Braves Beat Dodgers 3-2 in Game 2 to Even the NLDS at One Game Apiece
Michael Harris II finished a home run short of the cycle, scored the go-ahead run on a wild pitch and drove in an insurance run as Atlanta's bullpen held off Los Angeles 3-2 on Sunday night.
LOS ANGELES — The Atlanta Braves evened their National League Division Series with the Los Angeles Dodgers on Sunday night, riding a three-hit game from Michael Harris II and a patchwork bullpen effort to a 3-2 victory in Game 2 at Dodger Stadium.
The best-of-five series is now tied at one game apiece and shifts to Atlanta for Game 3 on Tuesday. The win gave the Braves a split on the road against the defending champions despite starting ace Chris Sale being unavailable for the first two games.
Harris does a little of everything
Harris singled in the third inning, tripled in the fifth and doubled in the seventh, finishing a home run short of the cycle. His fifth-inning triple, which got past left fielder Teoscar Hernández and rolled to the wall, put him in position to score the go-ahead run moments later on a wild pitch by Dodgers reliever Kris Bubic. Two innings later, his two-out double drove in an insurance run that proved to be the difference.
Atlanta struck first in the opening inning. Los Angeles answered in the fourth, when Freddie Freeman hit a solo home run against his former team to tie the game at 1-1. The tie did not last long, as Harris and the Braves pushed back in front in the fifth and added the third run in the seventh.
The Dodgers nearly stole it back in the ninth. Max Muncy hit a two-out solo home run to cut the deficit to 3-2, but closer Raisel Iglesias recorded the final out, getting pinch-hitter Josue De Paula to foul out in the rookie’s first career playoff plate appearance.
Snell struggles, Atlanta’s bullpen holds
Los Angeles starter Blake Snell never found his command. The two-time Cy Young Award winner lasted only 3 2/3 innings, his shortest postseason start since 2022, walking five batters while throwing 90 pitches. Atlanta chased him in the fourth inning and spent the rest of the night working through the Dodgers’ bullpen.
The Braves countered with a bullpen game of their own. Opener Ray Kerr, who returned this season after Tommy John surgery, worked 2 2/3 scoreless innings with four strikeouts. Rookie Didier Fuentes followed with 3 2/3 solid innings before Muncy’s late homer, and Atlanta’s relievers retired 14 consecutive Los Angeles hitters during one stretch spanning the middle innings.
The Dodgers finished 0-for-8 with runners in scoring position and stranded seven runners over the first five innings. Shohei Ohtani went 1-for-4 with two strikeouts and, for the second straight game, was not a decisive factor.
Game 3 on Tuesday is expected to feature the matchup both teams have been waiting for: Chris Sale for Atlanta against Yoshinobu Yamamoto for Los Angeles. In a series now reduced to a best-of-three, the winner of that game will move within one victory of the National League Championship Series.
Reporting based on coverage by the Associated Press, Fox Sports and theScore.
