The Atlanta Braves beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 3-2 on Sunday night at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles to even their National League Division Series at one game apiece, with Michael Harris II driving in the go-ahead run and a rookie reliever turning in the performance of his young career. The series now shifts to Truist Park in Atlanta for Game 3 on Tuesday.
Michael Harris II was the offensive catalyst for the Braves all night. Harris led the way at the plate, going 3-for-5 with a double and a triple, scoring a run and driving in another. He came within a home run of hitting for the cycle in a win that shifted home-field advantage in the series.
Harris II delivers in back-to-back innings
Michael Harris II tripled and scored the go-ahead run on reliever Kris Bubic's wild pitch in the fifth inning, and the Braves beat the Dodgers 3-2 on Sunday night to even the National League Division Series at a game apiece. That put Atlanta in front for good.
Harris wasn't finished. He made it 3-1 for the Braves in the seventh on an RBI double to right field against Edgardo Henriquez. The two-out knock proved decisive given how tight the Dodgers' lineup made things in the late innings.
Freeman's return to Atlanta falls short
The night carried extra weight for Dodgers first baseman Freddie Freeman, who spent the first years of his career with the Braves. Freeman tied it at 1 on a two-strike solo shot off Braves reliever Grant Holmes in the fourth while facing his former team for the first time in the postseason. It wasn't enough to keep Los Angeles ahead as Atlanta's bullpen settled in.
A 21-year-old becomes the bullpen hero
With ace Chris Sale unavailable, Braves manager Walt Weiss leaned entirely on his relief corps in a true bullpen game. Ray Kerr, serving as an opener for the second time this postseason, delivered 2 2/3 scoreless innings with four strikeouts, and from there Grant Holmes, Dylan Lee, Robert Suarez, Didier Fuentes and closer Raisel Iglesias combined to limit the Dodgers to two runs.
Fuentes stood out above the rest. The 21-year-old faced 13 hitters across four innings and allowed only a ninth-inning solo home run to Max Muncy. Fuentes did the yeoman's work with three perfect innings in the sixth, seventh and eighth, and hadn't pitched more than two innings since May, but after he retired nine straight batters, Weiss trusted him to close the game.
A nervy ninth inning
Fuentes nearly finished the job outright. Max Muncy's two-strike, two-out homer off Didier Fuentes pulled the Dodgers to 3-2 in the ninth. Iglesias then came on to secure the final out and preserve the win, a stark contrast to Game 1, when runs were hard to come by after the teams combined for five homers in the Dodgers' 5-3 victory in the series opener, a game Atlanta dropped as detailed in our recap of the NLDS opener.
What the win means for the series
Beyond evening the series, Atlanta's victory had a strategic payoff. By splitting the first two games in Los Angeles, the Braves flipped the dynamic of the best-of-five series and reclaimed home-field advantage heading into Game 3. The Atlanta Braves now control the next two games on their home turf at Truist Park.
Lineups and pitching for Game 3
Atlanta turns to left-hander Chris Sale for Game 3, while the Dodgers will give the ball to Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who is set for his postseason debut this October. Bullpen availability will be a key subplot: the Braves will have closer Raisel Iglesias and two top setup men, Robert Suarez and Dylan Lee, available, while Didier Fuentes and Ray Kerr won't be available after both threw 40-plus pitches on Sunday. For more on how Weiss plans to navigate his bullpen without his top two relievers, see our breakdown of Atlanta's Game 3 opener plan.
Where and when to watch
Game 3 is scheduled for Tuesday, October 6, with first pitch at 6 p.m. ET / 3 p.m. PT at Truist Park in Atlanta. The game will stream on FOX One and air nationally on FS1. A win for either club would put it one victory from advancing to the NLCS, with the full bracket tracked on our MLB Playoffs hub alongside the rest of the MLB postseason coverage.
Braves look to keep the momentum
Atlanta's pitching staff showed it could match the defending champions blow for blow without its ace on the mound, while Harris II's bat has quickly become the team's most reliable source of offense this October. If the Braves can carry that formula back home, they'll have a real chance to push the two-time defending champion Dodgers to the brink in front of their own fans at Truist Park.