The Los Angeles Dodgers, dominated the National League West over a two and half month period, having came back from down 9 ½ games down and almost getting their manager fired, to claiming their 12th division title since 1969 - winning 42 of 50 games.
The Dodgers now head to Atlanta for the start of their National League Division Series, where Atlanta went 56-25 (.691) at home, best home record in the entire league. The Dodgers will have to go without outfielder Matt Kemp, out for the year with an ankle injury, and Andre Ethier who has his own ankle issues he has been battling since mid-September.
"If you don't have Andre and you don't have Matt, you're not as good as you could be," said Dodgers manager Don Mattingly. "But we're still good enough to win."
The Dodgers have been led by Adrian Gonzalez, rookie phenom Yasiel Puig, and Hanley Ramirez, who have been consistent at the plate. Gonzalez led the Dodgers in batting average (.293), hits (171), home runs (22), runs batted in (100), while Puig has been an offensive spark plug for the team, starting his career hitting four home runs in his first five games, winning NL Player of the Month and NL Rookie of the Month for June.
"The way he plays is infectious," said Mattingly. "Stadium-wise, there's an excitement among fans. He's created a lot of attention for himself and for the club with the way he's played. Within that, you've got guys who have played for six or eight years seeing a young guy like this with energy, and that's fun to see."
Atlanta led their division from wire-to-wire and took the pedal off the gas in September, after clinching the National League East division, losing 13 of the last 24 games to close out the regular season. The Braves shook things up, going into the five-game series, leaving Dan Uggla off the NLDS roster. Uggla is hitting .179 for the season and struck out 171 times in 448 at-bats.
"Yesterday might have been one of hardest days I've had as a major league manager," Atlanta manager Fredi Gonzalez told reporters when announcing the Braves' roster. "We feel like we put our best 25 out there to face the Dodgers."
Atlanta will send Kris Medlen to mound, who went 15-12 with 157 strikeouts and a 3.11 ERA, going 3-0 with a 1.23 ERA against the Dodgers. In four career starts against Atlanta, while the Dodgers send their ace, Clayton Kershaw, who was 16-9 for the year with 232 strikeouts and eye-popping 1.83 ERA.
"[Kershaw's] definitely at the top of his craft," said Atlanta Outfielder Justin Upton. "He's one of those guys, you can tell when you see him out before games, when he's not pitching, he's preparing, so you know he's one of those guys that when he steps on the mound, he's prepared. You just have to be prepared to go at him, too."
TV Schedule
You can catch Game 1 of the Los Angeles Dodgers-Atlanta Braves National League Division Series Thursday at 8:07 p.m EST on TBS.
Live Stream (video)
Live stream coverage can be seen on MLB.tv (subscription required).
Live Stream (audio)
Live stream coverage can be heard MLB.com Gameday Audio.
Live Score
Live scores could be followed by clicking here.
- Contribute to this Story:
- Send us a tip
- Send us a photo or video
- Suggest a correction
