LOS ANGELES — The temperature at first pitch was 100 degrees, a degree short of the Dodger Stadium record set in Game 1 of the 2017 World Series, and the feels-like reading was 105. Tarik Skubal looked comfortable anyway. The Dodgers beat the Braves 5-3 Saturday in Game 1 of the National League Division Series.
Skubal, a two-time Cy Young winner acquired from the Detroit Tigers just before the Aug. 3 trade deadline, allowed one run and two hits in six innings. He struck out seven and walked two in his first postseason start at home. His earlier playoff starts had all come on the road for Detroit. His 63 strikeouts are the second most by a pitcher in his first seven postseason appearances, behind Bob Gibson’s 74.
Atlanta managed four hits. Dylan Dodd threw three scoreless innings, with singles by Shohei Ohtani and Mookie Betts the only damage. The Dodgers broke through against the bullpen in the fourth, when Victor Mederos walked Freddie Freeman and Teoscar Hernandez hit a two-run homer. Sean Murphy answered with a 421-foot homer off Skubal to lead off the sixth and make it 2-1. Kyle Tucker and Max Muncy then went deep off AJ Smith-Shawver to make it 5-1. Ohtani, still dealing with arm and knee issues, batted second and did not homer.
Ronald Acuna Jr. singled to open the ninth, and Ozzie Albies hit a 432-foot homer off Tanner Scott to cut the lead to 5-3. Evan Phillips got Austin Riley to ground out with a runner on for the save. Atlanta used ace Chris Sale in relief to finish its wild-card series against Philadelphia, and the Braves had not named a Game 2 starter by the time the opener ended. Blake Snell, himself a two-time Cy Young winner, is scheduled to start for Los Angeles on Sunday night, with an extreme heat warning still in effect.