31 home runs in 348 games. Meanwhile, White won two World Series rings with the Jays. In hindsight, it’s safe to say the trade worked out well.

Happy birthday, Junior!

Here’s your thread for the two Division Series night games today.

5:30 p.m. CT: Yankees at Rays

TV: TBS, truTV, HBO Max. Announcers: Brian Anderson, Jeff Francoeur and Lauren Shehadi.

Gerrit Cole, RHP vs. Drew Rasmussen, RHP

MLB.com Gameday

Baseball-reference.com preview

7:30 p.m. CT: Padres at Brewers

TV: FS1. Announcers: Adam Amin, Adam Wainwright, A.J. Pierzynski (analyst) and Tom Verducci.

Robbie Ray, LHP vs. Jacob Misiorowski, RHP

MLB.com Gameday

Baseball-reference.com preview

The Yankees will kick off the Division Series from Tampa, with Gerrit Cole on the mound and Ben Rice leading off as the Bombers look to continue the chase for 28.

Going with yet another lefty-heavy lineup, the Yankees are going with Jazz Chisholm Jr. at second, Spencer Jones in right field, and Luis García Jr. at first over Paul Goldschmidt. The veteran first baseman may appear as a pinch-hitter, as may Giancarlo Stanton, who is on the roster again but won’t start.

Drew Rasmussen will get his second career postseason outing for the Rays, looking for a hot start to the series in Tampa Bay. The 31-year-old righty had a 2.67 ERA in 30 starts during the regular season. He’s posting a 2.86 ERA against the Yankees this season, allowing 14 hits and giving up seven earned runs in 22 innings.

We hope that you’ll come join us in the game thread as we kick off another postseason matchup as the Yankees race for the American League!

How to watch

Location: Tropicana Field – St. Petersburg, FL

First pitch: 6:30 p.m. ET

TV broadcast: TBS/TruTV

Streaming: HBO Max

Radio broadcast: WFAN 660/101.9 FM, WADO 1280 (NYY) | 95.7 FM / 620 AM, WESX 1230 AM (TB) ESPN Radio (national)

For updates, follow us on BlueSky, Twitter, and Instagram, and like us on Facebook.

Former Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Sandy Koufax made an appearance at Dodger Stadium on Saturday, Oct. 3.

The Dodgers were taking on the Atlanta Braves in the first game of the National League Division Series.

Koufax was among those in the crowd to watch the game up close with a seat in the second row despite the brutal heat in Los Angeles. The 90-year-old has frequently attended postseason games and the World Series in recent years. The Dodgers have an opportunity to complete a World Series three-peat this year.

It was 102 degrees, according to AccuWeather, during the bottom of the fifth inning in Los Angeles. There was a RealFeel of 106, with a wind gust of nine MPH.

The temperature was just under the record-high 108-degree day set in 1987. AccuWeather notes that the "extreme heat can be dangerous for outdoor activities."

There were times Friday, manager Aaron Boone admitted, when he thought that Aaron Judge was going to be on the division series roster. 

In all likelihood, it would have been just as a pinch hitter, possibly with a chance to be a full player later in the best-of-five series against the Rays if his right calf allowed. That was all part of the discussion when Boone sat down with Judge and director of sports medicine and rehab Mike Schuck in his office at Tropicana Field after Friday’s workout. The manager then asked for an hour to think it through even more before ultimately coming to the decision to leave Judge off the roster for the second straight round. 

“In the end, I just feel like he’s not quite ready to do it,” Boone said Saturday in that same office before the Yankees fell 1-0 in the series opener. “He wanted to be on and was willing to do anything, but I just felt like for us to win a World Series — and fully acknowledging with him, and I understand this, obviously there’s no guarantees. We could be home in a week. 

“But for us to potentially have a [good] version of Aaron back, I feel like he needs this week to continue to hit, continue to ramp up the running and moving and all those things. So it was very close for me … but I just felt like this was the right decision.” 

Judge, who has been doing everything in his power in the 17 days since he strained his right calf to get back as soon as possible, took the news “OK.” 

“I think he’s disappointed, because I think he wants to be on, but I think he understands, too,” Boone said. 

And so the three-time MVP was back at George M. Steinbrenner Field, the Yankees spring training home in Tampa, Saturday morning to continue his buildup in hopes of joining the Yankees for the ALCS if they can get there without him. 

Judge has taken multiple rounds of live batting practice over the last five days and started his outdoor running progression Tuesday, a few hours before Game 1 of the AL wild-card series against the Red Sox, though he has still not advanced to running the bases. So despite making progress and looking better, it was still not enough to defy the odds and return this quickly. 

“The reality is he just hasn’t run a lot yet or started to move a lot,” Boone said. “It’s one thing to be able to go out there and manage. It’s another thing to do it [for] three hours. I just feel like that volume part of it would have been a real challenge. And if we kept him on [the roster] in Giancarlo [Stanton’s] role, in that pinch hitting role, I feel like that would have stripped away the ability to have some really good days and be in a better position five, seven, nine days from now.” 

The ALCS begins Oct. 12, nine days away from Saturday. 

The Yankees considered carrying Judge on the roster with the thought of not using him until later in the series, like once they got back to New York for Game 3 or 4, but opted against it. 

“I just felt like we probably needed a little more time for that to be a realistic thing,” Boone said. 

Boone also indicated that the turf at Tropicana Field — which can be troublesome for players dealing with soft-tissue leg injuries — was not a major factor in leaving Judge off the roster. 

“If we were at home, he wouldn’t be playing right now,” Boone said. “The turf always factors in, but it wasn’t in the immediate right now anyway. If he would have been on, it would have been in a pinch hitting role only.” 

The Yankees withstood Judge’s absence in the wild-card series without a problem, crushing the Red Sox in a two-game sweep. But trying to take down the Rays without him may prove to be a more difficult task. 

“It would be a blessing to have Aaron,” Spencer Jones said Saturday. “But at the same time, there’s games ahead that we’ve got to win with or without him. I think we’re set up, in a way, in a good position to win with the guys we’ve got.”