Atlanta defeated Los Angeles 3-2 in Game 2 of the National League Division Series, leaving both clubs level at one win apiece as the series shifts to Braves territory.
Without Chris Sale available to start, Atlanta deployed bullpen units for both road outings against pitchers who have each won a Cy Young Award, and still departed those games level on the series heading back to their home park.
Blake Snell issued five walks in Game 2, with the performance coming as he continued working back from a groin problem late in the regular season that had limited his workload to roughly five innings across the final two weeks. Snell needed 90 pitches to get through 3.2 innings, departing without consistent command of his pitches. Over the course of his final ten at-bats faced, every hitter required at least four deliveries, and a fifth walk ended his afternoon before he could complete the fourth inning.
Pitching in relief, Stewart retired Acuña Jr. and prevented further damage after a fourth inning that had gone against him. Snell's Game 2 outing stood in contrast to his late-season form — a 1.13 ERA across his final eight outings of the regular campaign, posted after he returned from an elbow procedure.
Kerr held Los Angeles scoreless across 2.2 innings in Game 2, recording four strikeouts and outperforming Snell on the mound, with Atlanta's relief corps handling the remaining outs.
Kerr grew up in foster care before passing through junior college, where an academic eligibility issue cut that chapter short, prompting a return to Reno, Nevada, where he worked shifts at a convenience store and a movie theater. His play during the Alaska summer league while attending a second community college drew the attention of the Mariners, whose offer of a minor-league contract set his professional career in motion. A two-year absence tied to Tommy John surgery preceded his return to a major-league pitching mound this season, the first such appearance he had made since 2024.
Handed the ball for the postseason's deciding wild-card contest after nine appearances during the regular season, Kerr held the Phillies scoreless across 3.1 innings, getting the better of Aaron Nola in the wild-card series finale.
Persistent discomfort in Freeman's right knee affected his power output across the back half of the season, with the first baseman managing only one home run after the All-Star break and a single extra-base hit throughout September. A solo home run by Freeman off Holmes in the fourth inning drew the score level, with the sellout crowd of 50,729 on their feet as the Dodgers pulled even.
Back in a Dodgers uniform for just the sixth time since recovering from an elbow injury, Bubic stood one strike away from completing a clean fifth inning. The pitcher retired the first two hitters without trouble, then worked Harris into an 0-2 hole before the Braves center fielder reached out for a sweeper well off the plate and slapped it to the opposite field. Hernandez, playing left field, took an indirect path toward the fly ball, which cleared his outstretched glove, bounced off the wall, and left Harris positioned at third.
A wild pitch from Bubic followed directly from that triple, and the runner who crossed the plate in its wake first drew the contest level before handing Atlanta the lead. Harris reached base safely three times across the game, collecting a single and a double alongside that triple. Harris had also connected on a three-run home run off Nola in the third wild-card contest, putting Atlanta in position to advance into the National League Division Series.
A home run off reliever Didier Fuentes — struck by Muncy with two outs in the ninth — brought the Dodgers within one, narrowing the gap to 3-2. Braves manager Weiss brought closer Iglesias into the game at that point. Roberts turned to De Paula, a rookie making his first postseason plate appearance, but the at-bat ended with a pop-out that closed the inning.
Bringing Sale back to handle the final five batters in Game 3 of the wild-card series — just 48 hours after he had taken the mound to open that game — reflected a deliberate roster decision by the Braves. The additional bullpen work between his outings left Sale unavailable for the first two games of the NLDS in Los Angeles, though Atlanta still took Game 2 without him. Braves manager Walt Weiss, expressing no regret over using Sale in the wild-card finale, noted that winning that series had been the priority, with Sale then lined up to take the mound in Atlanta for Game 3 on four days' rest from his relief outing and six from his previous start.
