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Braves vs. Dodgers Preview: Matt Kemp, Clayton Kershaw Come To Town

The Braves welcome in one of the hottest teams in the league to Turner Field this weekend. We'll break it all down inside...

By Scott Coleman

After seemingly playing nothing but NL East foes for the past month, the Braves will welcome the Los Angeles Dodgers (66-70, 11.5 GB) to Turner Field this Labor Day weekend. While LA has struggled as a whole this season, they have a few players who are bonafide superstars. Winners of nine of their last 10 games, Atlanta better not take the Dodgers lightly.

Let's take a closer look at the club:

The NL MVP?:

Matt Kemp

#27 / Center Field / Los Angeles Dodgers

6-3

215

R

R

Sep 23, 1984

G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB K SB CS AVG OBP SLG
2011 - Matt Kemp 136 505 88 162 26 3 31 102 63 130 36 7 .321 .395 .568

Kemp may or may not win the NL MVP award, but he'd probably be a lock if his team was a playoff contender. After a rough season in 2010, the center fielder has had a monster season and is showing everyone he truly is one of the best hitters in all of baseball. A rare player capable of being a 30/30 guy, his only downfall comes in the field, though he has improved from previous seasons. Don't let him beat you.

Pitching Matchups:

Friday, 7:35 -- Brandon Beachy vs. Chad Billingsley -- PeachTree TV, Fox Sports South

W-L G GS CG SHO SV BS IP H R ER HR BB K ERA WHIP
2011 - Brandon Beachy 7-2 20 20 0 0 0 0 114.1 100 46 42 15 32 128 3.31 1.15
W-L G GS CG SHO SV BS IP H R ER HR BB K ERA WHIP
2011 - Chad Billingsley 10-10 27 27 1 0 0 0 165.1 163 82 75 12 70 137 4.08 1.41

Saturday, 7:10 -- Mike Minor vs. Nathan Eovaldi -- SportSouth

W-L G GS CG SHO SV BS IP H R ER HR BB K ERA WHIP
2011 - Mike Minor 4-2 10 10 0 0 0 0 55.2 64 28 27 1 19 52 4.37 1.49
W-L G GS CG SHO SV BS IP H R ER HR BB K ERA WHIP
2011 - Nathan Eovaldi 1-2 5 5 0 0 0 0 26.0 22 10 10 1 12 18 3.46 1.31

Sunday, 1:35 -- Randall Delgado vs. Clayton Kershaw -- SportSouth

W-L G GS CG SHO SV BS IP H R ER HR BB K ERA WHIP
2011 - Randall Delgado 0-1 2 2 0 0 0 0 10.0 8 5 4 2 3 6 3.60 1.10
W-L G GS CG SHO SV BS IP H R ER HR BB K ERA WHIP
2011 - Clayton Kershaw 17-5 28 28 5 2 0 0 198.2 152 59 54 13 50 212 2.45 1.02

Series Outlook:

The Dodgers are among the hottest teams in baseball right now. They have a few players capable of dominating a game, though they are pretty weak at other positions as well. Atlanta should be able to take two games out of the series, but Kershaw will be a tough man to beat on Sunday.

In This Stream

Braves vs. Dodgers Final Score: Atlanta Avoids Sweep With Walk-off 4-3 Victory

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Photographs by coka_koehler used in background montage under Creative Commons. Thank you.