By: TJ Hartnett

TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services

Going into the Division Series, few, if any, had the Braves taking 3 from Los Angeles and moving on to the National League Championship Series.

The Dodgers were in the World Series a year ago and still flaunted many of the big guns that they had in that Fall Classic, plus the huge addition of Manny Machado to their infield and lineup. They are bigger and scarier and have a recent track record. That’s fine. Every series is going to have a favorite and an underdog. So be it.

Going into Sunday’s Game 3, the Braves are in an 0-2 hole, having dropped two on the road in L.A.

That’s a bad spot to be in. Now they’ve got to win three in a row, but what’s been worse that the record has been the on-field play.

The Braves have yet to put a run on the board in the first 18 innings of the Division Series. The offense has been a dud. The Braves have scattered hits amounting to nothing and anytime a rally appears like it could begin, the next batter inevitably hits into a double play or strikes out to end the inning.

The Atlanta offense that ranked so highly in the NL in 2018 has gone into hibernation weeks too soon.

The biggest gut punch of the series, however, was Mike Foltynewicz’s Game 1 start.

He started the game by giving up a leadoff home run, which in and of itself wouldn’t have seen so big a deal, but it very clearly shook Folty hard.

He ended up throwing only 50 pitches and was yanked after giving up 4 runs in just two innings.

The runs and the inability to pitch deep into the game were an issue, of course, but nothing sucked the wind out of the sails of the Braves (and their fans watching from across the nation) like Folty’s complete defeat.

His body language gave it all away. He was shaking his head constantly, snatching the return throw from the catcher in a frustrated way and all-in-all looking like he had nothing to give.

It was the kind of Folty we hadn’t seen at all during his breakout year and it was clear to the entire country that he was just done.

Despite minimizing the damage to one run in what could have been a much worse bottom of the first, the Braves ace came back out for the bottom of the second and didn’t have it. The Braves ace gave up three more runs and showed even more defeat in his posture and mannerisms.

Even 4 runs aren’t an insurmountable hole to climb out of but Brian Snitker saw what the rest of us saw and pulled Folty from the game.

It was tough to watch. It was tougher still by comparison to the way the Dodgers were playing. Kike Hernandez and Yasiel Puig were making basket catches and sticking their tongues out while making sliding plays. They were playing so casually and with a confidence that basically shouted: “we belong here.” Their swagger alongside a lackluster Braves squad showed a divide between the two teams as wide as the distant between their two home cities.

Game 2 was easier to watch. Anibal Sanchez did what he’s done all season: keep the Braves in the game.

Unfortunately, Clayton Kershaw decided it was time to remind the world that he’s a future Hall-of-Famer with plenty of road ahead of him.

There was to be no scoring against the Dodgers on that night and in fact there were only three hits, two of them by Ronald Acuna, Jr.

It was a long shot for the Braves to win this series but there was hope.

While many Braves fans will be satisfied just by their ahead-of-schedule NL East crown, no one could have expected or wanted to see this absolute outclassing at the hands of the Dodgers.

But to end on a positive note, what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger; and while the Braves aren’t likely to win after being down 0-2, this young squad will have gotten their first taste of the postseason. There’s only one way to go from here.