Atlanta Braves start the NLCS off Strong

And with that, the 2020 NLCS is off and rolling for the Atlanta Braves.

It could not have started much better for the Atlanta Braves as they defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers by a final score of 5-1.

Do not let that final score fool you though as this game was 1-0 and 1-1 throughout much of it. In fact, it was 1-1 heading to the 9th inning.

Just like many expected, game 1 of the series turned out to be a battle of bullpens, and again, like many expected, the Atlanta Braves showed why they have the better bullpen of the two teams.

Austin Riley hit a no doubt go ahead missile home run to give the Atlanta Braves the lead for good in the 9th, and Marcell Ozuna and Ronald Acuna teamed up for some ABC baseball and then Ozzie Albies decided to join in on the fun with his own two run home run in the 9th.

Before the big ending, the only run for the Braves come via a solo shot in the first by eventual NL MVP Freddie Freeman.

I think the first story of this game though, was the continued dominance of Atlanta Braves starting pitching, and in this case it was Max Fried.

Fried showed up to start game 1 of this series versus this vaunted Dodger offense and did not back down one bit. He was effectively wild in the first two innings as the Dodgers did rack up his pitch count close to 50, but he was able to avoid any disaster. The only blemish on his line was a solo shot in the fifth inning by Kike Hernandez when Fried left a curveball on a 0-2 count, hanging right down the middle.

When all was said and done, Max had thrown 6 innings of 4 hit ball and only issuing 2 free passes while striking out 9 over the course of those innings.

The bullpen did what we all have come to expect from them, and that is throw 3 innings of perfect ball as they sat down all 9 hitters they faced.