Heroes, zeros and the inside pitch from the Dodgers’ 5-3 win over the Atlanta Braves in Game 1 of the National League Division Series:

Hero

The Dodgers have had plenty of key contributors during their run to back-to-back World Series titles the last couple years. Few, however, have delivered big swings as consistently as Teoscar Hernández.

The first game of this October’s postseason was no exception.

After three quiet innings to begin the day from the Dodgers offense, Hernández flipped the momentum in the bottom of the fourth inning, belting a two-run home run to give the Dodgers the lead.

The veteran slugger now has nine home runs in the playoffs the last three years (second-most on the Dodgers after Shohei Ohtani) and 27 RBIs in 34 games (most on the team in that stretch).

“Teo is good in big moments because he’s not afraid to fail,” manager Dave Roberts said. “I think he has a short memory in the sense of, if something doesn’t go well, he has a way to just kind of reset, recalibrate. I think he just focuses a little bit more.”

Hernández had to have a short memory a lot this year, slumping so bad after returning from a hamstring strain that the club at one point considered platooning him in left field.

“I was fighting for my life,” he said, “just to help this team to win games.”

Down the stretch, however, he rediscovered his swing, hitting .341 over his final 11 games. And now, he has added to his long list of big postseason moments.

“I always want to be the guy to be in those moments,” Hernández said. “I worked really hard for it, and I think the bigger the moment, the more focused I get.

Zero

Roberts didn’t name a designated closer entering the playoffs. But he had Tanner Scott’s name at the top of the list.

Whether that remains the case going forward is now to be seen, after Scott flirted with disaster in the top of the ninth inning by giving up a home run to Ozzie Albies that cut the Dodgers’ 5-1 lead in half, and was later removed with two outs in the inning.

Roberts did defend the left-hander –– who was 25-for-29 in save opportunities as the de facto closer during the regular season –– by insisting Scott’s “stuff was good” and that his trust in the southpaw is “not going to waver.”

But after the former $72 million signing missed all of last year’s playoffs because of poor performance and a medical procedure, Saturday was not the postseason Dodgers debut he had in mind.

It leaves the bullpen potentially unsettled, as well.

Unsung hero

Tommy Edman had a quiet day at the plate, going 0-for-2 with a walk. But he made a couple key plays defensively at second base, including a diving stop on a Ronald Acuña grounder in the fourth inning during a streak of 15 consecutive batters retired by starting pitcher Tarik Skubal.

“His defense today was outstanding,” Skubal said. “Just to keep those balls in the infield is one thing, but to get outs, that’s huge.”

Key stat

101.1: That was the velocity on one of Skubal’s fastballs in the second inning, marking the hardest he has thrown a pitch all year. 

“I think I was just trying to match the temperature out there,” Skubal joked, after pitching in 100-degree heat for most of the day. 

“I think the juices flow a little bit different in postseason games,” he added.

Quote of the night

Skubal was later asked if Saturday was the hottest game he’s ever played in.

“I played a Little League game in 127 [degrees] in Lake Havasu,” the Kingman, Arizona native quipped. 

So then, this must have been nothing, right?

“Well,” he laughed, “[this was] a little bit different game.”