August acquisition Mahle has chance to be October hero for Braves

ATLANTA -- Tyler Mahle has already been more valuable than the Braves could have imagined. Now, he has a chance to be exactly what they needed.

Mahle will make the most important start of his life when he opposes the Dodgers in Game 4 of the National League Division Series on Wednesday at Truist Park. He’ll be looking to guide the Braves to the win they need to stay alive in this best-of-five series.

“He's been very valuable for us ever since he came over this year,” Braves third baseman Austin Riley said. “I think he'll be up for the moment.”

With the Dodgers owning a 2-1 lead in this best-of-five series, it’s fitting that Mahle will take the mound in this potential elimination game. When the right-hander was acquired before the Trade Deadline, there was an outcry that the Braves didn’t land a playoff-caliber starter.

He’ll have an opportunity to prove he fits that description in what will be the Braves’ most important game to date.

“All of those other starts in September against the Phillies, they were big games,” Mahle said. “I'm sure it's going to feel very similar to that.”

Mahle has actually been more effective than this year’s Trade Deadline star Tarik Skubal. The Braves right-hander posted a 1.99 ERA in nine regular season starts for Atlanta and then limited the Phillies to one run over seven innings in Game 2 of the NL Wild Card Series.

Skubal posted a 2.61 ERA in 10 regular season starts for the Dodgers and then limited the Braves to one run over six innings in the first game of this NLDS.

“Mahle has been unbelievable,” manager Walt Weiss said. “We could never have anticipated he would be this good. But he has been, and it's changed our rotation, really.”

Mahle posted a 5.13 ERA in the 18 starts he made for the Giants before Atlanta acquired him on Aug. 2. The Braves were encouraged by the fact he had produced a 3.73 ERA in the seven starts he made after missing a month with a hamstring strain.

At the same time, the Braves were confident the veteran right-hander could improve by slightly altering his pitch mix, something Mahle had already started to do when he returned from the injured list in June.

While reducing his cutter usage and increasing his splitter usage, Mahle has enjoyed the best stretch of his career. He limited the Phillies to one earned run over 13 innings in two September starts and then continued his mastery of them last week in his first postseason stat.

Mahle wasn’t overwhelmed by the moment, and now he’ll get to face a Dodgers team that he threw seven scoreless innings against on April 22. That was his only appearance against Los Angeles this year.