Braves vs. Dodgers Game 1: What can you expect Saturday night?

ATLANTA — You could almost call it the same story, different year. Except it is not.

For the third time in four seasons, the Atlanta Braves will square off with the Los Angeles Dodgers in the Major League Baseball playoffs. It will be the second straight season the two teams will have matched up in the National League Championship series.

The Dodgers narrowly won last years battle four games to three and advanced to the World Series, which they won.

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This year, the storylines are a little different than 2020, though it will be hard to get stranger than a 60-game season and single location playoff that 2020 threw at us.

The Dodgers managed to win 106 games in 2021, yet finished second in the National League West behind San Francisco, who they beat in the National League Divisional Series.

Here’s what to expect in the Braves vs. Dodgers sequel this season.

GAME PREVIEW:

First Pitch: 8:07 p.m. at Truist Park

Broadcast: Live on TBS, Radio: 680 The Fan

Tickets: Game is sold out. Tickets available on secondary market.

Weather: Windy and cool. Temperatures around 60 at the start of the game and falling. Winds 10-12 mph.

Pitchers: The Braves will start Max Fried. Fried threw six innings of shutout baseball in game two of the Braves series vs. Milwaukee. The Braves won Fried’s start 3-0. The Dodgers have Cory Knebel will start the game and it will be a “bullpen” game for them. Presumed game one starter Max Scherzer pitched in the Dodgers series clincher vs. San Francisco on Thursday.

Storylines: Can the Braves finally get past the Dodgers? Will the Braves score enough over L.A.’s deep pitching staff? Can Fried, Charlie Morton and Ian Anderson continue their strong playoff pitching? Can the Braves keep Mookie Betts off the bases?

RELATED STORIES:

• NLCS Schedule: Here’s when the Atlanta Braves play the Los Angeles Dodgers
• NLCS 2021: A look back at playoff history between Braves and Dodgers
• Braves plan to be without OF Soler in NL Championship Series

Raise your hand if you thought the Braves would be playing meaningful playoff baseball in mid to late October when they were staggering into the summer.

Anyone?

Most Braves fans already know the back story. Ronald Acuña goes down with a bad knee injury just before July’s all-star break and G.M. Alex Anthopoulos goes out and trades for a brand new outfield. The pitchers finally get on track and everything comes together leading the Braves to a National League East pennant for the fourth straight year.

The challenge may be the toughest one yet as the Dodgers have the deepest lineup in baseball. They won 106 games on the back of a super powerful lineup with no soft spots and a pitching staff that weathered the loss of star Clayton Kershaw when they traded for Scherzer.

The Dodgers are heavily favored in the series as they finished 18 games ahead of Atlanta in the regular season. But strange things happen in baseball’s playoffs and if the Braves hitters do their jobs, anything can happen.

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Game two will be Sunday night at Truist Park, with first pitch scheduled for 7:38 p.m.

Go Braves! 2021 pennant chase T-shirts available to buy this morning

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