This is MLB scheduling at its finest. September baseball, the two heavyweights of the National League going head-to-head in a four-game series with the No. 1 seed on the line. There's one month to go, and the Atlanta Braves and Los Angeles Dodgers have emerged as the best teams in the NL. The Braves currently lead the Dodgers by four games in the standings, and the top seed gets home-field advantage throughout the playoffs. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts discussed the epic four-game series, which begins Thursday night in Los Angeles, with SportsNet LA.

“I think just going head up and seeing who comes out victorious,” Dave Roberts said, when asked what he's looking forward to most about the series. He knows these are the two best teams in the National League, and he knows they could certainly run into each other in October. The Braves and Dodgers met in the NLCS in both 2020 and 2021, with each team taking home a pennant. Both teams would also go on to win the World Series.

The sub-plot of this exciting matchup is the National League MVP race. Braves star Ronald Acuña Jr. has been the runaway favorite for the award pretty much all year long. However, Dodgers star Mookie Betts has been on a tear in August. Over the past month, Betts is slashing .454/.512/.796 with a 247 OPS+ in that stretch. 247! He's also hit nine home runs and driven in 26 runs, narrowing the race to almost even.

On FanDuel, Acuña is the betting favorite for NL MVP at -120, and Betts is second at -105.

The advantage Betts has in the race is his multi-positional value. The Dodgers have turned him into a super-utility player and have even played the career outfielder at shortstop this season.

On the other hand, Acuña is the driving force of the most productive and powerful offense in baseball. He leads the majors in runs, hits, on base percentage and steals. He's just one home run away from becoming the first player to ever slap 30 home runs and swipe 60 bases in a season.

Their head-to-head performance in this four-game marquee weekend series could be a determining factor in the award race if it stays close.