LOS ANGELES – At this time last year Julio Teheran was 21 years old and coming off a wholly disappointing second season at Triple-A Gwinnett, where he’d gone 7-9 while posting a 5.08 ERA, which seemed almost incomprehensible for an uninjured young guy who’d previously been rated one of the top two or three pitching prospects in baseball.

  Tonight, with his career back in ascendance following a strong rookie season, Teheran will start a crucial Game 3 in the division series for the Braves at sold-out Dodger Stadium, where most of 55,000 or so fans will be cheering like crazy for the Dodgers in their first home playoff game since 2009.

  The best-of-five series is tied  at a game apiece, and if the Braves lose they would face elimination in Game 4 Monday at Dodger Stadium. Whereas a win tonight would put the Braves in position to clinch the series on Monday, or return to Atlanta to play a decisive Game 5 Wednesday at Turner Field, where they had the best home record in the majors this season.

   The Braves have won seven consecutive postseason-series Game 2’s, after losing all seven Game 1’s in that period. And now they’ll try to snap their string of six consecutive series losses and win their first playoff series since sweeping the Astros in a 2001 division series.

  Like I said, tonight’s game is real important.

 Teheran and the Braves will be facing a pitcher, lefty Hyun-Jin Ryu, who had a 2.32 home ERA and allowed one or no runs in seven of his 12 starts. Ryu allowed more than three runs in only one home game, that when he allowed four.

  But Ryu is a rookie, too, albeit a 26-year-old Korean with plenty of previous professional experience at this highest level that his homeland offered. He, too, will make his first major league postseason start.

   “I feel really excited about this game,” said Teheran, who was 14-8 with a 3.20 ERA in 30 starts in his first full season, with 170 strikeouts in 185-2/3 innings. “I never thought that I'm going to be in this situation this year in my first year.  But I'm just trying to calm myself and be focused on the game and try to do the same thing I've been doing.”

  The soft-spoken Colombian had a road ERA (3.38) that wasn’t much different than his ERA at Turner Field (3.04).

  Shortstop Andrelton Simmons, one of Teheran’s best friends on the team, said the Braves have full confidence in the young pitcher.

  “Oh, yeah. We’ve seen what he’s been capable of doing,” Simmons said after Saturday’s off-day workout at Dodger Stadium, held at same time of day as the Game 3 start time (5:37 p.m. Pacific, 8:37 p.m. Easten). “Whenever he’s confident and he’s got his stuff, when he’s throwing his slider, his change-up, his curveball, he blows his fastball by people.”

  Teheran and Ryu each went 14-8 in 30 starts this season, Ryu finishing with a  3.00 ERA, 154 strikeouts and a .252 opponents’ average in 192 innings, with 49 walks and 15 homers surrendered.

  Teheran had a 7.31 ERA and .318 opponents’ average in his first three starts this season, allowing 21 hits, seven walks and an alarming five homers in 16 innings of those games. But then he gave up only one run and eight hits (no homers) in an April 23 start at hitter-friendly Colorado, and that start seemed to get him going.

  Teheran went 9-5 with a 2.38 ERA and 11 homers allowed over a stretch of 19 starts beginning at Colorado, and had a 2.81 ERA and .239 opponents’ average over his final 27 starts. He did give up three homers and nine runs in 17-2/3 innings over his final three starts, but had 16 strikeouts with no walks in those games. 

  “He grew up a lot during the season,” Simmons said. “He started off a little rocky, but as he got settled down his confidence went up. He knew what he had to do. He knew what we expected from him whenever he went out, and he’s been doing great for us.

  “He’s my boy. I haven’t really talked to him about the game, but he seems relaxed. He’s not worried. I mean, it’s a bigger game, but it’s another day of baseball. Hopefully he treats it like that and just does what he does best.”

  Gonzalez said he didn’t plan to have any discussion with Teheran about it being his first postseason start or what to expect in what is sure to be charged atmosphere. The impression Gonzalez gave was that he thought to do so my be counterproductive, which I could understand. I mean, Teheran obviously knows it’s a huge game and doesn’t need to be reminded of that.

  “He’ll compete like he always has,” Gonzalez said at Saturday’s workout. “If he has his fastball command and throws his secondary pitches, he’ll be OK. But as far as conversation -- you know, it’s still 60 feet, 6 inches, and get ahead of the hitters.”

Braves GAME 3 lineup

1. Heyward cf
2. JUpton rf
3. Freeman 1b
4. Gattis lf
5. McCann c
6. CJohnson 3b
7. Simmons ss
8. EJohnson 2b
9. Teheran p

   • Dodger blue: The Braves aren’t the only proud franchise in this series that’s struggled in postseasons for more than a decade. Since beating Oakland in the 1988 World Series, the Dodgers have gone 10-21 in 31 postseason games, with a 4.72 ERA. They lost seven of eight postseason series in that period, with the only win coming in a division series sweep of the Cubs in 2008.

  The Dodgers are 6-9 in 15 home playoff games in that stretch.

 • More on tonight’s importance: From 2003 through last October, 15 best-of-five Division Series were tied after two games, and the Game 3 winner won 14 of those 15 series, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

  There are two other factors that add to the importance of tonight’s game from the Braves’ perspective: a. by winning tonight, they would assure the Dodgers can’t play a potential clinching game at home; and b., the outcome of tonight’s game could also determine whom the Braves face in Monday’s Game 4 at Dodger Stadium, Clayton Kershaw or Ricky Nolasco.

  Kershaw would be starting on short rest for the first time in his career, and after throwing 124 pitches in his seven-inning, 13-strikeout performance in Game 1.  But the Dodgers, if facing elimination in Game 4, still might decide to roll the dice and go with their ace Kershaw over Nolasco, who had  had a 12.75 ERA in his last three regular-season starts, and has a 6-10 record and 5.11 ERA in his career against Atlanta, three more losses than he has against any other team.

  The former Marlin is 1-4 with a 6.17 ERA in his past six starts against the Braves, although Nolasco did win his only start against them this season, allowing six hits and two runs in seven innings on July 3 at Turner Field. He had allowed four or more earned runs in each of his previous five starts against the Braves, and surrendered seven homers in 28 innings of those five games.

  After Dodgers manager Don Mattingly said Saturday that he was leaning toward Nolasco for Game 4 but that the scenarios would be discussed later, I asked Fredi Gonzalez again Saturday just to make sure that his Game 4 plans were unchanged. Yes, he said, veteran Freddy Garcia, who has more postseason experience than any other Brave, gets that start regardless of tonight’s outcome.

   More on tonight’s matchup:  Ryu’s home ERA (2.32) was nearly 1-1/2 runs lower than his road ERA (3.69), although he had identical 7-4 records in 15 starts both at home and on road.

  He was 11-5 with a stingy 2.67 ERA in 22 night games, compared to 3-3 with a 4.02 ERA in eight day games.

  Ryu allowed more than three runs just once at Dodger Stadium – four runs in five innings of an Aug. 24 loss vs. Boston.

   Lefties hit .270/.322/.416 with five  homers in 185 at-bats against Ryu, while righties hit .245/.291/.342 with 10 homers in 538 at-bats. He had a first-inning problem even more severe than Mike Minor’s this season: Ryu allowed a .308 average, .382 OBP and seven homers in 117 at-bats in 30 first innings, and a .240 average and eight homers in 162 other innings.

   Ryu had no decisions and a 2.13 ERA in two starts against the Braves, allowing 11 hits (no homers), three runs and six walks with 11 strikeouts in 12-2/3 innings.

   Against Ryu: Freddie Freeman is 3-for-4, Simmons is 2-for-7, Justin Upton and Chris Johnson are each 1-for-6, Jason Heyward is 1-for-7 with three strikeouts, B.J. Upton is 1-for-5, Brian McCann is 0-for-2, and Evan Gattis is 0-for-3.

   Teheran’s splits aren’t much different home and road: 8-4 with 3.04 ERA and .243 opp avg in 16 home starts, 3.38 ERA and .250 opp avg in 14 road starts). His lefty/righty splits are another matter: Lefties  hit .289/.340/.483 with 14 homers in 346 at-bats against him, while righties hit just .204/.264/.317 with eight homers in 357 at-bats.

  Teheran hasn’t faced the Dodgers, and the only current Dodger who’s faced him is Michael Young (0-for-3, one strikeout).

 • Paco vs. J-Hey: Dodgers manager Don Mattingly has taken some heat in L.A. after having lefty Paco Rodriguez walk Reed Johnson intentionally with first base open to face Jason Heyward in the seventh inning of Game 2 with the Braves leading 2-1 and two out. Heyward hit a decisive two-run single up the middle.

  Rodriguez’s .164 opponents’ average was the second-best among NL relievers this season, behind only Tyler Clippard (.152), the Nationals reliever against whom the Braves feasted. Rodriguez held lefties to a puny .131 average all season, and all hitters were 3-for-27 against him with runners in scoring position and two outs.

  Dodger fans cry Braves bias: Just to let you know, it’s not just Braves fans who feel like their team is sometimes not given its due by national media and/or TV networks. I give you this from Los Angeles Times columnist Chris Erskine, on the perception of TBS announcers as showing Braves bias so far in series:

…Charges of favoritism are always subjective — sports fans can be sensitive sorts when it comes to how their home team is portrayed by out-of-towners.

And the fact that TBS is based in Atlanta, and that play-by-play man Ernie Johnson Jr. has a long history with the Braves, might make Dodgers fans suspicious of their allegiances (Johnson's father was the Braves' play-by-play announcer for four decades).

But tonally — in what the announcers say, how they say it, with the level of detail they provide — the TBS crew of Johnson, Ron Darling and Cal Ripken seems by many to have had a decidedly pro-Braves bent. And that has Dodgers fans a little bent as well.

"The 'East Coast bias' is alive and well," says Lolly Hellman, who's been following the Dodgers for more than 50 years. "You hear it every time they open their mouths. It's all Braves talk, and you can practically hear the announcers thinking 'Beat the Dodgers!'"

TBS officials did not want to comment on any perceived favoritism.

Of note in Friday's telecast:

•A lack of story lines for the Dodger players, while unloading mounds of material on the Braves.

•Comments early in the game about ball and strike calls all going the Dodgers' way.

•The gushing over Braves pitcher Mike Minor's performance, even as Zack Greinke is matching him nearly pitch for pitch. "Mike is really in a rhythm right now," Ripken said in the sixth inning.

•In talking about pitchers as generally poor hitters, never acknowledging that Greinke, who is on the mound as they're discussing this, hit .328 in the regular season.

•Talk of how Greinke is "struggling," as they flash a graphic in the fourth inning showing he's given up no walks and four hits against a lineup that won 96 games in the regular season.

•Their easy acceptance of Dee Gordon being called out on his pivotal steal attempt in the ninth, though at least some replays seemed to show he beat the tag.

Overall, the TBS visual storytelling has been sufficient, sometimes extraordinary, as when they picked up Braves catcher Brian McCann chalking his fingers so the pitcher could get a better read. And, thankfully, TBS seems to forsake the ultra-close-ups of ballplayers spitting or fiddling with their noses, which seems to be a Fox trademark.

Otherwise, the telecasts have been largely uninspired. Oddly, TV directors across the board still fail to catch where fielders are positioning themselves with runners in scoring position at key points in a game.

Largely colorless as well, the only light moment in TBS Friday coverage came when correspondent Craig Sager, he of the dollar-store sport coats, flubbed the number of years Tom Lasorda had been with the Dodgers. Baseball's grandpa-emeritus quickly corrected him, making you wonder if at 86, Lasorda is still quicker than most TV types.

Meanwhile, what's a Dodgers fan to do? TBS says the same announcers will also do the NL Championship Series.

Perhaps the telecasts will balance out, now that the next two are set in L.A., though the venue should really have nothing to do with fairness in coverage.

"I muted the TV and listened to our beloved Vin announce part of it on radio," said fan Catherine Domier Canamar.

 • Etc.

  Andrelton Simmons hit .275 (38-for-138) with 20 extra-base hits (three triples, six homers), 19 RBIs and a .529 slugging percentage in his last 42 regular-season games, and he’s 2-for-5 with a RBI double, a sacrifice bunt and one walk in the first two games of the division series…. B.J. Upton went 14-for-42 (.333) with a double, a triple, seven homers, 15 RBIs and a .905 slugging percentage in his first 10 postseason games in 2008, with the Tampa Bay Rays. Since then, he is 13-for-61 (.213) with five doubles, no homers, three RBIs and a .295 slugging percentage in his past 17 postseason games, with four walks, 20 strikeouts. He struck out in his only two plate appearances in the first two games of this series…. Chris Johnson has a .375 average (18-for-48) with nine doubles, a triple, two homers, 10 RBIs and a .729 slugging percentage in 14 career games at Dodger Stadium…. Orange County (Calif.) native Freddie Freeman has hit .349 (15-for-43) with two homers in 11 games at Dodger Stadium…. The Braves are probably grateful to be 1-1 in the series considering they have a 4.50 ERA and .183 batting average, and totaled 11 hits and five runs in two games. The Dodgers have a 2.65 ERA and .309 batting average, with 21 hits and nine runs.

 • Let's close with lyrics by the great Woody Guthrie, as performed by Wilco and Billy Bragg. You can hear/see it by clicking here, and here is a live version.

“CALIFORNIA STARS” by Woody Guthrie (as covered by Wilco, Bragg)

I'd like to rest my heavy head tonight
On a bed of California stars
I'd like to lay my weary bones tonight
On a bed of California stars

I'd love to feel
Your hand touching mine
And tell me why
I must keep working on

Yes I'd give my life
To lay my head tonight on a bed
Of California stars

I'd like to dream
My troubles all away
On a bed of California stars

Jump up from my star bed
Make another day
Underneath my California stars
They hang like grapes
On vines that shine
And warm the lovers' glass
Like friendly wine

So I'd give this world
Just to dream a dream with you
On our bed of California stars

I'd like to rest my heavy head tonight
On a bed of California stars
I'd like to lay my weary bones tonight
On a bed of California stars

I'd love to feel
Your hand touching mine
And tell me why
I must keep working on

Yes I'd give my life
To lay my head tonight on a bed
Of California stars

I'd like to dream
My troubles all away
On a bed of California stars

Jump up from my star bed
Make another day
Underneath my California stars

They hang like grapes
On vines that shine
And warm the lovers' glass
Like friendly wine

So I'd give this world
Just to dream a dream with you
On our bed of California stars

So I'd give this world
Just to dream a dream with you
On our bed of California stars

(Dream a dream with you)