With how mediocre the Los Angeles Dodgers looked by their own standards for much of this regular season, it would have been hard to blame anyone for expecting a Game 1 upset loss to open the NLDS.
But these are the Dodgers, a team with three championships since 2020 — and if Saturday was only a preview of the next few weeks, then it’ll be four titles in seven years.
Tarik Skubal turned heads with a one-run, seven-strikeout outing in his Dodgers playoff debut, just as we all expected. But perhaps the most significant storyline involved outfielders Kyle Tucker and Teoscar Hernández, both of whom homered in the 5-3 win over Atlanta.
Life is better at Chavez Ravine when those three are at their best, and the rest of Major League Baseball should be back on high alert.
Here come Tarik Skubal and the Los Angeles Dodgers amid their latest title chase
According to Major League Baseball’s Sonja Chen, teams are 116-44 (73 percent) in a best-of-five postseason series after getting out to a 1-0 lead. Those that won Game 1 of the Division Series at home are 42-14 since the league adopted a 2-2-1 format in 1998.
In other words: Good luck to the Braves, because history is already significantly working against them.
Shohei Ohtani’s knee issues drew attention away from the Dodgers like we haven't seen in quite some time. The narrative became that the two-time defending champions were beatable and, dare we say, human.
But how easily we forget that the Dodgers are far more than their four-time MVP, who went 1-for-4 with a single on Saturday. Max Muncy continued his bounce-back season with a solo home run, and three of the four relievers held Atlanta hitless. Closer Evan Phillips shut the door after veteran lefty Tanner Scott allowed two runs in the ninth.
We’re no longer veering into hyperbolic territory when we call the Dodgers a terrifying juggernaut. They’re 10 wins away from becoming the first team to win three consecutive titles since the 1998-2000 Yankees. Dave Roberts’ club ran away with the NL West despite an injury-ravaged pitching staff, Tucker’s prolonged struggles and other notable problems.
Saturday had all the making of a Braves victory, at least from a momentum standpoint. Atlanta was fresh off defeating the rival Phillies in the Wild Card Series, and we had just watched the White Sox take down the Guardians despite using a “bullpen” game.
Atlanta opted for the same strategy, and it backfired in the middle innings. Victor Mederos gave up Hernández’s two-run homer in the fourth, and the Dodgers soon beat up AJ Smith-Shawver for two homers, three hits and two walks.
But as we did during the Patriots and Warriors’ dynasties, perhaps we erred in writing off the Dodgers so quickly. Shows what we know.
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