Dodgers have advantageous pitching matchup to open playoffs

Sep 3, 2026; Los Angeles, California, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers starting pitcher Tarik Skubal (29) throws a pitch against the St. Louis Cardinals during the first inning at Dodger Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect It’s only fitting that the team with

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What is the story about?

It’s only fitting that the team with the pressure of living up to astronomically high expectations would debut in the playoffs in a game in which the victory appears to be the only plausible result. In a single baseball game, anything can happen, but one could hardly manufacture a more lopsided pitching scenario if they tried for Game 1 of the NLDS between the Dodgers and Braves.

The reigning back-to-back champs gave themselves the luxury of foregoing last postseason’s hero Yoshinobu Yamamoto in favor

of Tarik Skubal for the first matchup of this series. Meanwhile, Atlanta needs to find 27 outs from a pitching staff that lacks reliable starting options for this opening game, inevitably turning to a bullpen effort. While we’ve seen in the past teams going this route as a way of capitalizing on a strength, in the Braves’ case it’s nearly purely out of necessity.

With Skubal on the mound at Dodger Stadium, the home team can create a perfect storm against a Braves offense that during the year has struggled against lefties (91 wRC+) and also has had its issues on the road (89 team wRC+). We’ve already seen glimpses of these problems facing lefties in the Wild Card round, as Jesús Luzardo and Cristopher Sánchez looked in control of their outings against Atlanta—Luzardo allowed just one run in five innings, and Sánchez had only one run on the books through six innings until getting pushed past his limit and allowing a couple more runs in the seventh. Dodger fans know all too well about Don Mattingly and leaving starters in too long in the postseason.

Such heavy favoritism might have been intimidating in other circumstances in the past, but for the back-to-back champs, it is easier to simply expect that they can take advantage of this opportunity before facing Chris Sale on Monday—one that was rightfully earned by beating out the Braves for this second seed in the National League.