Tyler Mahle Poised for Moment Braves Made Deadline Move For

This is it. Do or die has arrived for the Atlanta Braves.

After taking a 3-1 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers on Tuesday night, they face elimination. Tyler Mahle is tasked with going up against Dodgers starter Tyler Glasnow, looking to make this series a winner-take-all.

"I'm very blessed to have those opportunities, whatever it may be," Mahle said ahead of Game 2. "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."

Like the Phillies, this is a team Mahle has seen before this season. While still with the Giants, he faced the Dodgers on April 22 and led his team to a 3-0 win. He's been there before. He's going to act like it, too. It's the same deal as a week ago, when it was his first career postseason start.

When faced with an abdominal pull, he delivered seven innings of one-run ball in what proved to be an extra-innings loss to the Philadelphia Phillies. All he can do is get his job done again, and the Braves have to meet him halfway with runs on the board and lock things down with the bullpen.

The Braves insisted that they were not concerned about Mahle heading into the series. He reaffirmed his health status.

"I didn't feel it at all during the game," he said. "And since then, threw a great bullpen the other day, been playing catch, been doing everything. So, it's a non-issue."

His one postseason start aside, his post-deadline track record makes his availability huge in this spot. In nine starts with the Braves during the regular season, he pitched to a 1.99 ERA and a 0.95 WHIP.

The move was made to bolster the pitching staff. They'll be the first to tell you they got more out of him than they ever could have imagined. Still, these are the moments you add help at the deadline for.

All Mahle can do is take the spotlight and run with it.

The Dodgers know what they have to face, and they aim to be ready.

"It's just heaters at the top of the zone, splitters down below, so you really got to get them off the bottom," former Braves and current Dodgers first baseman Freddie Freeman said after Game 2. "If you're chasing splitters down below, you're going to be in trouble. That's his weapon off the heater at the top."

What's funny about baseball is you can know what's coming and still not touch it. It's why sometimes the game plan in response is simple. Overcomplicating it won't do anybody any good.

"Just making pitches," Mahle said. "That's all you can do out there is make pitches. I'm not trying to trick them. They know. They've seen me. I'm sure they've watched whatever film. Whatever. So, it's making pitches at the right times."

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