Winners and losers from Dodgers NLDS win over Braves

It took a little longer than they had hoped, but the Los Angeles Dodgers defeated the Atlanta Braves 6-2 in Game 4 to win the NLDS 3-1.

The Dodgers will move on to their third straight NLCS, this time they’ll oppose the Milwaukee Brewers.

While the Braves showed some good fight later in the series, they were fighting a significant uphill battle. That was largely due to the efforts of the top two Los Angeles starters. Atlanta’s top starter, meanwhile, struggled in his postseason debut. Both the Braves and Dodgers also featured a midseason acquisition from the Baltimore Orioles. One did quite well. The other did not.

These were the most notable winners and losers in Los Angeles’ NLDS victory over Atlanta.

Winner: Hyun-Jin Ryu

The decision to start Ryu over Clayton Kershaw in Game 1 certainly turned some heads. But the performance of Ryu completely silenced any of the doubters that were out there.

Ryu was brilliant in Game 1, allowing essentially nothing meaningful against Atlanta’s offense.

In the small picture, the outing delivered a win. That’s huge in any series; especially a best-of-five. From a bigger picture perspective, Los Angeles saw what Ryu could do against a good offensive team. He wasn’t just serviceable or even good. Ryu was absolutely dominant.

For a team with championship aspirations going forward, this kind of outing was wonderful to see.

Loser: Mike Foltynewicz

Foltynewicz is a tough inclusion here. He did throw well in a Game 4 that was only shortened because the Braves needed a pinch hitter in a big spot. Unfortunately, Game 1 is a little hard to ignore.

Foltynewicz lasted only two innings. He did strike out five. But when he allowed contact, it was generally big. He allowed three hits (two of which were home runs), walked three and surrendered four runs, all earned.

Atlanta doesn’t have the deep bullpen that the Brewers have in Milwaukee. The Braves needed Foltynewicz to go out and be an ace in Game 1. He didn’t do that.

Winner: Max Muncy

The Dodgers struck first in Game 1 with a Joc Pederson solo homer. In the second inning, both Pederson and Justin Turner reached with two outs. Then Muncy stepped into the box and delivered an absolutely crushing blow to the Braves.

Muncy added another homer in Game 3 for good measure.

Power doesn’t always translate into the postseason. It’s one thing to take some mediocre middle-reliever or No. 5 starter on a losing team deep in the Dog Days of August. It’s quite another to take the best pitchers on the best teams deep in October. For a guy like Muncy, this was a big test. He passed with flying colors.

Loser: Nick Markakis

Atlanta’s offensive failures against Los Angeles can’t be put on any one hitter. But Markakis’ struggles certainly didn’t help the cause.

It’s frustrating for any hitter to go .083/.267/.083 in a series. But with power hitters, it’s a little more tolerable. While it may not happen, they at least can change the course of a game, or even series, with one swing of the bat. So, you tolerate the struggles a little more. A hitter like Markakis is a different story.

Yes, Markakis can hit the home run ball. But he’s the kind of hitter who does most of his damage with line drives and base hits. Guys like that generally need to be a lot more consistent. Markakis slumped at the absolute wrong time.

Winner: Clayton Kershaw

Ryu delivered a Game 1 gem to give the Dodgers the lead. Kershaw’s Game 2 performance put the series in a vice grip for Los Angeles.

Kershaw struck out only three hitters in his Game 2 outing. Normally, we might call a strikeout pitcher allowing that kind of contact a reason to be somewhat cautious with any optimism going forward. But with Kershaw, we’re going the other way. The normally dominant Kershaw pitched to contact. Even still, he allowed only two hits and no runs. That says a lot about the kind of contact he was allowing and how off balance he was keeping the hitters.

This is a guy who’s had some well documented struggles in the postseason. The fact that he had such a strong outing despite pitching a much different game that what we’ve grown used to should give the Dodgers and their fans great optimism going forward in the playoffs.

Loser: Johan Camargo 

Not unlike Muncy in Los Angeles, Camargo was a nice find for the Atlanta in 2018. When thinking back on Camargo’s 2018 season, the Braves, their fans, and Camargo himself should focus on the regular season and try to block this series out. It was a rough one.

Many Atlanta hitters struggled. Camargo, however, managed no hits and only one walk in the series. And while he wouldn’t seem to have the value to the Braves that someone like Ronald Acuna Jr. has, Camargo hit second in Games 1 and 2 and fifth in Games 3 and 4. They needed a lot more out of him.

It would be hard but possible for a team like the Dodgers with withstand such a poor series from an everyday player. They have enough power that things don’t necessarily need to click perfectly for everyone in the lineup. But as we’ve just seen, it’s a much different story for Atlanta.

Winner: Justin Turner

Turner is a similar offensive player to Markakis. He has a little more power but generally speaking, most of Turner’s damage will come when he’s hitting line drives and getting on base. He did that in spades in this series.

Turner didn’t record a single home run and had only one extra-base hit over the four games. But even if the power wasn’t there, Turner was a constant thorn in the side of Atlanta pitching. The Los Angeles third baseman had four hits in the series, hit .357/.500/.429, and scored two runs.

The Dodgers hit the long ball in this series. But it’s worth repeating that power doesn’t always translate into October. When facing a bullpen like the one they’ll see in Milwaukee for the NLCS, home runs may not be the most practical option. That’s the bad news.

The good news is that if Turner continues to hit the way he did in this series, Los Angeles won’t necessarily need a home run derby to win.

Loser: Brad Brach

Brach was acquired from the Orioles to bolster this bullpen. But this series was a struggle. In Game 1, Brach went 1.1 innings and allowed one hit, one run, and walked two.

In Game 4, with the Braves nursing a late lead, Brach came in with two outs and two on. He surrendered a two-run single to David Freese which gave the Dodgers a lead that they would not relinquish.

Brach was not the only Atlanta reliever to come up short in this series. But his struggles came at the most inopportune moments.

Winner: Manny Machado

We may not look at Machado’s .176 average or .222 OBP in this series as anything to write home about. But Machado came through in some big moments.

In Game 2, he delivered a two-run home run in the first inning (see here). That was all that Los Angeles would need in its 3-0 victory. In Game 4, with the Dodgers nursing a one-run lead in the seventh, Machado effectively put the game and series on ice with one mighty swing of the bat.

These are the precise moments that the Dodgers acquired Machado for. He wasn’t always great in this series. But in the biggest spots, he was a beast.