Atlanta comes into Game 2 without a real starter for the second night in a row, while the Dodgers hand the ball to a lefty who has barely been touched since August. This isn't just a big name against a small one. The Braves have to cover most of nine innings with their depth arms against the deeper lineup, and their own bats have gone quiet. I expect LA to pull away in the middle innings, not just squeeze out a close one.
After a three-game Wild Card series with Philadelphia and a bullpen game in the opener, Atlanta's relievers have thrown 10.2 innings over three days. The Dodgers' bullpen threw 3.0. Ray Kerr gets the start as an opener on two days' rest after throwing 47 pitches, so he's unlikely to go deep. Chris Sale is being saved for Game 3.
Blake Snell has been excellent since coming back: a 1.17 ERA in August, 1.08 in September, five-plus innings in six of his last eight starts, and never more than one run allowed in any of them. He faces a Braves lineup hitting .209 with 77 strikeouts over its last ten games. Atlanta scored three runs or fewer in six of those ten.
The Dodgers are hitting .276 over the same stretch and scored five against Atlanta's bullpen in Game 1. At home over their last ten, they won by two or more seven times. The Braves did win five of the seven meetings this season, but the August wins came in Atlanta with Sale on the mound, including a complete-game shutout. That's not the game they get in Los Angeles.
