The 2026 MLB postseason continues Sunday with Game 2 of the National League Division Series. The Los Angeles Dodgers and Milwaukee Brewers emerged victorious Saturday in Game 1 over the Atlanta Braves and San Diego Padres, respectively, and will look to take a commanding 2-0 lead in the best-of-five Division Series on Sunday.
Since the best-of-five Division Series became a thing in 1995, the team that won Game 1 has gone on to win the series 73% of the time, and 32% of the time the series ended in a sweep. Winning Game 1 doesn't guarantee a series win, but the Brewers and Dodgers are in the driver's seat at the moment. Here are the final scores and schedule for Sunday's playoff action:
FINAL: Brewers 4, Padres 3 (box score); Brewers lead series 2-0
FINAL: Braves 3, Dodgers 1 (box score); Series tied 1-1
To sum up all the NLDS Game 2 action, we're here to declare a winner and loser from both games. You can find those authoritative and inarguable declarations just below.
Winners: Braves pitchers
Turns out Atlanta didn't even need Chris Sale
Thanks to using ace lefty Chris Sale in relief in Game 3 of the Wild Card Series -- along with the state of their starting rotation regarding injury issues -- the Braves were really in a bind heading into Game 2 of the NLDS. Not only were they facing the two-time defending champion Dodgers, but they were down 1-0 in the series and didn't have an actual starting pitcher ready to go. Lefty reliever Ray Kerr did excellent work as an opener in the Wild Card Series, so the Braves went back to the well.
The entire plan paid off spectacularly. Kerr got through leadoff lefty extraordinaire Shohei Ohtani twice, recording eight outs to start the game without allowing a run. He struck out four. Grant Holmes followed and was supposed to be the "length" guy, but Braves manager Walt Weiss pulled him after he had only recorded two outs. So the Braves had to Johnny Wholestaff this thing.
It worked. Dylan Lee, Robert Suarez, Didier Fuentes and Raisel Iglesias finished this thing off. In all, Braves pitchers only gave up two runs on six hits. Fuentes in particular deserves to be highlighted: the 21-year-old faced 13 hitters across four innings and allowed only a ninth-inning solo home run to Max Muncy. Incredible work while his manager is trying to figure out how to get through the game with no starter.
Now the Braves return home with a fully functional Chris Sale in Game 3 and a well-rested Tyler Mahle for Game 4. Things obviously won't be easy against the Dodgers with Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Tyler Glasnow, but this series could've been all but over. Instead, the Braves have a decent shot.
Offensively, Michael Harris II continues to star for the Braves. They struck first with a run in the first inning, but a Freddie Freeman solo shot tied things up in the fourth. In the top of the fifth, Harris came to the plate with two outs on the board. He fouled off three pitches (two after it was an 0-2 count) before tripling down the left-field line. He then scored on a wild pitch to give the Braves the lead. Then, in the top of the seventh, he came through to give the Braves some greatly needed insurance with an RBI double.
Harris finished the season on a major heater, hitting .407 with a .593 slugging percentage in his last 13 games. His three-run homer in the first inning of Game 3 last round ended up being all the Braves would need, too. And now he put the offense on his back in Game 2 of the NLDS.
Loser: Dodgers offense
The champs failed to get much going in Game 2
The inefficiency of Blake Snell didn't help matters, but it's difficult to put much blame on the Dodgers' pitching when only three runs were surrendered. The offense goes through little lulls -- like every offense -- so this one was a bit worrisome from the Dodgers' point of view, given that it's such a short series. The Braves certainly have talented arms in the bullpen, but it wasn't, on the whole, a group that should completely stifle the Dodgers on a regular basis.
And yet, the Dodgers finished with just two runs, both solo shots by Muncy and Freddie Freeman. There were six hits in all. It was pretty lackluster.
By the Statcast measure of exit velocity, 95+ mph qualifies as a "hard-hit" ball. The Dodgers only hit six balls hard all night. By way of comparison, the Braves hit 10 hard and still only scored three runs. It was just a punchless Dodgers offense in this one outside of the Freeman homer.
The series now shifts to Atlanta. The Dodgers had a three-game series there from Aug. 25-27. They scored eight runs in the three games and were swept.
Winner: Brewers magic
The Brewers are the best team in baseball and they showed why late
In the parlance of the late, great Mel Allen, "how about that?!?!"
The Milwaukee Brewers used a clutch home run somewhat late in Game 1 of the series to take a 1-0 series lead. They now have a 2-0 lead after an incredibly improbable victory in Game 2. The numbers say it was improbable and the Padres had closer Mason Miller on the mound, which seemingly made it even more improbable. Don't tell the Brewers.
The win probability chart said the Brewers only had an 11% chance to win with one out in the ninth inning. Miller closed down 38 saves in 41 chances in the regular season and had a 1.67 ERA. He's likely to win the NL Reliever of the Year award. In the hands of so many teams in so many other games, the odds would've felt insurmountable.
The 2026 Milwaukee Brewers scoff at such improbabilities and odds.
They worked three walks against Miller before budding young superstar Jackson Chourio came to the plate and delivered with a two-RBI, walk-off single up the middle. It was a rocket. Remember, Chourio hit a two-run, game-tying blast in Game 1.
At 109.5 miles per hour off the bat, it was the second-hardest ball hit in the game. Chourio is now the third-youngest player ever with a walk-off postseason hit after two different Edgar Renteria knocks in 1997 (via Sarah Langs).
Chourio joins 2018 Mike Moustakas and 2011 Nyjer Morgan as the only Brewers players with postseason walk-off hits.
This Brewers magic isn't new. Of their MLB-best 103 wins, 42 were of the comeback variety, including six walk-off winners in the regular season. Plus, they were at home. With the regular season and playoff combined, the Brewers are now 57-26 with a +168 run differential at American Family Field.
They've done this enough times that they don't even seem fazed by a comeback situation. They never quit, and once things started to move in their direction, even an outside observer such as myself felt like the improbable was becoming the inevitable.
Loser: Mason Miller's ninth inning
Miller was asked for a rare two-inning save and it didn't work
Padres closer Mason Miller didn't have any two-inning saves in the regular season, but it's the playoffs and relievers are often asked to go a bit longer when called for. The situation called for it in Game 2, as the Padres faced a 1-0 series deficit and a few other relievers had been used heavily in Game 1.
Miller had an easy 1-2-3 in the eighth inning. He got the first out in the ninth quickly as well. But then Christian Yelich worked a walk and stole second. Another walk followed before Miller recorded the second out. But then he walked Gary Sanchez, who was pinch-hitting in the nine-hole, to bring Chourio to the plate.
There will now be second-guessing with the Padres' pitching plan. Michael King went five innings and had gone the first four without allowing a hit. He was removed after one hitter in the sixth. The Padres then had to stretch their bullpen after doing the same in Game 1.
Now, there was plenty of justification for the move. King allowed three straight hits with two outs in the fifth inning and then hit the first batter with an errant pitch to start the sixth. The Padres bullpen is deep enough to finish four innings even without the unavailable Adrián Morejón. Miller went two innings twice this season; they just weren't save opportunities. He picked up the win in extra innings both times. There was rocky defense leading to one of the Brewers' runs, too.
In hindsight, though, it's easy to question whether pulling King during a great outing (5 IP, H, 1 R, 0 BB, 6 K, 72 pitches) was a mistake by Padres manager Craig Stammen.
It didn't work out. Now the Padres' backs are against the wall.
