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Skubal was dynamite for much of the scorching afternoon.
An impassioned Tarik Skubal celebrated a fifth-inning strikeout of Austin Riley, the 15th straight batter he retired amid a 5-3 Los Angeles Dodgers victory over the Atlanta Braves in Game 1 of the NLDS at Dodger Stadium in L.A.
On a day when temperatures reached triple digits in Southern California, Los Angeles Dodgers ace Tarik Skubal turned up the heat, too. The lefty hurler consistently flirted with and eventually topped 100 mph on Saturday in Game 1 of the National League Division Series against the Atlanta Braves in Dodger Stadium. That set up his lethal changeup that played a big role in him, at one point, retiring 15 straight batters.
He got plenty of support, with the Dodgers homering three times in a 5-3 victory that staked them to a 1-0 series lead. The Braves' runs were also the result of long balls. Sean Murphy went yard in the sixth to temporarily make it a one-run game, and Ozzie Albies provided Atlanta fans a sliver of hope in the ninth, thanks to a no-out two-run blast.
Skubal ended the afternoon with seven strikeouts — four off his signature changeup — and gave up only two hits and one run in his first playoff start for the Dodgerswas left-handed reliever Ray Kerr , who opened with 3 1/3 innings of shutout ball. Similarly, Weiss entrusted another member of his bullpen, southpaw Dylan Dodd, with the ball to start Saturday's game against the Dodgers. He delivered as well, accounting for three scoreless frames while piling up four strikeouts.
But as soon as the Braves switched things up on the bump, the game went south for the NL East champs. The NL West's best feasted on Atlanta's Victor Mederos. The righty struggled with his command from the get-go, issuing a four-pitch walk to Freddie Freeman and then hanging a cutter over the middle of the plate against Hernández. The left fielder crushed a towering, 431-foot two-run dinger off that pitch.
Follow along with Yahoo Sports for in-game updates, highlights and more from Game 1 of the NLDS between the Dodgers and Braves. The Braves made things interesting in the ninth inning after posting only two hits in the first eight frames, but the Dodgers bullpen holds on. Los Angeles takes a 1-0 lead in the NLDS behind six strong innings from Tarik Skubal and homers from Teoscar Hernández, Kyle Tucker and Max Muncy.
Dubón draws a walk, which brings Austin Riley to the plate as the tying run. Danger zone for the Dodgers. Scott shakes off the Albies homer with two quick outs from Michael Harris II and Matt Olson. With one out to go, the Dodgers are now bringing in veteran right-hander Evan Phillips to face Mauricio Dubón.
Hello, there. Ronald Acuña Jr. welcomes Scott with a full-count single, then Ozzie Albies crushes a two-run homer to halve the Dodgers' lead with no outs. Dodgers closer Tanner Scott is in with a four-run lead to end this thing, in his Dodgers postseason debut. He'll face the heart of the Braves order.
Brent Suter throws a perfect eighth inning to send this game to the ninth. Barring a comeback, the Braves will get through this bullpen game with only four pitchers.
However, Dylan Dodd , AJ Smith-Shawver and Suter all saw significant use in this game, so you'd imagine their odds of being available for Game 2 are low. Vesia has no trouble with the 8-9-1 slots of the Braves' lineup. Alex Vesia is in for the Dodgers in the eighth inning, with Edgardo Henriquez warming up behind him.
Henriquez has not pitched since Sept. 13 due to a back issue, but the Dodgers apparently want to give him a shot here. The Braves opted for lefty Brent Suter in the bottom of the seventh inning. Top 7: Dodgers turn to RHP Brock Stewart; Tarik Skubal's day is done Tarik Skubal's final stat line: 6 innings pitched with 7 strikeouts and 2 hits, 2 walks and 1 run allowed. The Dodgers have scored five runs today.
All of them have come off homers. Bottom 6: Dodgers 4, Braves 1; Kyle Tucker teases postseason redemption tour with 2-run homer Kyle Tucker's first season with the Dodgers has been disappointing. But he has a chance to change the narrative in the postseason. Tucker drove home a pair of runs with a round-tripper in the bottom of the sixth that gave the Dodgers a three-run cushion.
It wasn't nearly as seamless as it had been for him, but Tarik Skubal ultimately preserved the Dodgers' lead in the top of the sixth inning. Despite allowing a solo shot to Sean Murphy and issuing two walks, he ended the frame with L.A. still up by only one run. Just when it looked like Tarik Skubal was unhittable, Sean Murphy took him deep.
After Skubal retired 15 straight batters, he gave up a solo shot to Murphy, who deposited a 98-mph sinker over the center-field wall. The Dodgers couldn't add to their lead in the bottom of the fifth inning, as AJ Smith-Shawver has steadied things for the Braves. Tarik Skubal has retired 15 straight batters after allowing leadoff singleAfter three fabulous innings from left-handed opener Dylan Dodd, the Braves turned to righty Victor Mederos. Mederos issued a four-pitch walk to Freddie Freeman.
Then he missed on a cutter that was left out over the middle of the plate. Teoscar Hernández feasted on it, mashing a 431-foot tater to left-center field. He knew it was gone as soon as he hit it. Mederos was pulled after he conceded a single to Kyle Tucker.
He was replaced by righty AJ Smith-Shawver. Dodgers second baseman Tommy Edman covered a bunch of ground to field this.
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