Braves Even the NLDS and Chris Sale Faces Yoshinobu Yamamoto in Game 3

The Atlanta Braves did not need Chris Sale to steal a game at Dodger Stadium. Six Atlanta pitchers held the Dodgers to two runs Sunday night, Michael Harris II tripled and doubled, and the Braves beat Los Angeles 3-2 to even the National League Division Series at a game apiece.

The bet paid off twice. Atlanta now heads home for Game 3 at Truist Park on Tuesday (6 p.m. ET, FS1) with a fully rested Sale opposing Yoshinobu Yamamoto, the 2025 World Series MVP. The Dodgers are still favored to win the series, but the price has moved and the matchup for Game 3 is a lot closer than the series number implies.

How Atlanta won Game 2

Manager Walt Weiss passed on starting Sale on short rest after he closed out the Wild Card clincher, saying the club wanted him at full strength, per MLB.com. Left-hander Ray Kerr opened instead and gave Atlanta 2 2/3 scoreless innings with four strikeouts, two hits and one walk, ending his night by getting Shohei Ohtani to pop up in the third.

Atlanta got to Blake Snell immediately. Ronald Acuna Jr. singled with one out in the first, Snell walked the bases loaded, and Mauricio Dubon drove in the opening run with a two-out single. Snell never found the strike zone consistently: he allowed one run on three hits with five walks and five strikeouts over 3 2/3 innings, needing 90 pitches to get 11 outs.

Freddie Freeman tied it with a leadoff homer off Grant Holmes in the fourth. Harris answered in the fifth, tripling and scoring the go-ahead run on a Kris Bubic wild pitch, then added an RBI double to right off Edgardo Henriquez with two outs in the seventh. That insurance run mattered. Didier Fuentes, averaging 99.4 mph with his four-seamer (up from 97.3 in the regular season), retired the first 11 batters he faced before Max Muncy hit a two-out solo homer in the ninth. Closer Raisel Iglesias then got pinch-hitter Josue De Paula to foul out to third for his second save of the series.

The Dodgers' offense has a two-game problem

Los Angeles went 0-for-8 with runners in scoring position and left seven on base. After Mookie Betts walked and Ohtani singled to open the fifth, Atlanta retired 14 consecutive Dodgers hitters. Ohtani was 1-for-4 with two strikeouts and has not been a factor through two games, according to the Associated Press.

The Dodgers' runs in this series have mostly come on solo homers. Freeman and Muncy went deep Sunday, and Teoscar Hernandez, Kyle Tucker and Muncy homered in Game 1. That profile is a problem against a Braves staff that has held Los Angeles to seven runs over two games while using relievers for nearly all 17 innings it has pitched.

Game 3 and Game 4 pitching

Sale threw 95 pitches over 6 1/3 innings in Wild Card Game 1 and then 21 more to close out Game 3 against the Phillies, per MLB.com. Atlanta's decision to give him extra rest means he faces the Dodgers fresh at home, with Tyler Mahle well rested behind him for a potential Game 4, per MLB.com.

Yamamoto went 12-7 with a 2.61 ERA in the regular season, per Reuters' game preview. He is the Dodgers' most reliable starter, and he takes the ball with the series tied instead of with a chance to put Atlanta on the brink. Manager Dave Roberts has indicated Tyler Glasnow is the likely Game 4 starter, which would keep Skubal available on regular rest for a Game 5 back in Los Angeles.

The one rotation concern for Los Angeles is Snell. He issued five walks and landed only about a third of his pitches in the strike zone, per Dodgers Nation. If the series extends to an NLCS, his command will be a storyline.

Betting angle

The market barely blinked. Reuters' Game 3 preview has the Dodgers about -195 to win the series and the Braves around +155. On the single game, Atlanta is a slight home favorite at roughly -118 with Los Angeles near -102, and the total is 7. In SI's updated World Series board, the Dodgers remain the favorite at +220 while the Braves are +750.

That gap between the series price and the Game 3 line is the most interesting number on the NL side. The market sees Game 3 as close to a coin flip, but still prices the Dodgers as clear series favorites because Glasnow and Skubal line up for Games 4 and 5. If you like Atlanta, the Game 3 moneyline is the cleaner wager than the series price, because a Braves win would move the series line sharply in their favor. If you like Los Angeles in the series, taking the plus price in Game 3 and then reassessing is a more efficient route than laying the series number now.

Atlanta's bullpen deserves a note of caution. Fuentes threw 3 2/3 innings and Iglesias has already collected two saves this postseason. Atlanta will need Sale to go deep Tuesday to keep that group fresh for Mahle's start, which makes Sale's outs-recorded prop as important as his strikeout prop.

DFS and fantasy angles for Tuesday

Chris Sale is the top pitching play on the slate. He is a home favorite on full rest against a lineup that is 0-for-8 with runners in scoring position in this series, and his strikeout upside is real. Yoshinobu Yamamoto is the safer floor play; his walk rate and efficiency make his outs prop attractive even in a tough road spot.

Michael Harris II is the Braves bat in form, a home run short of the cycle on Sunday. Freddie Freeman and Max Muncy are the Dodgers hitters producing against Atlanta, both with homers in Game 2. In showdown formats, the solo-homer nature of the Dodgers' offense makes power the only path to a ceiling, so lean on Freeman, Muncy and Hernandez over contact bats.

Shohei Ohtani is the contrarian play. He has one hit in each game, both singles, and his ownership should fall after two quiet nights against a left-hander he will now see in Sale.

What's next

Game 3 is Tuesday at 6 p.m. ET in Atlanta, the first of two games at Truist Park. The winner gets a chance to close the series Wednesday, with Mahle and Glasnow the expected Game 4 starters. The Brewers, up 2-0 on the Padres, are waiting for the winner. For the model's view of Game 3, see /mlb/predictions.