The Los Angeles Dodgers and Atlanta Braves will meet for the second year in a row in the National League Championship Series, and two of the game’s best starters will take the mound for Game 1.
The Dodgers are 13-1 in games in which Max Scherzer pitches, and despite closing Game 5 of their series with the San Francisco Giants on Thursday, he is expected to get the ball on Saturday.
Scherzer has a 1.79 ERA between the regular season and playoffs with six home runs allowed in 80²/₃ innings since he was acquired from the Washington Nationals. The Dodgers back up Scherzer with the majors’ second-best bullpen in terms of ERA.
Atlanta counters with Max Fried. The Braves have won four of his five postseason starts the past two seasons and he has pitched to 2.43 ERA in those games. He has allowed three earned runs or fewer in 13 straight starts since the beginning of August with a 1.35 ERA and four home runs in 80 innings allowed in that span.
Max FriedAPThe Braves have ranked fourth in the league in bullpen ERA since the All-Star break. The Dodgers have allowed four runs or fewer in eight straight games and the Braves have allowed four runs or fewer in 10 of their last 11 games, so a pitchers’ duel is on tap in Atlanta for Game 1.
The play: Dodgers-Braves total, Under 8 runs.
