Braves 3, Dodgers 2 – 2026 NLDS Game 2: Blake Snell struggled and that was enough as bats go hitless with RISP

Chad Moriyama 10/04/2026 Game Recaps Leave A Comment

After an ideal start to the series for the Dodgers in Game 1, the Braves surprisingly came back with another pen game for Game 2 against Blake Snell, providing a prime opportunity for the Dodgers to put the Braves on the ropes early in this series. Unfortunately, the best laid plans don’t always work out in baseball, and Snell struggled with his command and the Dodgers ended up using more pitchers than the Braves did in a pen game. The Dodger lineup certainly helped that equation, as they went 0-for-8 with RISP and were basically humiliated late by Didier Fuentes‘ three perfect frames in a 3-2 loss to the Braves.

All square.

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Game 1 was still the biggest advantage on paper for the Dodgers — as the Braves didn’t deploy their best relievers for that pen game — but Game 2 also looks like a golden opportunity. Another game, another two-time Cy Young Award winner starting in Blake Snell, while the lineup faced another lefty opener in Ray Kerr.

Well, it was Kerr who exited with the advantage.

Blake Snell struggles, same for the Dodger offense

Snell began in the 1st by getting a quick out, but then gave up a single to Ronald Acuna Jr., who promptly stole second. A four-pitch walk to Matt Olson followed, and then an eight-pitch full-count walk to Ozzie Albies loaded things up. Snell then got a first-pitch foul pop for the second out to put him on the verge, but after getting ahead of Mauricio Dubon with a 1-2 count, his fourth consecutive fastball to him was hit up the middle for an infield single and took a diving stop from Mookie Betts to prevent a worse outcome. 1-0 Braves.

The bases were still loaded, but Snell finally finished the 1st after 27 pitches with a strikeout.

In the 2nd, he issued just a two-out walk, but it did take 18 more pitches. Snell gave up another two-out baserunner in the 3rd via a single, but also struck out a pair in a 19-pitch frame.

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Meanwhile, Kerr cruised through a 12-pitch frame in the 1st that included a pair of strikeouts. Freddie Freeman started the 2nd by hitting Kerr’s first pitch for a single, but he took just 10 more pitches to retire the next three, including a pair of strikeouts.

The 3rd was more difficult for Kerr but was also maddening for the Dodgers. Miguel Rojas started the inning by working a full count and roping a double down the line in left, but then for whatever reason Dave Roberts or Tommy Edman decided to try a sac bunt despite being on the strong side of his platoon. It was a disaster, as Edman popped it out to third, but even if it worked it was an asinine choice.

Afterward, Mookie Betts worked a four-pitch walk to put a pair on, but Kerr got Shohei Ohtani to pop out on the seventh pitch of his at-bat to end Kerr’s night at 42 quality pitches.

By the end of the 3rd there was still a zero on the board for the Dodgers, as righty Grant Holmes entered and got Will Smith to groundout to third on the first pitch.

Sloppiness leads to deficit

Snell began the 4th as most of his game went, walking the lead-off batter. He then got fortunate on a deep flyout to left and then a strikeout, both on seven pitches and a full count. However, he then issued another walk, again on seven pitches and a full count, and Dave Roberts had seen enough.

Snell ended up throwing just 47 strikes against 43 balls: 3.2 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 5 BB, 5 K, 90 Pitches.

Relieving Snell was Brock Stewart, who mercifully got a groundout on just two pitches to end that threat.

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Holmes continued on in the 4th for the Braves, and Freddie Freeman tied the game at 1-1 by hitting a 2-2 slider out to right for just his second homer since the All-Star break.

After a flyout followed, Kyle Tucker singled and Andy Pages drew a full-count walk to put a pair on. Walt Weiss then waited for Dave to deploy Max Muncy as the hitter for Rojas, and he responded by going to lefty Dylan Lee to end Holmes’ night at just 17 pitches.

Unfortunately, the move proved to be a wise one, as Lee struck out Muncy on a full count and Tommy Edman popped up the first pitch to end the threat and the 4th.

Taking over in the 5th for Stewart was Kris Bubic with a clean frame, and he got a quick two outs to start. He then got ahead of Michael Harris III in an 0-2 count, but he poked a sweeper to left that Teoscar Hernandez couldn’t track down and then played into a triple. That was important as Bubic then uncorked a wild pitch on a sweeper to score Harris en route to a four-pitch walk. 2-1 Braves.

Dave then ended Bubic’s night at 17 pitches, as Evan Phillips entered and Weiss then hit Rowdy Tellez for Sean Murphy. Phillips managed to end the inning on a liner to right, taking just four pitches.

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Lee then continued on for the Braves in the 5th, but issued a five-pitch walk to Mookie Betts to start (this time he did challenge and successfully) then gave up a groundball single against the shift to Shohei Ohtani to put a pair on with nobody out. Weiss wasted no time in ending Lee’s night at 14 pitches, turning to Robert Suarez for Will.

Suarez immediately fell behind 3-1 in the count, but after a dangerous looking foul ball down the line in right, he eventually got Will to flyout. He then also got Freddie to flyout on a 1-0 count, and then struck out Teoscar to kill off that promising threat.

The bullpens settle in, Didier Fuentes stars

In the 6th, the Dodgers went with Edwin Diaz, who looked as good as he has all season. He began with a three-pitch strikeout, then carved up pinch-hitter Mike Yastrzemski (for Thomas) on four pitches. While he fell behind 3-1 next, he got a long flyout to end a 1-2-3 frame on 12 pitches.

Edgardo Henriquez started the 7th, getting two outs but giving up an Olson single between. He then got to a full count on Harris, which proved important as Olson went with the pitch and Harris doubled into the right-center field gap to score him and extend the Braves’ lead to 3-1. He at least got the final out without further damage, but the insurance run and 21 pitches was the cost.

The 8th was given to Roki Sasaki, who issued a lead-off walk to Tellez. He was pinch-run for by Brewer Hicklen, who got to second after Roki hit Austin Riley with a full count. After Yaz sac bunted to advance both runners, Roki fell behind Baldwin 3-0 and eventually issued an intentional walk to load the bases. Miraculously, Roki then got Acuna to ground into a 6-4-3 double play to end the frame with no damage done.

He also came back out in the 9th looking like a different pitcher, setting their heart of the order down in order. An adventurous 36-pitch frame for two scoreless.

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Speaking of multi-inning scoreless streaks, Didier Fuentes entered in the 6th for the Braves and set down 11 in a row, pitching into the final inning.

With two outs in the 9th, the Dodgers finally got to him, as he grooved a fastball to Max Muncy in a full count that he hit out to right. 3-2 Braves.

Weiss turned to closer Raisel Iglesias for the final out against Josue De Paula hitting for Tommy Edman, and he took advantage of his eagerness to get him out in front of a 1-1 changeup to pop out and end it.

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The NLDS is now tied up at 1-1, and the Dodgers will look to finish things against the Braves on the road. Still hopefully 10 more wins to go on the year.

After a day off to travel, the series will land in Atlanta for two games, and it’ll start on Tuesday at 12:00 PM HT/3:00 PM PT/6:00 PM ET on FS1. For the first time this series, there’s absolute clarity on the starting pitching matchup, as it’ll be Yoshinobu Yamamoto against Chris Sale. That’s playoff baseball right there.

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