German_Force » ALDS against the New York Yankees

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The Dodgers head to Atlanta full of confidence after consecutive shutouts gave them a commanding 2-0 lead over the Braves in their National League Division Series.Now the Braves must win the first postseason game in their new ballpark to extend their season. And they face some daunting history: only three times have teams that trailed 2-0 rallied to win a best-of-five playoff series under the 2-2-1 format.Atlanta was outscored 9-0 and outhit 10-9 in losing the first two games at Dodger Stadium Authentic D.J. Swearinger SR Jersey , where Los Angeles slugged five homers.Game 3 is Sunday night at SunTrust Park, with left-hander Sean Newcomb chosen to start for the Braves instead of Kevin Gausman. Manager Brian Snitker announced the change Saturday.The 25-year-old Newcomb came within one strike of throwing a no-hitter against the Dodgers at home July 29. He pitched two scoreless innings in relief of starter Mike Foltynewicz in Thursday’s opener.“We need to win,” Snitker said. “Not that Gausman doesn’t give us that opportunity, we like how Newcomb matches up with them and the success that he’s had against the Dodgers this year.”The Baby Braves ran into back-to-back dominant pitchers in Hyun-Jin Ryu and Clayton Kershaw in Los Angeles. Atlanta didn’t advance a runner past second base in Game 1 and twice got runners to third in Game 2 but couldn’t score.“We need to go out there and string some hits together, a couple big innings,” shortstop Charlie Culberson said.They might be hard-pressed to do that against rookie Walker Buehler, who starts Game 3 for the Dodgers having drawn comparisons to ace Kershaw.“Obviously, it’s a big spot,” Los Angeles manager Dave Roberts said, “but he continues to kind of surpass all expectations.”Buehler, a 24-year-old right-hander, last pitched on Monday, allowing one hit in 6 2/3 innings and striking out three in the NL West tiebreaker victory over the Rockies.“I kind of look at it as like a baby step,” Buehler said about having pitched in a crucial regular-season Game 163. “Obviously, this will be my first playoff game. But 163 has got to be somewhere between a regular game and a playoff game. I’m just kind of going with the same game plan and try and stay under control.”Snitker acknowledged he can’t do much more than juggle his lineup because the Braves’ bench is thin.“I don’t know that moving guys around, giving them different looks in the lineup when you’re swinging the bats like we are is even the answer,” he said, “but we’ll try something a little different.”The Braves closed the regular season with three losses in their last five games, managing just one run in those defeats.“We’ve got to start scoring some runs and hopefully we can do that in front of our home crowd,” said first baseman Freddie Freeman, who was 1 for 8 with two strikeouts in the first two games.Braves leadoff hitter Ronald Acuna Jr. fared only slightly better, going 2 for 8 with two strikeouts. Center fielder Ender Inciarte went 2 for 6 with two strikeouts D.J. Swearinger SR Jersey Elite , while cleanup hitter Nick Markakis was 1 for 7 with two strikeouts in the two losses.“This team’s better when we’ve had our backs against the wall,” Inciarte said. “We’ve shocked a lot of people already — we can do it again.”The Braves are back in the postseason for the first time since 2013, having won 90 games in earning the NL East title earlier in their rebuild than most projected.However, the Braves are 1-8 in playoff series when they lose Game 2. Their lone victory came in the 1996 NLCS when they lost to St. Louis and came back to take the series in seven games.“We’ve still got chances,” Culberson said. “We just need to take a deep breath and go out there and try to have fun.” The quartet of franchises remaining in the MLB postseason cruised into the league championship round.The Houston Astros, Boston Red Sox, Los Angeles Dodgers and Milwaukee Brewers lost a combined two games in the ALDS and NLDS to move one step closer to the World Series.Thanks to their dominant performances, each of the four teams enter the ALCS and NLCS with plenty of rest.The Dodgers and Brewers kick off the second round of the postseason Friday, while Houston and Boston begin their series at Fenway Park Saturday night. MLB Playoff ScheduleFriday, October 12NLCS Game 1:Los Angeles at Milwaukee (8:09 p.m., FS1) Saturday, October 13NLCS Game 2:Los Angeles at Milwaukee (4:09 p.m., Fox)ALCS Game 1:Houston at Boston (8:09 p.m., TBS) Sunday, October 14ALCS Game 2:Houston at Boston (7:09 p.m., TBS) Monday, October 15NLCS Game 3:Milwaukee at Los Angeles (Time TBD. Fox or FS1) Tuesday, October 16NLCS Game 4:Milwaukee at Los Angeles (Time TBD, Fox or FS1)ALCS Game 3:Boston at Houston (Time TBD, TBS) Wednesday, October 17NLCS Game 5:Milwaukee at Los Angeles (Time TBD, Fox or FS1)ALCS Game 4:Boston at Houston (Time TBD http://www.washingtonredskinsteamonline.com/d.j.-swearinger-jersey , TBS) Thursday, October 18ALCS Game 5:Boston at Houston (Time TBD, TBS) Friday, October 19NLCS Game 6:Los Angeles at Milwaukee (Time TBD, Fox or FS1) Saturday, October 20NLCS Game 7:Los Angeles at Milwaukee (Time TBD, Fox or FS1)ALCS Game 6:Houston at Boston (Time TBD, TBS) Sunday, October 21ALCS Game 7:Houston at Boston (Time TBD, TBS)Games can be live-streamed on Watch TBS and Fox Sports Go. Bracket PredictionsMilwaukee over Los Angeles in 6It's hard to pick against the Milwaukee Brewers with the way they've been hitting the baseball.The Brewers hit four home runs and scored 13 runs in their dominant NLDS victory over the Colorado Rockies.Christian Yelich continued to make an impact at the plate, as he hit one home run and drove in two runs, and he also scored four runs over three games.Ryan Braun, Mike Moustakas and unexpected offensive threat Erik Kratz recorded the most hits on the Milwaukee roster in the NLDS, and the well-rounded lineup is expected to thrive in the NLCS.Joe Mahoney/Associated PressWhile the lineup received plenty of praise yet again, it was the Milwaukee pitching staff that made the biggest difference in the NLDS, as it struck out 30 batters and gave up two earned runs, both of which were conceded by Jeremy Jeffress.The Dodgers, who are back in the NLCS for the third consecutive season, faced more of a challenge from the Atlanta Braves in the NLDS, but they overpowered the NL East champion with their bats in Game 4.The key for the Dodgers will be to keep the Brewers' lineup off balance in the first two games in order to steal a game on the road.Hyun-Jin Ryu and Clayton Kershaw combined for 15 scoreless innings in the first two games of the NLDS, but both of those contests were at Dodger Stadium.While the Dodgers appear to have the advantage in the rotation, the Brewers hold the edge in the bullpen thanks to the crew led by Josh Hader.No matter who is on the mound for either team David Price Jersey , they're going to have to silence a collection of in-form hitters.Even though the Dodgers possess home-run hitters like Manny Machado and Max Muncy up and down their lineup, they're going to have to do damage against Milwaukee's starters to thrive in the series.Hader and Co. will be too tough to deal with out of the Milwaukee bullpen, and with the Brewers holding a close lead in Games 1 and 2, they'll be to shut the door on the Dodgers and create momentum in a tight series.Boston over Houston in 7The last defending World Series champion to make it back to the championship series a year later was the Philadelphia Phillies in 2008 and 2009.Houston is attempting to break the decade-long curse, but it'll struggle to put away the Red Sox over the course of seven games.The pitching matchups alone are worth the price of admission, as Justin Verlander, Gerrit Cole, Dallas Keuchel, Chris Sale, David Price and Rick Porcello will be on display.Tim Warner/Getty ImagesWhile the majority of those pitchers mentioned above are expected to thrive in some capacity, Price is the biggest question mark on both rosters.Price once again struggled in a starting role in Game 2 of the ALDS against the New York Yankees, and he might be better suited in a relief role if he fails to produce a quality start in the front end of the ALCS.How each lineup adjusts to the quality of starters could be the ultimate difference maker, as the series should be decided by small margins.Houston had the better statistics in the ALDS, as it hit .327 as a team with eight home runs, while Boston posted a .279 average with four home runs.Despite the difference from the ALDS, the Red Sox will wake their bats up, with Mookie Betts and Andrew Benintendi both improving from the seven combined hits they recorded against the Yankees.Benefiting from the home-field advantage at Fenway Park in the first two games will provide a boost to Boston's power hitters, who won't slow down when they get to Minute Maid Park.Of course, you could make the same argument about Houston's home-run hitters throughout the series.Since the margins will be so tight, the Red Sox and Astros will go the distance with Sale outlasting Verlander in a Game 7 that will go down as a classic.Follow Joe on Twitter, JTansey90.Statistics obtained from Baseball Reference.