Los Angeles had the thermometer pinned at 100 degrees for Saturday’s National League Division Series opener, and Tarik Skubal gave the Braves no relief once the game began. In his first postseason start at Dodger Stadium, the left-hander brought overpowering fastball life through six innings and gave the Dodgers the kind of October foundation that lets the lineup play from ahead.
Skubal limited Atlanta to one run and two hits, piling up seven strikeouts before his afternoon ended after 28 pitches in the sixth. His four-seam fastball averaged 98.1 mph, his best seasonal average with that pitch, and he reached 101.1 mph against Austin Riley in the fourth inning.
The Braves got their first man aboard when Drake Baldwin opened the game with a single. Skubal then set down the next 15 hitters in order, with seven of those outs coming on strikes. Under the harsh afternoon sun, Atlanta spent most of the first five innings searching for a way to slow him down.
Sean Murphy finally broke through to begin the sixth, sending a solo homer out to cut the Dodgers’ advantage to one run. Teoscar Hernández had supplied the earlier breathing room with a two-run home run in the fourth, but Murphy’s shot gave Atlanta a chance to make Skubal work.
Ha-Seong Kim followed with a walk, and the next two Braves reached on fielder’s choices, creating a tense inning despite the outs recorded. Skubal walked Ozzie Albies to load the situation further, then got Matt Olson to lift a fly ball and leave two runners aboard. That escape closed his line and kept the Dodgers in front.
Los Angeles answered immediately in the bottom of the sixth. Kyle Tucker drove a two-run homer, Max Muncy added a solo blast, and the Dodgers widened the margin after Skubal’s final pitch. The series moves to Game 2 on Sunday night, scheduled for 8 p.m. ET and 5 p.m. PT.
