The 2020 Major League Baseball season was an unusual one, but it’s still ending with the best two teams in the league facing off in the National League Championship Series with the Los Angeles Dodgers taking on the Atlanta Braves.
Both teams are coming in undefeated in the postseason as the Dodgers sweep the Milwaukee Brewers and San Diego Padres, while the Braves did the same to the Cincinnati Reds and Miami Marlins.
This isn’t the first time these two organizations will be meeting in the postseason as they previously have in 1996, 2013 and 2018. The Dodgers won two of those series — the most-recent matchups.
2018 NLDS: Dodgers defeat Braves, 3-1
The last time the Dodgers met the Braves in the postseason was the 2018 NL Division Series and it featured a lot of the same players who are in the 2020 NLCS.
The Dodgers easily took care of business in four games on their way to a second straight World Series appearance, where they lost to the Boston Red Sox.
In 2018, L.A. won the first two games at home behind stellar pitching performances from Hyun-Jin Ryu and Clayton Kershaw. In Game 2, Kershaw tossed eight shutout innings while allowing just two hits.
While the Braves tried to get back in the series with a win in Game 3 that featured a grand slam by Ronald Acuña Jr. against Walker Buehler, the Dodgers then shut the door with a win in Game 4.
2013 NLDS: Dodgers defeat Braves, 3-1
The 2013 NLDS was similar to 2018 in that the Dodgers won in four games and the series featured dominance from Kershaw. He took the ball in Game 1 and went seven strong innings, allowing three hits and a run while striking out 12.
He then returned to the mound on short rest in Game 4 with a chance to help his team advance. Kershaw came through for them once again, giving up just two unearned runs in six innings of work.
Game 4 was an all-time classic as the Dodgers found themselves trailing late before Juan Uribe hit a big three-run home run in the eighth inning to complete the comeback and secure a series win.
1996 NLDS: Braves defeat Dodgers, 3-0
The first time these two teams met in the postseason was the 1996 NLDS and the result was much different than the other two with the Braves completing a sweep.
Atlanta was in the midst of a historic run, winning 11 straight division titles and were also the reigning World Series champions at the time.
All three of the games were close, but the Braves’ pitching trio of John Smoltz, Greg Maddux and Tom Glavine proved to be too much as they all tossed gems to earn three consecutive wins.
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