The Atlanta Braves turned Game 2 of the NLDS into a bullpen-game showcase Sunday night, and they did it against the Los Angeles Dodgers.
With no traditional starter on the mound, Atlanta pieced together a 3-2 win at Dodger Stadium to even the best-of-five series. Ray Kerr and Didier Fuentes carried the load, combining for 6 1/3 innings and allowing just one run. The Braves used six pitchers in all, then walked out with the series tied and Chris Sale lined up to start Game 3 on regular rest.
That was the kind of bullpen game teams dream about when they use the term strategically. It also looked nothing like the version the Pittsburgh Pirates were forced to live through in the final weeks of the 2026 season.
Atlanta had a choice. Manager Walt Weiss could have gone to Sale after the left-hander recorded the final four outs of the Wild Card Series clincher against the Philadelphia Phillies. Instead, Weiss gave him extra rest and trusted the rest of the staff to navigate a lineup built around Shohei Ohtani, Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman and the rest of one of baseball’s deepest offenses.
Kerr got it started with 2 2/3 scoreless innings, giving up two hits and striking out four. Then Fuentes, a 21-year-old rookie, took over and delivered 3 2/3 innings to help bridge the game to closer Raisel Iglesias. The plan worked, and the Braves left Los Angeles with a split.
For the Pirates, bullpen games were never a tactical flex. They were a necessity.
Pittsburgh was pushed into them twice a week because the rotation had run out of healthy, dependable starters. Mitch Keller was on the injured list.
Braxton Ashcraft was eventually shut down. The club had already leaned on young arms like Bubba Chandler and Khristian Curtis, and the depth chart had been stretched so thin that scheduled bullpen days became part of the routine.
That’s the real split here: the Braves used a bullpen game to support a larger plan, while the Pirates used them to survive.
There’s nothing wrong with the concept itself. Atlanta just showed how dangerous it can be when the approach is deliberate. An opener can shape matchups, keep hitters from settling in against the same arm too many times and let a manager mix looks throughout the night.
But it only works cleanly when it’s a weapon, not a workaround.
The Braves could do it because Sale was waiting in reserve. They weren’t scrambling to patch together five innings every fifth day.
Their unusual pitching setup actually helped preserve the rest of the rotation for the rest of the series. Pittsburgh’s version exposed the opposite reality.
The Pirates do have real pitching talent. Paul Skenes, Jared Jones, Ashcraft and Chandler give them a base that could become a dominant rotation, with more young arms moving up behind them. But 2026 also showed how quickly that kind of depth can disappear.
Pitchers get hurt. Young starters hit workload limits.
Prospects stall. The guy you expect to make 25 starts doesn’t always get there.
That’s why adding another credible starter this offseason matters for Pittsburgh. It isn’t about luxury. It’s about not getting dragged back into the same September scramble, trying to piece together 18 innings a week because the club doesn’t have enough traditional starters to lean on.
A bullpen game now and then can be smart. A bullpen game twice a week because there’s no other choice is a red flag.
Atlanta used one to beat the defending champions and steal back control of the series. Pittsburgh used them as damage control. That difference tells the whole story.
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