The Los Angeles Dodgers' Clayton Kershaw and Yasiel Puig lived up to their hype Thursday night, helping the Dodgers beat the Atlanta Braves 6-1 in Game 1 of their National League Division Series.
Kershaw struck out 12 batters, going 7 innings and giving up only three hits and three walks while Puig went 2-for-4 including putting himself in scoring position after Juan Uribe hit a soft single in the first inning, and Puig kept hustling to third base, catching center fielder Jason Heyward by surprise. Puig would later score from third after Skip Schumaker hit a sacrifice fly to center.
Puig would later get plunked by Atlanta starter Kris Medlen, who gave up nine hits and five runs in four innings of work, staring down Medlen as he took first base.
"He's a special player," said center fielder Skip Schumaker. "The media gives him a bad rap, but we love him. He's going to make mistakes, but if you're going to be that aggressive, why would you take it away? I love it."
Atlanta will start lefty Mike Minor for Game 2, who is 13-9 with a 3.21 ERA for the season but is 0-4 in five starts in the month of September, allowing 18 earned runs over 39 innings to end the regular season. Minor did go 1-0 with a 2.25 ERA in two starts against Los Angeles this year, limiting the Dodgers to a .205 batting average with 15 strikeouts over 12 innings.
"I hate putting labels on guys, especially young guys," said Atlanta manager Fredi Gonzalez. "I think when you've got six, seven years in the big leagues and been successful, that's when I think we should put labels or say this guy is an ace or a No. 1, or you've won some hardware to back it up. But I think Mike Minor is a really, really good pitcher."
The Dodgers are starting pitcher Zack Greinke (15-4 with a 2.63 ERA) who has a 1.58 ERA in 12 starts since late July, second only to Kershaw's 1.55 ERA during that span, going 7-0 with a 1.95 ERA in his last 10 road starts. Greinke went seven innings, giving up four hits and shutting down Atlanta 5-0 during his one start against the team back in July.
Greinke struggled in his previous postseason appearances, with three starts for the Milwaukee Brewers in 2011, going 1-1 with a 6.48 ERA. Despite the numbers, Los Angeles manager Don Mattingly feels good about starting Greinke in Game 2.
"With Zack, we feel pretty much like Clayton, you feel like he's going to keep you in the game, so he's going to give us a chance," said Mattingly. "If we can put some runs up for him and make some plays, we're going to be in a position to at least be in a close game that you've got a chance to win."
TV Schedule
You can catch Game 2 of the Los Angeles Dodgers - Atlanta Braves American League Division Series Friday at 6:07 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.
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