LOS ANGELES — Michael Harris II came up a home run short of the cycle, and the Atlanta Braves’ bullpen did the rest, beating the Los Angeles Dodgers 3-2 on Sunday night to even their National League Division Series at a game apiece.
“Getting the split in this place against these guys, yeah, it’s awesome,” Braves manager Walt Weiss said, according to the Associated Press.
The best-of-five series now moves to Truist Park in Atlanta for Game 3 today, Tuesday, with first pitch set for 3 p.m. Arizona time on FS1. Braves left-hander Chris Sale is scheduled to face Dodgers right-hander Yoshinobu Yamamoto.
Harris does it all
Harris singled in the third, then delivered the biggest swing of the night in the fifth: a two-out triple, his first ever in the postseason, followed by the go-ahead run when Dodgers reliever Kris Bubic threw a wild pitch. He added insurance in the seventh with a two-out RBI double to right off Edgardo Henriquez.
“Michael had a great game,” Weiss said. “Postseason, you never know what’s going to happen. There’s no blueprint. There’s no playbook.”
Atlanta had jumped in front in the first when Mauricio Dubón bounced a two-out, bases-loaded single to shortstop. Mookie Betts made a diving stop, but his throw was too late to keep Ronald Acuña Jr. from scoring. Former Brave Freddie Freeman tied it with a solo homer off Grant Holmes in the fourth, facing his old team in the postseason for the first time.
Snell chased early
Dodgers starter Blake Snell never found a rhythm. The two-time Cy Young Award winner threw 90 pitches, only 47 for strikes, and lasted just 3 2/3 innings, his shortest postseason start since 2022, the AP reported. He allowed one run on three hits with five walks and five strikeouts. Snell left the ballpark after the game because of a family emergency, a team spokesman said.
Weiss pushes the right buttons
With Sale getting extra rest, the Braves turned to left-hander Ray Kerr as an opener for the second time in four days, and he held the Dodgers scoreless for 2 2/3 innings, MLB.com reported. Weiss used six pitchers in all. After Betts walked and Shohei Ohtani singled to open the fifth, Atlanta’s bullpen retired 14 straight Dodgers.
The standout was 21-year-old Didier Fuentes, who allowed one run over 3 2/3 innings with a four-seam fastball that averaged 99.4 mph, up from 97.3 during the regular season, according to MLB.com. The only blemish was Max Muncy’s two-out homer in the ninth. Raisel Iglesias then got pinch-hitter Josue De Paula to foul out for the save.
“I couldn’t believe he came back out there for the ninth, but he did and he was still chucking 100,” Braves first baseman Matt Olson said of Fuentes.
Dodgers searching for offense
Ohtani went 1-for-4 with two strikeouts and was not a factor for the second straight game. Los Angeles stranded seven runners over the first five innings, and manager Dave Roberts pointed to his hitters chasing pitches. “It’s hard to square up, put good swings on balls that are out of the zone,” Roberts said. The Dodgers’ pitching kept it close: after Roki Sasaki loaded the bases in the eighth, Acuña grounded into an inning-ending double play.
“We got to find a way to score some runs without hitting a home run,” Freeman said. “Get guys on base, get that big hit and hope that our pitching keeps doing good.”
History favors Atlanta. In division series using the current 2-2-1 format, teams that split the first two games on the road have won the series 30 of 49 times, or 61%, MLB.com noted.
Photo: Junkyardsparkle via Wikimedia Commons (CC0 public domain dedication). File photo of Dodger Stadium, 2015.
Sources: Associated Press (via CBS Sports); MLB.com.
This article was produced with AI assistance and is based on reporting from Associated Press (via CBS Sports) and MLB.com.