The Atlanta Braves earned a crucial Game 2 3-2 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers in the National League Division Series on Sunday. In all reality, there are a number of reasons Atlanta won the game. Michael Harris II had a huge performance to fuel the offense, Ray Kerr pitched well as the opener once again, and Didier Fuentes turned in an electric effort in 3.2 innings out of the bullpen. However, there are two other underlying reasons the Braves won this game that are not being discussed quite as much.
Braves' walks set the tone against Dodgers, Blake Snell
Fans may not imagine that a 3-2 game dragged on early in the contest. Typically, a low-scoring affair suggests the game was moving along with a quick pace in a pitcher's duel. That wasn't the case on Sunday for Blake Snell and the Dodgers.
Snell's pitch count rapidly increased through his 3.2 innings of work to begin the game. Anyone who has watched Snell over the years knows that as talented as he is, he can lose the strike zone at times. The Braves were one of the worst teams in the sport during the regular season when it came to drawing walks, but Atlanta reached base five times against Snell via the base-on-ball.
Snell added five strikeouts. While that's an impressive number for not even pitching four innings, it also added more deliveries to his pitch count. When you factor in the walks, it's no surprise that Snell exited the game with 90 pitches in just the fourth inning.
The Dodgers' southpaw wasn't at his best on Sunday, but the Braves deserve credit. Their patience did not end with Snell, though, as Atlanta drew three more walks against the bullpen to finish with eight total. Surprisingly, the walks themselves did not lead to many of their runs, but the Braves still managed to score enough overall to win the contest.
The walks did force Dave Roberts to turn to his bullpen earlier than expected, which could impact the remainder of this series in a big way.
ABS challenges
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This is the first year of ABS being used in the postseason. It was a popular talking point in the regular season. The Braves were right around the middle of the league in ABS challenge percentage during the season, as they ranked 17th overall.
However, they looked like one of the best ABS challenge ball clubs in the game on Sunday. While the Dodgers went just 1-2 with their ABS challenges, the Braves were 3-3.
A strike call against third baseman Austin Riley was changed to a ball after he challenged a pitch in the 8th inning. Catch Drake Baldwin had two especially impactful successful ABS challenges. In the bottom of the 8th inning, a ball called on Freddie Freeman turned into strike three because of a challenge from Baldwin. In the bottom of the 9th, Baldwin challenged a first pitch ball call against Kyle Tucker which was ultimately ruled a strike and changed the dynamic of the at-bat.
ABS challenge statistics understandably were not the primary talking point of Game 2. Still, the Braves' performance played a role in their win. The Riley at-bat did not lead to runs being scored, but who knows what would have happened if Freeman did not strike out in the bottom of the 8th or if Tucker began his 9th inning at-bat with a 1-0 count as opposed to an 0-1 count.
The Braves played an overall strong game and this series is now 1-1 headed back to Atlanta.