Braves Face NLCS Rematch With Dodgers Saturday In Playoff Run

ATLANTA — The Atlanta Braves are set for a National League Championship Series rematch against the World Champion Los Angeles Dodgers on Saturday at Truist Park.

With the Dodgers besting the San Francisco Giants 2-1 Thursday night in Game 5 of the National Lead West Division Championship Series, Atlanta is in place to erase the recent history of a painful collapse last year.

In the 2020 NLCS, the Braves took a 3-1 series lead before L.A. rallied in three straight games to win the series and go on to the World Series and eventually beat the Tampa Bay Rays.

Will the team be thinking “that should’ve been us” or “we want revenge” going into Game 1 on Saturday?

“I don’t think anybody is looking to play the Dodgers to be vindicated,” Braves manager Brian Snitker told mlb.com. “We’re happy to be here and playing good baseball. I think we’re a very confident team right now."

After beating the Milwaukee Brewers earlier this week and owning first place in the Eastern Division, that swagger is bolstered by home-field advantage with a potential four of the seven games in the series to be played in Atlanta, bookending three road games in Los Angeles.

Mark Bowman, with mlb.com, tweeted that Braves pitcher Max Fried is the likely starter for Game 1. Fried’s last outing was a seven-inning win against the Philadelphia Phillies on Sept. 29, so he is possibly the freshest arm on the pitching staff.

The Braves have the option to go with Max Fried in Game 1 and Charlie Morton in Game 2. But because Morton started on short rest on Tuesday, Snitker said they are discussing whether it would be better to push him back to Game 3,which is scheduled for this upcoming Tuesday.
— Mark Bowman (@mlbbowman) October" class="redactor-linkify-object">https://twitter.com/mlbbowman/... 14, 2021

Game 1 of the NLCS begins at 8:07 p.m. on Saturday from Truist Park and will be broadcast on TNT and stream on MLB.TV. Game 2 begins Sunday at 7:37 p.m.

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