Braves’ loss in NLDS opener has fingerprints from Wild Card Series

LOS ANGELES — The Braves lost Game 1 of the National League Division Series in Dodger Stadium Saturday.

The path to it, though, began Wednesday afternoon at Truist Park. After losing to Philadelphia in Game 2 of the Wild Card Series, the Braves had to expend arms and energy to win Game 3 on Thursday.

It had a direct result in who was available and how manager Walt Weiss elected to play the game, a 5-3 defeat that now puts the Braves in a position of having to win three games out of the next four against the two-time defending World Series champions.

Had the Braves won Game 2 against the Phillies on Wednesday, they would have been off both Thursday and Friday. It would have given them another day to rest and reset the bullpen for the start of the series with the Dodgers.

Instead, they played late into the night Thursday, pitched six arms in the winner-take-all game, traveled across the country Friday and entered the opening game of the series against baseball’s monolith with a tapped-out bullpen.

It’s unknowable what Weiss’ best bullpen arms could have done Saturday — to say nothing of injured starters such as Bryce Elder, Reynaldo López and Martín Pérez. Or, for that matter, Spencer Schwellenbach and Spencer Strider.

But reliever Ray Kerr’s standout performance in his opener in Game 3 — that would have been useful to follow (or precede) Dylan Dodd’s scoreless three innings Saturday, a performance on par with Kerr’s.

“He was outstanding,” Weiss said of Dodd.

Instead, Dodd passed the baton to the less reliable Víctor Mederos and AJ Smith-Shawver, who gave up a combined three home runs to allow the Dodgers to take a 5-1 lead after six innings.

The next two pitchers to follow Kerr on Thursday — Grant Holmes and Robert Suárez — could have helped, too, had they been available.

Weiss also said that he wasn’t going to use highly effective setup-man Didier Fuentes unless the Braves were winning, because that would have been his fourth appearance in five days and would have made him unavailable for Sunday.

“So it was going to be really tough to chase from behind (Saturday),” Weiss said. “But you know what? I’d sign up for that every time to win the previous series.”

In short, the Braves played the pivotal opening game extremely short-handed against the rested, more talented Dodgers and then were willing to withhold a top arm once they fell behind.

“It’s a challenge,” Weiss said. “Even (Saturday), was going to be tough for us to chase from behind because of how we emptied the tank on Thursday night.”

Having to go to three games to beat the Phillies may also have knocked out the Braves’ ace from being available on Sunday. Had the Braves finished off the Phillies in two games — or won Game 3 handily enough that Weiss didn’t call on Chris Sale to throw 21 pitches to close the game out — Sale would have been ready for Sunday on four days’ rest.

“There’s a chance we could decide (on Sale Saturday night),” Weiss said. “Obviously, if he felt great tonight, that’s probably our answer. There’s a chance we may wait until the morning to see how he wakes up.”

Without Sale, Sunday’s pitching matchup looks like two-time Cy Young Award winner Blake Snell for the Dodgers and another bullpen game for the Braves. Starting candidates include Holmes and Fuentes.

The Game 2 loss to the Phillies was, of course, entirely winnable. Dylan Lee gave up back-to-back home runs to Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper that erased the Braves’ 3-1 lead in the eighth inning of the eventual 4-3 loss in 10 innings. The Braves also left 11 runners on base.

All is not lost for the Braves.

If Sale is ready to go Sunday and leads the Braves to a win, the series goes to Atlanta tied 1-1, with the Braves now holding home-field advantage and even having a chance to win the series at home in Games 3 and 4.

Tyler Mahle (who had a 0.00 ERA in innings against the Dodgers in two starts in 2024 and 2025 before he joined the Braves) could get the Braves a win in Game 3. Perhaps Kerr and whatever other arms are available could tag-team a win in Game 4. It’s not out of the question.

“Look, you’ve got Sale and Mahle still,” Weiss said. “(Sunday), a much more rested bullpen. Yeah, I don’t have any worries about that, about having enough pitching. We’ve got plenty of pitching.”

But the degree of difficulty is much greater, obviously.