In October, elite starting pitching wins postseason games.
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pitching → win → games
For the Atlanta Braves, it was a bullpen game, while the Los Angeles Dodgers sent out two-time American League Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal.
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Dodgers → send → Skubal
On Saturday afternoon at Dodger Stadium, the elite starting pitcher led the way.
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pitcher → lead → way
Skubal was dominant, striking out seven hitters while allowing one run on two hits and two walks over six innings of work in the Dodgers' 5-3 Game 1 NLDS win.
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Skubal → strike → win
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page → contain → partners
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News → sign → wager
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that → create → newsroom
The Dodgers began their quest for a third straight World Series title with a statement win over the Braves, but the game didn't start off smoothly.
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game → begin → Braves
Dylan Dodd was the Braves’ starter, and he was fantastic over three scoreless innings, allowing just two hits.
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he → allow → hits
In the fourth inning, manager Walt Weiss turned to Victor Mederos, and things quickly went awry.
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things → turn → Mederos
Mederos got catcher Will Smith to fly out but then walked star first baseman Freddie Freeman.
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Smith → get → Freeman
With a runner on first and one out, Mederos threw a 92.3 mph cutter right over the middle of the plate, and left fielder Teoscar Hernández didn’t miss it.
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Hernández → throw → it
The ball came off Hernández’s bat at 109.9 mph as he demolished it 431 feet into the left-field bleachers, giving the Dodgers a 2-0 lead.
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he → come → lead
The outfielder admired his blast, remaining in the batter’s box for a few moments before turning and firing his bat toward the Dodgers’ dugout.
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outfielder → admire → dugout
Dodgers right fielder Kyle Tucker followed Hernández's blast with a bloop single to left field, and Weiss had seen enough, removing Mederos from the game.
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Weiss → follow → game
Weiss turned to A.J. Smith-Shawver to try to settle things down, which he did by retiring the next two batters.
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he → turn → batters
Skubal, on the other hand, retired 15 straight batters after allowing a leadoff single to All-Star designated hitter Drake Baldwin.
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Skubal → retire → Baldwin
However, the scoreless streak ended when catcher Sean Murphy got a hold of Skubal’s 1-2, 99 mph fastball and sent it 421 feet over the left-center-field wall for a solo home run, cutting the lead to 2-1 in the top of the sixth inning.
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Murphy → end → inning
After Murphy’s leadoff blast, the Braves’ lineup didn’t quit, as shortstop Ha-Seong Kim and second baseman Ozzie Albies sandwiched walks around two outs, bringing first baseman Matt Olson to the plate with two runners on and two outs.
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runners → quit → plate
Yet Skubal avoided further damage by inducing a weak fly ball to left field from the All-Star first baseman, leaving the score at 2-1.
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Skubal → avoid → 2
In the bottom of the sixth inning, the Dodgers immediately picked up Skubal.
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Dodgers → pick → Skubal
With one out, Hernández laced a single up the middle and Tucker followed up by depositing Smith-Shawver's 97-mph fastball 408 feet over the right field wall to give the Dodgers a 4-1 lead.
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Tucker → lace → lead
Two batters after Tucker's blast, third baseman Max Muncy joined the home run club with a solo shot off Smith-Shawver to make it 5-1.
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it → join → Shawver
With their bullpen depleted after a three-game Wild Card Series win over the Philadelphia Phillies, the Braves were forced to stick with Smith-Shawver to preserve their remaining arms.
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Braves → deplete → arms
In the top of the ninth inning, Ronald Acuña Jr. walked and second baseman Ozzie Albies smacked a two-run home run off Tanner Scott to make it a 5-3 game.
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it → walk → Scott
However, Scott put the next two batters away.
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Scott → put → batters
Manager Dave Roberts turned to Evan Phillips to record the final out of the game.
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Roberts → turn → game
Phillips first walked Mauricio Dubón, sending up Austin Riley as the tying run, but got the Braves third baseman to ground out to Betts to close it out.
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baseman → walk → it
The Dodgers will look to build on their Game 1 win when they face the Braves on Sunday in Game 2.
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they → look → Game
The Aporia
