Game 2 comes down to how many innings each side can actually cover. The Dodgers hand the ball to Blake Snell, who hasn't allowed more than one run in any start since he got healthy in August. Atlanta are opening with Ray Kerr on two days' rest, a day after another bullpen game. I'm backing the gap in the middle innings, not just the Dodgers' name.
Atlanta's problem isn't their best relievers. Fuentes, Lee and Iglesias are mostly available again. The problem is everything in between. Late-season pitching injuries and a three-game wild-card series forced them into a bullpen game in Game 1, and their pen has thrown 10.2 innings in three days. Kerr threw 47 pitches as an opener against the Phillies, so he won't go deep. That leaves a lot of innings for the depth arms against a lineup that hit .276 with 17 homers over its last 10 games.
Snell has been a different pitcher since coming back: a 1.17 ERA in four August starts and 1.08 in four September starts, with 50 strikeouts in 39 2/3 innings. Yes, the Braves knocked him around in May, but that was his first start of the year, before the elbow problem that cost him three months.
And the Braves' bats are cold. They're hitting .209 with 77 strikeouts over their last 10 games and averaging under four runs. In Game 1 Skubal gave up one run on two hits over six innings, and most of Atlanta's scoring came from one rough ninth inning against Tanner Scott.
