Los Angeles Dodgers designated hitter Kyle Tucker left his difficult regular season behind Saturday, coming up big when it mattered most in a 5-3 win over the Atlanta Braves in Game 1 of the National League Division Series at Dodger Stadium.
The 29-year-old went 2-for-4 with one home run and two RBIs, helping Los Angeles take a 1-0 lead in the series. Facing AJ Smith-Shawver in the sixth inning, Tucker launched a two-run blast to stretch the Dodgers' lead to 4-1. Max Muncy followed with a solo homer two batters later.
LONG GONE 💪
Kyle Tucker sends this 2-run homer 408 feet! pic.twitter.com/d8PxcSl0kA
— MLB (@MLB) October 3, 2026
The performance was a much-needed start to October for Tucker, who had a career-worst regular season in his first year with Los Angeles after signing a four-year, $240 million deal as a free agent. He hit .233 with 17 home runs and 70 RBIs across 154 games, and finished with 126 hits, 23 doubles, four triples, 78 walks and 105 strikeouts while recording a .330 on-base percentage, .385 slugging percentage and .715 OPS.
Tucker was not the only Dodgers hitter to overcome a brutal stretch. Teoscar Hernandez also connected for a two-run homer in the fourth inning while going 2-for-4 with two runs and two RBIs. Hernandez had struggled during July and August before a swing adjustment helped him turn things around in September.
Article Continues BelowLos Angeles finished Game 1 with eight hits and three walks. The three home runs provided the offensive production needed behind starter Tarik Skubal.
Skubal allowed one run on two hits with seven strikeouts and two walks over six innings in his first postseason start for the Dodgers. He threw 94 pitches while working in temperatures that reached 100 degrees, with a feels-like temperature of 105.
Skubal's 63 strikeouts are the second-most in a pitcher's first seven postseason appearances behind Bob Gibson's 74.
Los Angeles will try to move within one win of the NL Championship Series on Sunday in Game 2, with two-time Cy Young Award winner Blake Snell set to start for the Dodgers at Dodger Stadium while the Braves have yet to announce who will oppose him.