Braves become first team since 1921 to be shut out in first 2 playoff games

Clayton Kershaw's dominance put the Atlanta Braves on the brink of elimination and also helped his Los Angeles Dodgers do something that baseball fans hadn't seen since the roaring twenties.

The Dodgers defeated the Braves 3-0 in Game 2 of their National League Division Series showdown on Friday, giving them a second straight shutout victory following Thursday's 6-0 thumping. That made the Braves only the second team ever to open their postseason run with consecutive shutout losses, joining the 1921 New York Giants, according to ESPN's Sarah Langs.

Additionally, the Braves were shut out in consecutive playoff games for the first time in franchise history, per ESPN Stats & Info.

The Braves' bats have gone silent since the postseason began. Over the past two games at Dodger Stadium, they've posted a collective .145/.159/.161 slash line (9-for-62) with just a single extra-base hit and zero walks.

If there's some solace that the Braves can take from their lackluster performance to open the NLDS, it's that the '21 Giants - whose record they tied on Friday - managed to shake off their back-to-back shutout losses and went on to win that year's World Series in eight games. They'll look to finally get a run on the board, and possibly a win when they return home for Game 3 on Sunday.

As for the Dodgers, they're now one shutout win away from joining the 1905 Giants and 1966 Orioles as the only teams to put up three straight shutout wins in a single postseason.