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(SportsNetwork.com) - The Atlanta Braves won their first National League East title since 2005 thanks in large part to their strong play at home. They hope to keep that home cooking going on Thursday when they begin the best-of-five National League Division Series versus the Los Angeles Dodgers at Turner Field. Atlantas ballpark was a house of horrors for visiting clubs this season, as the Braves compiled a major league best 56-25 (.691) mark there and were 25-10 in Dixie since late July. Wire-to-wire leaders in the division, Atlanta is back in the postseason for the third time in the last four years. A 14-game winning streak and a 20-4 stretch from late July through August propelled the Braves, but they seemed to take their foot of the pedal late and lost 13 of the last 24 games to close out the regular season. "At the end of the day, youve got to win ballgames," Braves outfielder Justin Upton said. "That is what the playoffs are all about. Everybody is 0-0. They have to win as many games as you do. Thats just the way it is. No matter who it is, we have to beat the team that is in front of us." The Braves released their roster on Wednesday and a familiar face was left off, as the team opted to sit second baseman Dan Uggla, who hit an atrocious .179 despite 22 home runs. Elliot Johnson is expected to start at second on Thursday. Getting the call for Atlanta in Game 1 will be righty Kris Medlen, one of four Braves pitchers who recorded 10 or more wins in the regular season. Medlen again finished his season strong and was named the NLs Pitcher of the Month for September for the second year in a row. He went 4-0 in five starts during the month and ended the year 15-12 with a 3.11 ERA. "Everything is magnified, one little mistake is a lot bigger in these kinds of situations," said Medlen, who lost the Braves wild card game in 2012. "You just have to try to not get too ahead of yourself and live in the moment. Its an unbelievable experience and it was a lot of fun last year. Even though we didnt come out on top, it was just a great experience and I dont expect anything different this time around, other than a win." Medlen went 1-0 in two starts against the Dodgers in the regular season and is 3-0 with a 1.23 earned run average in eight career matchups (3 starts) with them. Los Angeles, meanwhile, found itself 9 1/2 games back in the NL West on June 22 and seemed to be close to firing manager Don Mattingly. However, the team rattled off 42 wins in 50 games and claimed its 12th division title since 1969. Atlanta lost seven players to season-ending injuries this season, but the Dodgers have some concerns of their own. Outfielder Matt Kemp is done for the year with a ankle injury, while Andre Ethier has not played since Sept. 13 because of an ankle issue of his own. "If you dont have Andre and you dont have Matt, youre not as good as you could be," Mattingly said. "But were still good enough to win." The Dodgers are good enough to win if Adrian Gonzalez, young Cuban phenom Yasiel Puig and Hanley Ramirez stay consistent at the plate. Gonzalez led the Dodgers in batting average (.293), hits (171), home runs (22), runs batted in (100) and reached the 100-RBI mark for the sixth time in his career. Puig busted out on the scene by hitting four home runs in his first five games, a club record, and was named NL Player of the Month and NL Rookie of the Month for June. All eyes will be on Puig now that Kemp is gone for a Dodgers club that was sixth in the majors with a .264 average. Ramirez struggled to stay healthy this season and appears to be ready for the stretch run. Ramirez had a lower back issue and batted .345 with 20 homers and 57 RBI in 86 games. Dodgers left-handed ace Clayton Kershaw will get the ball in Game 1 after a terrific season that will likely net him another NL Cy Young Award. Kershaw led the major leagues with a minuscule 1.83 ERA and was 6-2 with a 1.61 ERA in his last nine starts and finished 16-9 with an NL-best 232 strikeouts. Kershaw posted his fourth consecutive season with 200 or more strikeouts, and allowed a .195 batting average -- .202 to right-handed hitters and .165 to left-handed hitters. "Hes definitely at the top of his craft," said Upton. "Hes one of those guys, you can tell when you see him out before games, when hes not pitching, hes preparing, so you know hes one of those guys that when he steps on the mound, hes prepared. You just have to be prepared to go at him, too." Like Atlanta the Dodgers stumbled to the finish line, going 12-15 in September. Since the advent of the wild card in 1995, only three times has a team with a losing record in the final month of the season won the World Series: the 2006 St. Louis Cardinals (12-17), the 00 New York Yankees (13-17) and the 1997 Florida Marlins (12-15). Atlanta won five of its seven matchups with the Dodgers this season. However, these teams havent met in the postseason since the Braves swept the NLDS back in 1996. Nomar Garciaparra Jersey . - The Mavericks built a 12-point lead with 2:50 to play, gave away all but two points of it, and still managed to hang on. Sam Travis Jersey . - Erick Torres scored his 10th goal of the season on a stunning volley, and Chivas USA edged 10-man Real Salt Lake 1-0 on Saturday night. https://www.cheapredsox.com/361z-andrew-...ey-red-sox.html. Make that, almost always subjective. Saturday at Carrow Road, the spirit of fair play trumped the rulebook, costing Norwich City three points. Red Sox Jerseys 2020 .com) - The New York Rangers hope to punch their ticket to the second round when they visit the Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday for a Game 6 battle at Wells Fargo Center. Babe Ruth Jersey .Just like old times.Only this time, just one got to enjoy a victory.James return to Miami as an opponent was a success — for the Heat, that is. Wade scored 24 of his 31 points in the first half, Luol Deng had 25 points and dogged James defensively all night, and the Heat beat the Cleveland Cavaliers 101-91 in a hyped Christmas matchup Thursday.Britains Kyle Edmund made a surprise early exit at the Rogers Cup, losing to Canadian wildcard Steven Diez 3-6 6-3 6-2. The 21-year-old, a hero for Great Britain during last weekends Davis Cup quarter-final in Serbia, has been hoping to impress at the Masters 1000 tournament.He had been moved into the main draw following a spate of withdrawals including Andy Murray, Roger Federer and Rafa Nadal. World No 84 Edmund made a bright start by winning the first set, but he then fell flat and ended up losing to a player ranked 108 places below him in just over an hour and three quarters. Edmund was a hero for Great Britain in Serbia last week The reward for Diez, 25, is a second-round date with Australian 12th seed Bernard Tomic who beat Colombias Alejandro Gonzalez 6-4 7-6 (7-1).Big serving South African Kevin Anderson eased past Viktor Troicki from Serbia 7-6 (7-4) 6-3 and next faces sixth seeded Austrian Dominic Thiem, who received a bye.Teenager Borna Coric set up a tasty second-round meeting with fifth seeded Czech Tomas Berdych after battling past Croatias Ivan Dodig 5-7 6-4 6-2.Grigor Dimitrov bounced back from a heavy defeat against Dan Evans last week in Washington to beat Japans Yuichi Sugita, but it took the big Bulgarian an age to progress 5-7 77-6 6-4.ddddddddddddAs well as Diez, Canadian fans were also able to celebrate a home win when Peter Polanski came back from a set down to beat Americas Tim Smyczek 4-6 6-3 6-0.Ninth seed John Isner came through a tough opening match with a 4-6 6-3 6-2 win over Israels Dudi Sela and there was a 6-3 7-6 (8-6) win for Mikhail Youzhny over Stephane Robert. The British No 2 had won the first set comfortably before falling flat Top seeds Novak Djokovic, Stan Wawrinka, Kei Nishikori, Tomas Berdych, Marin Cilic and Milos Raonic will join the next stage of the Rogers Cup.Watch the Toronto Masters tournament, live on Sky Sports 3 HD. Check out daily Tennis news on skysports.com/tennis, our app for mobile devices and iPad and our Twitter account @skysportstennis.By purchasing a Sky Sports Day Pass for £6.99 or Sky Sports Week Pass for £10.99, you can enjoy access to all seven Sky Sports channels and watch on a TV with a NOW TV Box or on a range of devices. Also See: Rogers Cup: Latest scores Sky Live: Rogers Cup ATP schedule Tennis on Sky Get a NOW TV pass Video ' ' '