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ATLANTA — Encouraged by the progress of their young pitchers Bill Melton Jersey , the Philadelphia Phillies decided not to add a proven starter to their rotation for the stretch drive.Former Cy Young Award winner Jake Arrieta and 2018 Cy Young Award candidate Aaron Nola will start for the Phillies against the Atlanta Braves on Saturday and Sunday, but first struggling Nick Pivetta (7-13, 4.67 ERA) must take the mound Friday night.It is almost a must win for Philadelphia, which fell behind the Braves by 6 1/2 games with an 8-3 loss in the series opener Thursday night at SunTrust Park. Atlanta’s magic number for winning the National League East was reduced to four.Article continues below ...Veteran right-hander Julio Teheran (9-8, 3.97) will start for Atlanta (85-68) opposite Pivetta as the Braves try to put the Phillies (78-74) on the verge of elimination.Philadelphia used seven relievers after slumping starter Vince Velasquez pitched just three innings to start the series, and the bullpen cracked late, giving up the tie-breaking run in the seventh and four more runs in the eighth as the Phillies fell to 6-12 in September.Pivetta hasn’t won since Aug. 7 and has lost his last four decisions, pitching just 13 1/3 innings in his three September outings.On a more positive note, though, the 25-year-old Pivetta beat the Braves three times as a rookie in 2017 while posting a 2.12 ERA and was solid against them early this season, going 1-1 with a 3.43 ERA in four starts.The Phillies also continue to point to Pivetta’s swing-and-miss stuff. He fanned eight in five innings against Miami last Sunday http://www.whitesoxfanproshop.com/authentic-robin-ventura-jersey , but was done in by a two-run homer from Pete O’Brien.“I think the only hard-hit ball that comes to mind for me was the home run to O’Brien,” manager Gabe Kapler said afterward. “Other than that, the curveball was working well, the fastball was working well, had a lot of life to it, obviously, getting tons of swings and misses on it. Looked like he was going to roll and just ran into a little bit of a buzz saw there.”Teheran had appeared back on track after an up-and-down season until he had a shaky outing in a loss to Washington last Saturday.The two-time All-Star allowed six walks and was pulled after four innings despite giving up just three hits and two runs while striking out seven.Walks have been Teheran’s downfall all season. Opponents are batting just .198 against him, but he has surrendered 79 walks in 163 1/3 innings.The 27-year-old from Colombia made his fourth consecutive start on Opening Day for the Braves this season, but his spot in a potential playoff rotation is far from a certainty.“I haven’t thought about that, but it is what it is,” Teheran said after the loss to the Nationals. “We still need to finish strong. I’ve got a couple outings to go. I’ve been feeling good my last couple outings. It’s getting there. You’re going to have difficult games. But I feel like I’ve been doing better now.”Teheran was 1-0 with a 4.91 ERA in three April starts against the Phillies and is 9-6 with a 3.55 ERA in 22 career games Early Wynn Jersey , including 21 starts, against them.Outfielder-first baseman Rhys Hoskins is 5-for-10 with three doubles against Teheran, while first baseman Justin Bour went 7-for-18 with a homer while with Miami before joining the Phillies.Braves center fielder Ender Inciarte has gone 8-for-17 against Pivetta, but first baseman Freddie Freeman is just 2-for-15. LOS ANGELES — The first plot twist of the National League Division Series already arrived and the Atlanta Braves and Los Angeles Dodgers have not even played a game.The Dodgers announced that Hyun-Jin Ryu and not Clayton Kershaw will start Game 1 of the series on Thursday at Dodger Stadium, even though Kershaw will be on regular rest after last pitching Saturday in San Francisco.A Braves team that finished 18 games below .500 last year and burst upon the scene in 2018 is actually the one with more predictability surrounding it in a series against the defending National League champions. Right-hander Mike Foltynewicz will take the ball in Game 1 as expected for Atlanta.Article continues below ...At face value, the Dodgers’ move to Ryu in Game 1 makes sense because it keeps their rotation in order.Ryu missed 3 1/2 months of the season with a groin strain, then returned Aug. 15 to post a 1.88 ERA in 52 2/3 innings. The left-hander has worked just 82 1/3 innings all season.But his move to the series opener bumps a Dodgers pitching legend to Game 2. Kershaw might not be as overpowering as he once was, but he still finished the season with a 2.73 ERA. And Kershaw can still pitch in a deciding Game 5, if necessary, on regular rest.Kershaw did have a 3.89 ERA in six September starts and gave up a combined eight earned runs in two key starts down the stretch, including five against the Giants on Saturday in a must-win game that the Dodgers ultimately won 10-6.There is no parsing the numbers for Foltynewicz Avisail Garcia Jersey , who emerged this season with a 2.85 ERA and a 1.082 WHIP in 183 innings. His strong late-season run was interrupted when an aggressive St. Louis Cardinals lineup roughed him up for six runs in 4 2/3 innings, but Foltynewicz finished the regular season with two strong starts against the Philadelphia Phillies.“We’ve wanted Folty to be ‘the guy’ for a couple years, and right now, I think he’s establishing himself as our legit first guy,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said, according to mlb.com. “It wasn’t a hard decision at all.”Foltynewicz’s roughest stretch all season came in a four-start span when he gave up 18 earned runs in 23 1/3 innings. It concluded when he gave up four runs and six hits in five innings, including two home runs, in a 4-1 loss to the Dodgers.Despite vastly different lineups in the second half depending on whether they are facing a right-handed pitcher or a lefty, the Dodgers still managed to hit an NL-leading 235 home runs. They were sixth in the NL with 1,436 strikeouts.The Braves were 13th in the NL with 1,290 strikeouts and eighth with 175 home runs. But they cashed in their chances http://www.whitesoxfanproshop.com/authentic-frank-thomas-jersey , finishing fifth in runs with 759. The Dodgers led the category with 804.The Dodgers won the season series 5-2, scoring 5.0 runs per game to the Braves’ 2.6. The Dodgers’ starters also had a 2.20 ERA in the seven games and the Braves were at 4.69.The Dodgers might have lost a Game 7 in the World Series last year and they got off to a slow start this year at 16-26 on May 16, but they are a confident bunch now.“Dodgers, we are going for more,” Yasiel Puig said in the Dodgers’ celebratory clubhouse Monday on Spectrum SportsNet Los Angeles. “Hey, Atlanta, we’ll see you soon, baby. And the next one … no matter who’s going, we’re going to beat (them). And we’re going to the World Series again. And this time we’re going to win the World Series. In 2018, the big party is here in Los Angeles.”