The Braves left the yard twice, but fell in the NLDS opener.
The biggest question for the Atlanta Braves heading into October was whether they had done enough with their roster to truly compete with the Los Angeles Dodgers. For right or for wrong, that was always going to be the biggest question, because no matter how well Atlanta or any other team in the National League played this season, the defending back-to-back champions were always going to be the bar to clear.
This became even more so the case when LA went all in at the trade deadline to acquire two-time Cy Young Award-winning starting pitcher Tarik Skubal from the Detroit Tigers. There were many who felt Atlanta (or several other contenders) could have and should have outbid the Dodgers for Skubal, but instead it was the reigning champions who added the best pitcher in the game, bolstering a roster many already felt was far and away the best in baseball.
Skubal got the ball in Game 1 against Atlanta and did not disappoint. The hard-throwing left-hander went six innings, striking out seven batters while allowing just two hits and one earned run. The one earned run came on a solo home run from Sean Murphy, which pulled the Braves to within a run in the top of the sixth inning, but the Dodgers would eventually answer and win the game by a final score of 5-3.
The Braves did show some life in the top of the ninth, getting two runs off of left-hander Tanner Scott on an Ozzie Albies home run before anyone recorded an out, but that 5-3 score would hold and LA took a 1-0 lead.
This five-game series can move quickly, but the Braves are experienced with that short-series format, having just survived the three-game Wild Card Series against the Philadelphia Phillies. This is obviously far from over, but the Dodgers looked every bit as formidable as people expected when this roster was put together, and will be a huge challenge for the Braves the rest of this National League Division Series.
There is certainly reason to believe that the winner of this series could be who comes out of the National League, with all due respect to the Milwaukee Brewers and San Diego Padres, as there is a ton of star power on display in this one.
Game 1 went to the Dodgers, but the Braves can steal home-field advantage with a victory in Game 2.
