Eyebrows were raised when Walt Weiss decided to take a gamble and lean on the bullpen for the third straight game—and second consecutive contest against the Dodgers—in Game 2 of the NLDS. That gamble paid off in a big way, and it may well have flipped the NLDS on its head.
After suffering a loss to Tarik Skubal and the Dodgers in Game 1, many expected Chris Sale to take the mound as the starter in Game 2. Sale, however, closed out the finale of the wild-card series against the Phillies on Thursday, meaning he’d be pitching on just two days of rest if he started Sunday’s showdown. Rather than risk potentially overworking Sale and not having him at full strength, Weiss once again put his faith in Atlanta’s group of relievers, and they delivered a masterclass, limiting the star-studded L.A. lineup to just six hits and two runs.
Ray Kerr, who came virtually out of nowhere to become a key piece of the Braves’ bullpen, got things off to a great start by throwing 2 2/3 scoreless innings––his second scoreless start of this young postseason. Kerr made just nine appearances in the regular season, logging 18 1/3 innings with 11 strikeouts against two walks and a 1.47 ERA. He didn’t make his season debut until August, but ended up impressing enough to secure himself a place on the postseason roster. After working his way through 3 1/3 innings against the Phillies in Game 3, he followed that performance up by striking out four across 2 2/3 frames in Game 2 of the NLDS. Kerr surrendered just two hits and one walk while keeping the Dodgers off the scoreboard, and he delivered a critical strikeout of Shohei Ohtani for the final out of his start.
Kerr was a relative unknown for most baseball fans prior to this postseason, but he’s quickly made himself a household name with back-to-back important outings. And his start on Sunday night set the tone for the rest of the Braves’ bullpen, who followed suit with big contributions of their own.
Grant Holmes surrendered a solo shot to Freeman after coming on in relief of Kerr, but other than that, the bullpen did its job diligently. Dylan Lee secured two important outs before passing the baton to Robert Suarez, who pitched an important clean inning. The Braves didn’t surrender a hit or even allow a runner on base after Kyle Tucker’s single in the fourth inning until Max Muncy hit a solo shot off Didier Fuentes when the Dodgers were down to their final strike of the evening.
Fuentes had thrown 3 2/3 perfect innings in relief, and Weiss opted to try to let him finish the job, though he came up just short. That Muncy home run was the lone blemish on an otherwise excellent outing from Fuentes, who has pitched some important innings for the Braves in October. Fuentes, who is still just 21 years old, showcased why everyone in the organization is so excited about his upside. And despite not being able to close out the game, Atlanta needed just three pitches from Raisel Iglesias to shut the door on the Dodgers’ comeback hopes, meaning their veteran closer will likely be available in Game 3, if needed.
Looking ahead, the Braves will have their top two starters on the mound for Games 3 and 4. Chris Sale is set to start Game 3, with Tyler Mahle likely to follow in Game 4. They both had strong outings in the wild-card round, and now they’ll pitch in front of their home crowd at Truist Park with a chance to prevent the series from returning to Los Angeles for a Game 5. The Braves will be hoping their starters can pitch deep into the next two games, largely because they’ve taxed their bullpen significantly across the first two games of the series. That said, Weiss trusting his bullpen to mitigate a potent Dodgers offense has put Atlanta in a great spot heading into the next segment of the NLDS.
Winning a game on the road at Dodger Stadium is huge, but there’s still plenty of work to be done, of course. With Yoshinobu Yamamoto set to make his 2026 postseason debut in Tuesday’s Game 3, runs will be hard to come by for the Braves. That makes having Sale on the mound to counter Yamamoto even more important. The clash of aces will make for one of the most exciting pitcher’s duels in the entire ‘26 postseason, and a single run could very well be the deciding factor in a game that figures to be low scoring.
Atlanta was one of the few teams who played the 100-win Dodgers closely during the regular season. The Braves won five of their six matchups during the campaign, including a three-game sweep at home in late August. Now, they’ll return to Truist Park needing back-to-back wins to close out the series, and they’ll have their two most trusted starting pitchers taking the mound. Considering they lost Game 1, this is about as good of a situation as the franchise could’ve asked for.
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