The Division Series is underway and the two best teams in the National League are facing 1-0 series deficits. The Atlanta Braves were shut out by the Philadelphia Phillies in Game 1 of their NLDS matchup (PHI 3, ATL 0) while the Los Angeles Dodgers got hammered by the upstart Arizona Diamondbacks (ARI 11, LAD 2). The two home teams fell flat Saturday.
Phillies manager Rob Thomson expertly deployed his bullpen -- six relievers combined for 5 1/3 scoreless innings -- to hold the high-powered Braves to five singles and three walks. Atlanta went 0 for 5 with runners in scoring position. Bryce Harper and Bryson Stott went a combined 4 for 5 with three walks in Game 1. Harper hit a solo home run.
As for the Diamondbacks, they jumped all over Clayton Kershaw in Game 1. The future Hall of Famer failed to make it out of the first inning and the D-Backs had a 9-0 lead after two innings. Tommy Pham had four hits, including a homer, and Corbin Carroll continued his postseason onslaught with a long solo homer. Arizona had eight extra-base hits in the game.
Here are five takeaways from Game 1 of the two National League Division Series.
And that might be an understatement. Clayton Kershaw has had his fair share of postseason struggles, we all know that, but Game 1 against the D-Backs was his worst postseason start ever. Kershaw got tagged for six runs while getting just one out, and the contact he surrendered was loud. Look at these exit velocities, in chronological order:
Yikes. Kershaw has been dealing with a nagging shoulder issue in recent weeks, so much so that he has not started a game on fewer than six days of rest since August. But, at the end of the day, if you're healthy enough to be on the field, you're expected to perform, and Kershaw was awful Saturday. The D-Backs were on everything he threw.
At this point of the season and at this point in Kershaw's career, every game he pitches could be his last. He's been going year to year the last few seasons and, with his 36th birthday coming up in March, Kershaw could decide to hang up his spikes. It would be a shame if this disastrous Game 1 performance is how he goes out.
If there was such a thing as Wild Card Series MVP, Corbin Carroll would have won it against the Brewers, and his hypothetical NLDS MVP case is off to a great start. He opened the Game 1 scoring with a first-inning single against Kershaw and then hit a solo home run more than halfway up the bleachers against Emmet Sheehan in the second. Check it out:
Carroll, the likely NL Rookie of the Year, went 4 for 7 with a double, a homer, two walks, and zero strikeouts in the Wild Card Series against the Brewers. He has been incredible three games into his postseason career.
Also, thanks to Carroll and the offensive explosion, D-Backs starter Merrill Kelly picked up his first ever win against the Dodgers. He went into Game 1 with an 0-11 record and a 5.49 ERA in 16 career starts against Los Angeles. Obviously the big early lead helped, but Kelly pitched very well himself, holding the Dodgers scoreless in 6 1/3 innings.
The Braves were the best offense in baseball this season while the Phillies' bullpen has been volatile. In Game 1, the latter starred by holding down the former. Phillies' starter Ranger Suárez was removed after just 3 2/3 innings. It was a 1-0 Phillies lead at the time, so the bullpen was staring down the possibility of needing to throw 5 1/3 innings of scoreless ball.
They were up to the task.
Jeff Hoffman walked the first batter he faced to load the bases, but then struck Michael Harris out to end the threat. Seranthony Domínguez, who has really struggled down the stretch, worked around a pair of singles to throw a scoreless fifth, notably striking out Ronald Acuña Jr. and Austin Riley to strand the two runners.
José Alvarado threw a scoreless sixth. Rookie sensation Orion Kerkering went 1-2-3 in the seventh on only eight pitches. Kerkering walked the leadoff man in the eighth before giving way to Matt Strahm. Strahm allowed a hit to Riley before getting out of the inning, though he needed help from his defense on a great double play to end the inning. Craig Kimbrel shut the door in the ninth without messing around, going 1-2-3.
That was 5 1/3 scoreless innings from the bullpen, allowing just four hits and two walks while striking out four. And it was a team shutout against the only offense in MLB history to slug over .500.
The Braves hadn't been shut out at home since Aug. 28 ... of 2021.
What an absolutely Herculean effort from the Phillies bullpen.
Suárez, for his part, was only counted on by manager Rob Thomson to get 11 outs, but he didn't allow a single run in this time on the mound. He worked 3 2/3 innings, giving up just one hit and one walk while striking out four. The Phillies will heavily rely on two starting pitchers (Zack Wheeler and Aaron Nola) along with their bullpen this postseason, but getting good work from Suárez just makes the jobs of the others that much easier.
The Phillies entered the sixth inning with a 1-0 lead, right off the heels of the Braves leaving two men on base. With one out in the sixth, Bryce Harper stepped to the plate and hit a rocket down the right-field line off Spencer Strider.
Scalded. It was 115 miles per hour off the bat. That's a little -- just a little -- breathing room for the Phillies' relievers. That marked the second run, first earned, allowed by Strider, the Braves ace. He generally threw well, but the Phillies got him for two runs on five hits in seven innings.
This shot was Harper's 12th career postseason home run in just 39 games. Last year, he hit six homers and drove home 15 in the playoffs as the Phillies advanced to the World Series. He is now 10 for 18 (.556) with three home runs and seven RBIs in five NLDS games against the Braves in the last two playoffs.
In Game 1 on Saturday, the Braves never got Harper out. He was 2 for 2 with two walks, two runs, a stolen base and an RBI.
Historically, the team that wins Game 1 of a best-of-five series has gone on to win the series 71% of the time. That nudges up to 72% when the road team wins Game 1, as the D-Backs and Phillies did Saturday. Sunday is an NLDS off-day and then each team will have their ace on the mound for Game 2 on Monday: Zac Gallen for Arizona and Zack Wheeler for Philadelphia. These series are far from over, but the D-backs and Phillies are in very good shape one game in.
It's a final. The worst postseason (or regular season, for that matter) start in Clayton Kershaw's career puts the Dodgers in a 1-0 series hole. Historically, the team that wins Game 1 of a best-of-five series has gone on to win the series 71% of the time.
Will Smith tripled home Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman
The Dodgers have two runs here in the eighth, and they still have a runner at third with one out. Hey, you gotta start somewhere, right?
It'll 11-0 now. Tommy Pham tatered.
We're through seven here. We're beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel.
Kelly's done with one out in the sixth. The Dodgers haven't had a runner reach third base tonight.
Thomas only had nine homers in the regular season and he's already up to two for the playoffs.
That was a 14-pitch at-bat too.
Alek Thomas just went deep. It's the seventh inning. This'll be over soon, Dodgers fans.
... only two position players have ever pitched in the postseason: Cliff Pennington in the 2015 ALCS and Austin Romine in the 2018 ALDS. I was at both games! I'm sorta worried my streak of being at every postseason game to feature a position player pitcher may come to an end tonight.
He entered Game 1 with an 0-11 record and 5.46 ERA in 16 career starts against the Dodgers. He's throw five scoreless innings on only 70 pitches. Very good start for Kelly, though I'm sure the 9-0 lead helped a bit.
Middle of the fifth inning. It's all a formality from here.
I guess the good news is the late game is the least entertaining one of the day, so you won't miss anything if you shut it off and go do something fun on a Saturday night.
the late game would, of course, be the one to drag on ...
Take this one in. As Bob Costas just noted on the broadcast, Tommy Pham has three hits. The Dodgers' nine-hole hitter, Miguel Rojas, still hasn't even batted.
Sac fly for Evan Longoria. 9-0 Arizona.
The D-Backs have sent 16 batters to the plate and four have made outs.
Lourdes Gurriel Jr. with the shot down the left field line to score another. This is astounding.
maybe they should implement the 10-run rule. Corbin Carroll's monster shot makes it 7-0 D-Backs
Corbin Carroll just took Emmet Sheehan way deep. He's been a monster this postseason. Only the second inning. Not sure this one will come in under three hours 😔
It's 6-0 D-Backs. Emmet Sheehan took over after Kershaw got one out.
Merrill Kelly is 0-11 with a 5.49 ERA in 16 career starts against the Dodgers. Not sure this one is over just yet. Lotta baseball to play.
This will be the shortest start of his postseason career, just 1/3 an inning. Previous shortest was three innings.
Five batters into Game 1, it was 5-0 Diamondbacks. Arizona hit line drive after line drive against Clayton Kershaw, with Corbin Carroll (single) and Christian Walker (double) driving in single runs before Gabriel Moreno's three-run homer.
Moreno, you may recall, exited Game 2 of the Wild Card Series against the Brewers with a possible concussion. He cleared the league's concussion protocols and is in the Game 1 lineup against the Dodgers, and he certainly doesn't look concussed based on his at-bat and that home run swing.
As for Kershaw, he allowed six runs in the first inning of Game 1 after allowing no more than four runs in any of his 24 regular season starts this year. The Postseason Kershaw narrative will undoubtedly fire up again. The future Hall of Fame went into Game 1 with a career 4.22 ERA in October.
A three-run homer by Gabriel Moreno. Kershaw has faced five batters and it's 5-0.
Kersh hangs a curve and Christian Walker hits it hard and plates a run.
The D-Backs are hitting rockets against Kershaw. Runners on second and third with no outs.
Corbin Carroll, who will win NL Rookie of the Year, comes through with an RBI single.
The D-Backs leadoff man sent a liner to center and Dodgers center fielder Josh Outman was anything but an Out Man, having the ball pop out of his glove.
