Skubal's Confidence, Dodgers' Bats Put Braves In A Hole

Among Tarik Skubal's many attributes, confidence clearly isn't in short supply. Asked about the solo home run Sean Murphy hit against him in the sixth inning, Skubal didn't second-guess the pitch or offer the usual post-home-run autopsy. He liked the pitch, he said, and Murphy simply put a good swing on it. If he had the chance to throw it again, Skubal said he would make the same pitch. You have to admire a pitcher who has that kind of conviction, particularly when he has the stuff to back it up.

Skubal had surrendered a single to Atlanta's Drake Baldwin to open the game, then proceeded to put the Braves' lineup in a rather uncomfortable place. The next 15 batters went hitless, with seven of them failing to put the ball in play at all. It wasn't until the sixth that Skubal finally ran into some trouble. After Murphy's 421-foot solo homer cut the Dodgers' lead to 2-1, Skubal issued a couple of walks and suddenly had to work his way out of a jam. He did exactly that, closing out his day after 94 pitches with six innings of two-hit, one-run, seven-strikeout baseball. Not bad for a guy pitching his first postseason game at Dodger Stadium in 100-degree heat.

The thermometer said 100, the feels-like temperature reached 105, and the sun spent six innings seemingly determined to make sure everyone understood exactly what 100 degrees meant. Umpires were drinking water between innings, fans were using giveaway towels as makeshift umbrellas and the entire ballpark looked like it had been dropped into an oversized convection oven. Skubal, meanwhile, looked remarkably comfortable.

"It was a ton of fun," he said afterward. "I've got a lot of respect for the fans that came out and showed up today. It's not easy. It's 100 degrees. The sun was on us the entire game."

That may have been the biggest compliment Skubal could give the Dodger Stadium crowd, because the fans who stayed for this one earned it right along with him.

The Dodgers also made sure their new ace wouldn't have to carry the entire afternoon on his shoulders. After three scoreless innings from Atlanta starter Dylan Dodd, the Dodgers finally got to the Braves bullpen in the fourth, and they did it with the kind of power that has become increasingly familiar as the season has moved toward October. Freddie Freeman drew a walk, and Teoscar Hernández followed by sending a 431-foot shot into the left-center-field seats for a two-run homer and a 2-0 lead.

For Hernández, it was another postseason reminder of why the Dodgers were so happy to have him back in the middle of this lineup. He spent stretches of the regular season searching for his swing before making adjustments that helped turn September into a much different story, and now the timing couldn't be better.

"I always want to be the guy to be in those moments," Hernández said.

There is a certain logic to that statement. Hernández has spent enough time in this game to understand that October does not care what happened in July, August or even September. The only question is whether you can produce when the moment arrives, and Saturday he did.

Kyle Tucker followed the same script two innings later. The outfielder who endured his share of criticism during a difficult first season in Los Angeles stepped into the sixth inning and launched a two-run homer off AJ Smith-Shawver, pushing the Dodgers' lead to 4-1. Max Muncy then followed two batters later with a solo shot, and suddenly the Dodgers had turned a close postseason game into one that Atlanta was going to have to chase.

Tucker and Hernández finished with nearly identical lines, each going 2-for-4 with two RBI, but the significance went beyond the numbers. For much of the regular season, both players had been asked some version of the same question: when are you going to start looking like yourself?

They appear to have found the answer at precisely the right time.

"We've been going through a lot this year, but we stayed together," Hernández said. "We have each other's back. We're going to continue to try to do our best and try to do our job so we can keep winning."

Tucker was characteristically less interested in making a speech.

"Overall, good day for us," he said.

That about covered it.

The Dodgers had their ace keeping Atlanta's offense under control, their two outfield corners supplying the biggest offensive blows and Max Muncy adding his own contribution to the long-ball parade. It was the kind of balanced performance that makes a postseason manager sleep a little better, although Dave Roberts wasn't about to suggest that anything had been settled after one game.

"We're in a good spot, and it all starts with winning Game 1," Roberts said.

He's right. The Dodgers don't need to win every game by five runs, and they certainly don't need every postseason game to look pretty. They need to win four games in this series, and getting the first one changes the mathematics immediately.

Of course, no Dodgers postseason victory would be complete without at least a little late-inning drama.

Tanner Scott came in for the ninth innings, where things became considerably more interesting than anyone had ordered. Ronald Acuña Jr. singled to open the inning, and Ozzie Albies followed with a 432-foot homer that cut the Dodgers' lead to 5-3. Scott recovered to record the next two outs, but by then the familiar feeling had crept into the ballpark that this particular ninth inning might require more oxygen than the previous eight.

Evan Phillips came in and finished it, getting Austin Riley to ground out with a runner aboard to secure the save.

For Phillips, who has worked his way back from his own physical issues, the opportunity carried a little more meaning than simply recording the final out of Game 1.

"Means a lot to me to feel good again and be back pitching in meaningful games," Phillips said.

The bullpen had done its job, even if Scott briefly tested the structural integrity of everyone's blood pressure.

Brock Stewart and Alex Vesia had already done their parts before Scott and Phillips closed the door, and the Dodgers ultimately held Atlanta to four hits. The Braves managed to make things interesting, but they never managed to make Los Angeles surrender control of the game.

That is important in October, particularly when Max Muncy has already issued the appropriate warning.

"It's the postseason; there's no lead that's safe," Muncy said.

Nobody in the building needed reminding of that by the ninth inning.

But the Dodgers had built enough of a cushion to survive it.

Freddie Freeman called it "just a good quality win," which might be the most accurate description of the afternoon. There was no need to overstate it. The Dodgers didn't solve the entire postseason in one afternoon, and Atlanta certainly isn't going anywhere after one loss.

But the Dodgers got what they wanted from Game 1. Skubal looked like the confident ace they acquired for precisely these moments, Hernández and Tucker delivered the big swings, Muncy added another home run, and the bullpen navigated the final three innings without allowing the Braves to turn the game upside down.

Most importantly, the Dodgers now have the thing every team wants when a best-of-five series begins: a lead.

Game 2 arrives Sunday evening, with Blake Snell scheduled to take the mound and another day of extreme heat waiting at Dodger Stadium.

At least this time, everybody knows to bring water.

The Braves probably ought to bring a better answer for the Dodgers' bats.