On a Sunday in Los Angeles, a player who once watched the Braves from the stands as a fan carried the team to a 3-2 win over the Dodgers, evening the National League Division Series at one game apiece. Michael Harris II, 25 and raised in Atlanta, made the night his own with three hits, a go-ahead triple, and a key insurance double, while the stars ahead of him in the order went quiet. It is the kind of turn that reminds a team that October belongs to whoever answers the call, not only to those whose names were expected. The question now is whether the familiar names will find their swings befo
Michael Harris II Goes 3-for-5 as Braves Win NLDS Game 2, 3-2
He watched the 2021 run from the stands. Five years later, he carried the team.
Mark
Harris nearly hit for the cycle. How rare is that in October?
Mimi
Extremely. Brock Holt's cycle in the 2018 ALDS is the only one in postseason history, and Harris needed just a homer in the ninth.
Luke
Worth saying he didn't get it. The story is a near miss, and Harris himself said he wasn't swinging for it.
Mark
The triple sounds strange.
Mimi
It was. An 86 mph sweeper off the plate, end of the bat, poked into left, and Hernández misplayed it. The expected batting average was .016.
Luke
That number says the ball was almost never going to be a hit. It doesn't change the box score, but it explains why Bubic talked about Harris's ability to reach pitches outside the zone.
Mark
Why does the 2021 detail matter to him?
Mimi
He watched that title run as a fan at Truist Park and chanted for Riley. Now he's in the lineup.
Luke
That's his account of his own feelings. What's confirmed is that Riley and Albies are the only players left from that team, per Harris.
Mark
What does it mean for the series?
Mimi
The top four hitters went 2-for-15, so Harris covered for them.
Luke
Right, and nothing here says that gap will close. Whether they produce in the next game is unknown.
Der Puls
- Atlanta's top four hitters went a combined 2-for-15 with four strikeouts, leaving the offense leaning on an unexpected source.
- Harris's go-ahead triple in the fifth came off a bloop poked into left field, misplayed by Teoscar Hernández, and the ball bounced off the wall as he kept digging for third.
- Harris drove in a crucial insurance run with an RBI double in the seventh, pushing the Braves further ahead of the Dodgers.
- Harris finished one home run short of the cycle, a feat only Brock Holt has ever achieved in the postseason, and chose to focus on getting on base instead.
- With the series tied 1-1, the Braves must find their top-of-the-order production to take control of the next game.
On a Sunday in Los Angeles, a player who once watched the Braves from the stands as a fan carried the team to a 3-2 win over the Dodgers, evening the National League Division Series at one game apiece. Michael Harris II, 25 and raised in Atlanta, made the night his own with three hits, a go-ahead triple, and a key insurance double, while the stars ahead of him in the order went quiet. It is the kind of turn that reminds a team that October belongs to whoever answers the call, not only to those whose names were expected. The question now is whether the familiar names will find their swings before the series asks them to.
Michael Harris II spent the 2021 World Series run in the stands at Truist Park, cheering for a team that would soon become his own. On Sunday in Los Angeles, five years later, he led that same team to a 3-2 win over the Dodgers in Game 2 of the NLDS, tying the series.
Harris, 25, went 3-for-5 and came one home run shy of the cycle. His go-ahead triple in the fifth was an odd one: he got the end of his bat on an 86 mph sweeper off the plate and poked it into left, where Teoscar Hernández misplayed it. Harris said he knew he hadn't squared it up, and he could not see whether it had been caught until it bounced off the wall. He kept digging for third. Later, in the seventh, his RBI double gave Atlanta the insurance run it needed.
The night carried weight for him. Of the 2021 club, only Austin Riley and Ozzie Albies remain, and Harris remembered chanting "MVP" for Riley from those same seats. Now he was wearing the jersey in the city where he grew up, and it felt good.
The lift came at a needed moment. Baldwin, Acuña, Olson and Albies combined to go 2-for-15, and Manager Walt Weiss said that the postseason has no playbook, and that unsung heroes tend to appear when the top of the lineup is quiet. On Sunday, that was Harris. The series is now level, and Atlanta's stars must answer soon.
Michael Harris II was in the stands at Truist Park for the Braves' 2021 World Series run, cheering for the team as a fan. On Sunday in Los Angeles, five years later, he carried that same team to a 3-2 win over the Dodgers in Game 2 of the National League Division Series, which is now tied.
Harris, 25, went 3-for-5 and finished one home run short of a cycle. Only one player has ever hit for the cycle in the postseason: Brock Holt of the Red Sox, in the 2018 ALDS. Harris tripled and scored the go-ahead run in the fifth inning, then knocked an RBI double in the seventh that gave Atlanta a key insurance run.
The triple was an odd one. Harris swung at an 86 mph sweeper off the plate, got the end of his bat on it, and poked it into left field, where Teoscar Hernández misplayed it. The ball came off the bat with an expected batting average of .016. Harris said he knew he hadn't gotten all of it and was slicing away from the ball. Near first base his view was blocked by Hernández's body, so he couldn't tell whether the ball had been caught until he saw it bounce off the wall. From there, he said, he just kept digging to third.
Dodgers pitcher Bubic said the pitch was what the team wanted in that spot. He described Harris as a hitter who makes a lot of contact outside the zone and who reaches pitches other hitters can't. Harris, he said, got enough of it to slice it down the line to a place where it could roll around and let him reach third.
The night meant something particular to Harris. Of the 2021 team, he said, Austin Riley and Ozzie Albies are the only ones still on the roster. He remembered watching Riley hit a walk-off and chanting "MVP" for him from the seats. Now, he said, he is wearing the jersey in front of the city he grew up in, in the same seats he once sat in, and it feels good.
The performance came at a useful moment. Atlanta's top four hitters, Drake Baldwin, Ronald Acuña Jr., Matt Olson and Albies, combined to go 2-for-15 with four strikeouts and five walks. Manager Walt Weiss said there is no blueprint or playbook in the postseason and that there always seem to be unsung heroes. He called Harris's regular season a helluva year, and noted that when the dangerous top half of the lineup has a quiet night, someone else usually steps up. On Sunday, he said, that was Harris.
Harris is coming off his best season since his 2022 Rookie of the Year campaign. He hit .294/.321/.491 with an .812 OPS and set career highs in hits (174), home runs (26), RBIs (87) and doubles (36). He finished fifth in the NL in hits, tied for fourth in doubles and sixth in batting average, and could draw some down-ballot MVP votes.
In the ninth, he came up with a chance at more postseason history. With the triple already done, he needed only a home run to complete the cycle. He said he was aware of it but wasn't going for it. The game was close, the Braves still needed runs, and the goal was to find a way to get on base.
With the series tied, the question for Atlanta is whether the top of its order can wake up before it has to count on another night like this.
Bemerkenswerte Zitate
There's no blueprint. There's no playbook. There seems to always be unsung heroes in the postseason.— Walt Weiss, Braves manager
I was aware, but I wasn't necessarily going for it.— Michael Harris II
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