LOS ANGELES—The Los Angeles Dodgers and Atlanta Braves battled in Game 1 of the National League Division Series (NLDS) at Dodger Stadium on Saturday, October 3 at 1 p.m. National League juggernauts are set to clash on Saturday in Chavez Ravine. The Dodgers have been waiting patiently, itching to defend their back-to-back titles.

As for the Braves, it was a hard-fought three-game series against the Phillies in the Wild Card Round. Can Atlanta pull off an upset this afternoon against Tarik Skubal and the World Series favorites? Skubal is a machine, and it’s difficult to bet against him in any capacity. That’s especially true for a Braves lineup that struggles against lefties.

The NLDS is best of three out of five.

In 2026, the Braves defeated the Dodgers 5 out of six games. The Dodgers put together another strong regular season, finishing 100-62 and winning the NL West while scoring 801 runs. DH Shohei Ohtani powered the offense with 30 home runs, 81 RBIs and an .889 OPS, while 3B Max Muncy added 29 homers. CF Andy Pages had a breakout season with 23 home runs and 85 RBIs; 1B Freddie Freeman hit .288, and SS Mookie Betts chipped in 23 homers despite missing time.

Los Angeles was just as impressive on the mound. SP Yoshinobu Yamamoto went 14-9 with a 2.53 ERA, while Ohtani posted a 1.79 ERA across 14 starts.

The Dodgers strengthened an already talented rotation by adding Tarik Skubal during the season, and he went 5-2 with a 2.61 ERA in 10 starts after joining the club.

These teams are quite familiar with each other this decade, meeting in the MLB Postseason. In 2020, the Dodgers erased a 3–1 deficit in the National League Championship Series before winning the World Series.

The very next year, 2021, the Braves got their revenge. Atlanta bounced back the following year, eliminating the Dodgers in six games en route to their own World Series title.

Weather at Dodger Stadium is expected to climb above 100 degrees Fahrenheit.

Baseball’s oldest lineup looked its age in July and August, ranking 22nd in the majors, and averaging just 4.10 runs per game. September, the bats got hot.

The Dodgers appeared to correct those issues in September, ranking second in baseball. The group looked as cohesive as they had all year, even with injuries limiting Shohei Ohtani to just eight games. The Dodgers did so against a fairly weak schedule, and hitting is harder in the postseason. Skubal, Yamamoto, Snell and Glasnow need to be lights out in order to win a threepeat.