LOS ANGELES — The 2026 National League Division Series is the sixth postseason matchup between the Dodgers and Braves, dating back to 1996, and the fourth playoff matchup between the two teams in the last nine years.
This doesn’t count when the Dodgers and Milwaukee Braves tied for the best record in the National League in 1959, and the Dodgers won a best-of-3 playoff for the pennant in two games, since those counted as regular season contests.
The Dodgers beat the Braves in the NLDS in 2013 and 2018,
both in four games, then beat Atlanta in seven games in a classic 2020 NLCS, coming back from down three games to one.
Atlanta swept the Dodgers in the 1996 NLDS and beat the Dodgers in six games in the 2021 NLCS.
Let’s take a brief look back at each previous October tilt.
1996 NLDS: Braves 3, Dodgers 0
In the first few years of the Division Series, “home-field advantage” meant playing the first two games on the road before coming home for the final three. So the wild card Dodgers were home to start off against the 96-win Braves, but it didn’t affect Atlanta much.
The Braves won two one-run games at Dodger Stadium, with John Smoltz allowing a run in nine innings of Game 1 before Javy López homered off of Antonio Osuna in the 10th inning. Greg Maddux allowed two unearned runs in seven innings of Game 2, then the Braves cruised in Atlanta in Game 3 to complete the sweep.
2013 NLDS: Dodgers 3, Braves 1
Juan Uribe was terrible in the first two years of his Dodgers contract, but turned things around in 2013. Even when he failed, he came up aces that year, including bunting foul twice down a run with Yasiel Puig on second base and nobody out in the eighth inning. Forced to swing, Uribe hit a two-run home run off David Carpenter while Craig Kimbrel watched from the visiting bullpen, sending the Dodgers to the NLCS.
2018 NLDS: Dodgers 3, Braves 1
Hyun-jin Ryu (seven innings in Game 1) and Clayton Kershaw (eight innings in Game 2) did the heavy lifting in two shutout wins in Los Angeles, then the Dodgers closed out in four games in Atlanta. Ronald Acuña Jr. hit a grand slam off Walker Buehler to win Game 3 for the Braves, a moment Buehler has cited multiple times as helping him learn how to deal with failure and embrace pressure situations going forward.
That Game 3 win in Atlanta was the last Braves win in a game facing elimination before Thursday’s wild card win over the Phillies in Game 3.
2020 NLCS: Dodgers 4, Braves 3
The Dodgers erased a 3-1 series deficit at Globe Life Field in Texas. Will Smith homered off Will Smith to key a Game 5 win, and Cody Bellinger hit the pennant-winning home run in Game 7, and dislocated his shoulder in the celebration.
2021 NLCS: Braves 4, Dodgers 2
The Dodgers three healthy Cy Young Award-vote-getting starting pitchers broken down by the NLCS, with Max Scherzer unable to pitch in the series at all. Eddie Rosario was Superman, hitting a robust .560/.607/1.040 with three home runs to win NLCS MVP.
