ESPN has a scorching hot take for the Braves and Dodgers

The Braves head home with the series tied at one, and Chris Sale ready to take the ball on Tuesday night, with Tyler Mahle following him on Wednesday.

It’s a best-case scenario for Atlanta, and one that Jesse Rogers of ESPN does not believe the Dodgers will be able to overcome.

“Walt Weiss’ master strategy of holding back Chris Sale will pay off in Game 3 and then the weight of the world will be on the Dodgers for Game 4,” Rogers wrote. “It’ll end there. Then, they’ll start to show their age while the lockout next season prevents them from managing their oft-injured pitchers properly this winter or in a normal spring training. Adding insult to injury, River Ryan and Zyhir Hope star for the Tigers as the Dodgers’ dynasty comes to an abrupt halt. You asked for bold … right?”

Now, the theme of this piece from ESPN was bold predictions the rest of the way, so perhaps Rogers was being a little harsh on the Dodgers’ chances. But the Braves have put themselves in a position every team in the league would dream of when it comes to toppling the two-time defending champions.

Chris Sale has been the most dominant pitcher in baseball over the last three seasons, and this year might have been his best, recording a 2.16 ERA with 200 strikeouts over 27 starts. He also led all of baseball in strikeout-to-walk ratio, walks per nine innings, and home runs allowed per nine innings. There’s nobody you’d rather have in this moment than Chris Sale, and he’ll be doing it in front of a raucous home environment at Truist Park that smells the blood of a dying empire in the water. If the Braves can find a way to get a lead early in Game 3, you have to like their chances of advancing.

However, it’s still the Dodgers. This is one of the best lineups ever put together. Even if they’ve struggled collectively recently, all it takes is one game for them to flip the switch on their way to a third World Series title in a row. It also doesn’t hurt that they have Yoshinobu Yamamoto ready to go in Game 3, Tyler Glasnow set up for Game 4, and Tarik Skubal for Game 5 if the series heads back to Los Angeles.

It’s a bit too early to pop champagne bottles in Atlanta, but the Braves have a legitimate shot at stopping this dynasty in its tracks — and that’s all you could have asked for a few days ago.

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Photo: IMAGO / ZUMA Press Wire