LOS ANGELES — Tarik Skubal dominated over six innings, three home runs powered the offense and the Los Angeles Dodgers opened the National League Division Series with a 5-3 victory over the visiting Atlanta Braves on Saturday.
Teoscar Hernandez, Kyle Tucker and Max Muncy all went deep as the Dodgers started their quest to become the first National League club to win three consecutive championships and the first major league team to do it since the New York Yankees from 1998-2000.
Skubal (1-0) gave up one run on two hits with two walks and seven strikeouts in his first postseason start for Los Angeles after arriving in a trade-deadline deal from the Detroit Tigers.
Sean Murphy and Ozzie Albies hit home runs for the Braves, who entered off a wild-card round victory over the Philadelphia Phillies and are trying to advance past the NLDS for the first time since winning the World Series in 2021.
Left-hander Dylan Dodd opened the game with three scoreless innings for Atlanta before giving way to Victor Mederos (0-1), who gave up Hernandez’s home run and recorded just one out in the fourth inning.
On a blisteringly hot day, with the temperature at 100 degrees to open the game, Skubal allowed only one hit through his first five scoreless innings on the mound.
Hernandez backed Skubal with a two-run home run in the fourth inning for a 2-0 advantage.
The Braves finally got to Skubal in the sixth when Murphy hit a home run to center to bring Atlanta to within a run.
The Dodgers increased their advantage in the bottom of the sixth against AJ Smith-Shawver when Tucker slugged a two-run home run and Muncy followed two batters later with a solo shot down the line in right field for a 5-1 advantage.
Tucker’s contribution on offense came after a disappointing regular season when his .715 OPS was lower than all but one Dodgers player who played in at least 90 games. Tucker is in the first season of a four-year, $240 million contract.
Albies got the Braves within two runs in the ninth with a two-run home run off Tanner Scott. Evan Phillips entered the game with two outs and walked Mauricio Dubon to bring the tying run to the plate. But he earned the save by retiring Austin Riley on a groundout to short.
