Braves open the NLDS in L.A.: Sale gets Game 1, and the Dodgers are the whole test

The Braves are back in the NLDS for the first time since 2023, and the reward for surviving a winner-take-all against the Phillies is the hardest draw in baseball. Atlanta opens the best-of-five Saturday afternoon at Dodger Stadium, with Chris Sale on the ball and the 100-win Dodgers waiting on the other side. Nobody in the room is pretending this is anything but the whole test.

How they got here

It took every bit of the Wild Card Series. The Braves dropped Game 2 in extras on a Bohm homer, then answered with a 6-2 Game 3 at Truist where Michael Harris II, Ozzie Albies and Matt Olson all went yard. That offense — the one that carried a 92-win, NL East-champion regular season — showed up exactly when the season was on the line. Now the pitching has to do the same against a lineup that can wreck any plan.

Sale, pointed at this for a month

Chris Sale has been aimed at this week since before the Wild Card Series even started. He was rested and lined up to open October, and the Braves never wavered from that plan through the Phillies scare. Getting him for Game 1 of the NLDS is the whole point of how Atlanta managed the final stretch. If Sale is the Sale of the last two months, the Braves have a real chance to steal one in L.A. before the series ever gets back to Truist.

The Dodgers are the whole test

This is the best team in the league, and it's not close. The Dodgers have the depth, the bullpen, and the home crowd, and they've been waiting on the winner of this Wild Card Series all week. Atlanta's margin for error is thin: the bats have to stay hot, the bullpen has to hold, and the defense can't give a team this good extra outs. The Braves aren't the favorite here. They're the underdog with a rested ace and a lineup that just proved it can win a do-or-die.

What to watch in Game 1

The early innings are everything. Sale needs to set the tone and keep the Dodgers off the board before their crowd gets into it, and the Braves need to get to the L.A. starter early the way they got to the Phillies. Watch the top of the order — if Harris and Albies are on base, Olson and Riley can make it hurt. And keep an eye on the bullpen usage, because in a five-game series, every arm matters by Game 3.

Bird Gang bottom line

The Braves earned this shot the hard way, and they've got the right man on the mound to make it interesting. Nobody expects Atlanta to walk into Dodger Stadium and roll — but a rested Chris Sale in October is a real thing, and this lineup just showed it can win a game that mattered. If you're picking this one, take the fight, not the favorite. And while you're at it, lock in your NFL picks for the week at pickembaby.com — free leagues, live standings, and the AI analyst in your corner.

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