LOS ANGELES — Tarik Skubal dominated over six innings, three home runs powered the offense and the Los Angeles Dodgers opened the National League Division Series (NLDS) with a 5-3 victory over the Atlanta Braves on Saturday.
Teoscar Hernandez, Kyle Tucker and Max Muncy all went deep as the Dodgers started their quest to become the first National League club to win three consecutive championships and the first major league team to do it since the New York Yankees from 1998-2000.
Skubal (1-0) gave up one run on two hits with two walks and seven strikeouts in his first postseason start for Los Angeles after arriving in a trade-deadline deal from the Detroit Tigers.
Sean Murphy and Ozzie Albies hit home runs for the Braves, who entered off a wild-card round victory over the Philadelphia Phillies and are trying to advance past the NLDS for the first time since winning the World Series in 2021. Left-hander Dylan Dodd opened the game with three scoreless innings for Atlanta before giving way to Victor Mederos (0-1), who gave up Hernandez’s home run and recorded just one out in the fourth inning.
On a blisteringly hot day, with the temperature at 100° to open the game, Skubal allowed only one hit through his first five scoreless innings on the mound.
Hernandez backed Skubal with a two-run home run in the fourth inning for a 2-0 advantage.
“I really don’t care if I strike out in big situations. I always want to be the guy to be in those moments,” Hernandez said. “I worked really hard for it, and I think the bigger the moment, the more focused I get. Just trying to put together a good at-bat for the team. Obviously if I get a good pitch to hit, I just try to put a good swing on it.” — Reuters