Atlanta Braves' Austin Riley’s stunning blast off Philadelphia Phillies' Jhoan Duran put the Los Angeles Dodgers on notice.
The first game of the 2026 MLB postseason is in the books, and it saw the Atlanta Braves defeat the Philadelphia Phillies, 5-3.
Atlanta enjoyed a 2-1 lead going into the seventh inning, only for the Phillies to score two runs themselves.
Then, the Los Angeles Dodgers learned just how dangerous this Braves lineup can be.
Austin Riley, who bats seventh in the lineup, hit the first home run of the playoffs as he shockingly took Jhoan Duran deep to put the Braves up by two runs.
His three-run blast put the Dodgers on notice, no doubt, but there's still more work to be done for Atlanta if they want to punch their ticket to the National League Division Series.
Dodgers realized Duran is hittable
Should the Phillies turn things around and win the next two games of the series, Duran suddenly doesn't look as unhittable as he once did.
Philadelphia took a huge risk by asking him to pitch both the eighth and ninth innings, and that's a decision that blew up in their face.
No matter what Duran's ERA was during the regular season or how many saves he had, all bets are off in the postseason, and he suddenly is 0-1 with a blown save and a 13.50 ERA.
Riley can change game on one swing
Shifting focus to the Braves, Riley proved that even in the bottom third of this Braves lineup, this team has what it takes to get the job done.
Riley may have hit just .219 in the regular season, but his two-on, two-out blast in the eighth off Duran is a moment that will be relived for quite some time if the Braves are able to make a deep run.
Each team struggled with runners in scoring position
Neither team was impressive with runners on base, and that's not something they can allow to happen in a sprint playoff series like this one.
The Phillies left four total runners on base, and JT Realmuto provided their lone hit with runners in scoring position.
When it came to the Braves, their 2-for-7 performance wasn't much better than the Phillies 1-for-5 night.
Obviously, Riley came up with one of those hits, and the other belonged to eighth-hitter Mike Yastrzemski, who went 1-for-4 on the night with an RBI.
Dodgers are paying close attention
With the Braves jumping out to a 1-0 series lead, there's no doubt the Dodgers are paying close attention, as that's a team that won five of six games against them in the regular season.
