In what is destined to be a wild series between the Atlanta Braves and the Los Angeles Dodgers, we had plenty of drama in Game 1 of the NLCS.
As Ron Darling said a million time during the TBS broadcast, this was pretty much a must-win game for the Atlanta Braves with their ace going against the Dodgers bullpen.
It looks like maybe things were setting up for a big night after taking an early 1-0 lead thanks to a passed ball by the Dodgers after a leadoff single from Eddie Rosario.
But the LA answered back in the second with a two-out single from Chris Taylor to tie it up, and then the other Will Smith took an 0-2 fastball down-and-in and crushed it out of the park to give the Dodgers a 2-1 lead in the 4th.
That’s when the heroics for Austin Riley started as he turned on an inside fastball and somehow kept it fair for a home run to make things even again.
The Dodgers bullpen did a good job of keeping the Braves hitters in check. They especially did a good job of making sure they had lefties ready to go for the top of the lineup.
It gave Freddie Freeman fits all night as he was uncharacteristically 0-4 with 4 strikeouts.
The Braves had a little bit of bad luck in this one, too, as they 3-9 with balls hit 95 MPH or harder in this game.
Max Fried was really good allowing just the 2 earned runs over 6 innings, but he had a lot of traffic giving up 8 hits. However, he made big pitch after big pitch in this game.
There were some who thought maybe he should have come back out for the 7th — and maybe he should have — but you have to keep in mind he threw a lot of stressful pitches in this game. He had 6 at-bats with runners in scoring position, including two in the sixth inning.
It turned out to be the right decision as Tyler Matzek, Luke Jackson, and Will Smith were really sharp in this game.
Matzek gave up a leadoff double in the 7th, but then got a big popout against Mookie Betts and a strikeout of Trea Turner to get out of the biggest jam in the game.
Smith gave up a two-out walk to Chris Taylor — who just refused to make an out in this game — and then a soft single to Cody Bellinger, which turned out to be a huge momentum play in the game as Taylor got caught between second and third to end the inning with Betts due up.
Ozzie got a one-out bloop hit in the ninth, stole second, and Riley brought the fireworks with a walk-off hit to give the Braves a 1-0 series lead.
The two teams will get back at it on Sunday night in Game 2 of the NLCS. Game time is set for 7:38 PM ET and it will be Max Scherzer vs. Ian Anderson.