Braves in Prime Position Heading Home to Face Dodgers

The Atlanta Braves are back on home field with the series all tied up with the Dodgers at a game apiece.

With two bullpen games in the books, they'll have to their top starters at their disposal for some crucial spots ahead.

"Anytime you can get to the one-two, you have a chance to win both games," Rowdy Tellez said ahead of Tuesday's game. It's going to be huge."

Chris Sale is on the mound for Game 3, and while not official, Tyler Mahle is the presumed starter for Game 4. One is tasked with putting this team in the lead. The other is waiting to see if he's coming in for a clinching game on Wednesday or if he's trying to keep them alive.

"I'm very blessed to have those opportunities, whatever it may be," Mahle said. "Keep us in it or send us to the next round, whatever it may be. Yeah, super excited and feel blessed to be in this position."

It's been a task to keep both arms fresh. Sale had to get rested, and Mahle dealt with an abdominal pull. He said he didn't feel anything in his start, and he's been ready to go.

Having him pitch first game would have been a no go from the start anyway. Pitching Game 2 would have been a stretch anyway as well. He's had the chance to get rested and be ready to go.

"I think it says a lot about who he is as a competitor, his character," Sale said of Mahle on Monday," and again, I feel like I sound like a broken record, but it just speaks to what our culture in that clubhouse is."

Swinging back to having Sale pitch in Game 3, along with just having him ready with a full tank, they can also keep him in mind for future impact spots as well.

"You're getting a diminished Sale twice at that point," he said. "So we wanted to get a full-strength Sale, and that would, and that's Game 3, and then possibly impacting the game in Game 5, like we saw in the Phillies series. So that's what it came down to. "

If it's all about timing it out so they get the best version of him as a starter and as a reliever in clinching games, so be it. Having him pitch in Game 3 against the Phillies got some flak after the fact, even if it got praise in the moment, because he wasn't available to pitch on Sunday.

Will it get flak again if he pitches in a hypothetical Game 5? Probably, but then so be it. They've had no trouble calling out the outside noise once a plan has worked out.

Either way, since it's worked out, they can put the Dodgers on their heels. Having the possibility of using Sale twice in two games, if needed and having Mahle, who has been on an unreal run since joining the team, in between sounds like a nice deal.

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