Braves-Dodgers begin playoff series Saturday in Los Angeles
LOS ANGELES — After surviving the best-of-three wild-card series against the rival Phillies at Truist Park and celebrating late into the night Thursday, the Braves arrived in Los Angeles on Friday afternoon ahead of their showdown with the Dodgers in the National League Division Series.
NL East champions, the Braves went 5-1 against the Dodgers during the regular season. The Dodgers went on to easily win the NL West, and despite having the second-best record in the NL behind the Brewers, are still regarded as the heavy favorites to win the World Series.
Here are some more important things to know about the best-of-five series which begins Saturday at Dodger Stadium:
The schedule
The series is scheduled to begin at 4 p.m. Saturday at Dodger Stadium and continue at 8 p.m. Sunday at the home of the Dodgers.
Teams will have an off day Monday to travel to Atlanta for the third game of the series scheduled for 6 p.m. Tuesday. Should a fourth game be necessary, that is also scheduled for 6 p.m. Wednesday.
Should the series need a winner-take-all fifth game, the two teams would head back to LA on Thursday and play at 8 p.m. Friday.
The pitching matchup
The Braves are not in a good spot when it comes to starting pitching.
Chris Sale was masterful Tuesday in beating the Phillies, striking out nine in 6 1/3 innings in the Braves’ 5-3 victory. But then the Braves used Sale to get the final four outs of Thursday’s must-win game.
Sale will still likely start Sunday’s game, but may not be able to go very deep into the evening.
“A lot of it’s going to depend on how (Sale) feels. Certainly don’t want to jeopardize him and his health,” Braves manager Walt Weiss said Friday. “He’s had to grind here recently. We’re gonna err on the side of giving him more rest if it’s even close.”
Tyler Mahle, despite battling an abdominal strain Wednesday, went seven innings and limited the Phillies to a single run. He is likely to start Game 3 at Truist Park.
As for Saturday’s opening game, Weiss wouldn’t commit to a starting pitcher. Grant Holmes, who threw only 28 pitches Thursday, could be an option. Left-handed reliever Brent Suter, who did not pitch in the Phillies series, or righties JR Ritchie and AJ Smith-Shawver, who were not on the NLWCS roster, may be choices, too.
Weiss also said it’s unlikely injured starters Bryce Elder and Martín Pérez would be available for this round of the playoffs.
As for the Dodgers, Tarik Skubal is expected to take the mound in Game 1. Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Blake Snell or Tyler Glasnow would all be available after that.
The roster
The Braves went short on pitching and heavy on position players for the wild-card series, as is often the strategy for teams in wild-card series. That probably won’t be the case against the Dodgers.
Ritchie and Smith-Shawver, or both, could join the team to add pitching depth. Either could be deployed as a starter or a reliever
Lane Thomas took batting practice and ran the bases at full speed this past week at Truist Park. He’ll likely return to the roster to give the Braves a right-handed bat against left-handed pitching.
Both clubs will officially announce their rosters before Saturday’s game.