The Braves needed Game 2, and they got it in a way that left the Dodgers’ home crowd looking completely checked out before the finish.
Atlanta entered Sunday night knowing how steep the climb would get if it fell behind 2-0 in the NLDS, and that urgency hung over the game from the start. Manager Walt Weiss caught heat for not starting Chris Sale, but the Braves’ bullpen answered the bell. Ray Kerr and Didier Fuentes each turned in playoff performances for the ages, and Atlanta scraped out the kind of win that can flip a series.
It wasn’t a runaway, either. Blake Snell didn’t have his best stuff, but he kept the Braves from breaking through offensively for much of the night, and the game stayed tight all the way through. Still, while Braves fans were locked in, the scene in the stands told its own story.
By the eighth inning, Dodgers fans were already heading for the gates.
Dodgers fans heading for the gates after eighth inning. pic.twitter.com/MSbrA4S9Uw
- Ken Sugiura (@ksugiuraajc) October 5, 2026
That kind of early exit is one thing when a game is out of hand. It’s another when the score is still close in the middle of the playoffs and the home team is trying to rally. The Braves won by one run, which makes the mass movement toward the exits even harder to explain.
The double standard around crowd criticism is hard to miss, too. Atlanta drew plenty of attention last week for day playoff crowds during the work week, even though MLB’s scheduling deserves the blame there. Yet when Dodgers fans start streaming out during a one-run playoff game, that gets treated very differently.
Now the series heads back to Atlanta for Games 3 and 4, both at night, and the Braves should have the kind of crowd behind them that plays much louder on the field than it ever does in the commentary around it.
In Other News...
Landen Roupp Quietly Gave The Giants A Real Rotation Building Block
Landen Roupp spent 2026 doing the kind of work that often gets buried beneath louder names and bigger headlines, but the Giants have reason to view it as the foundation of a real rotation piece. Over 155 innings, he turned in a 4.01 ERA while keeping the ball on the ground nearly half the time, a profile that helped limit damage even when he was not overpowering hitters.
The deeper indicators are what make the season stand out for San Francisco. Among National League starters with at least 100 innings, Roupp allowed the softest contact, gave up homers at one of the better rates in the league, and finished with a barrel rate that also sat near the top of his peer group, leaving the Giants with a pitcher who quietly checked a lot of boxes for stability. The next question is how far that skill set can carry him if the club asks him to build on it even more. [Read more 🡒]
Giants Mourn A Former Arm Whose Legacy Reached Far Beyond San Francisco
Sam McDowell, one of the most overpowering left-handers of his era, has died at 84, closing the book on a career that stretched across 15 major league seasons and left a mark well beyond the box score. Best known for his long run in Cleveland, where he spent 11 seasons, McDowell built a reputation as a six-time All-Star and a pitcher who could dominate an American League lineup on his best days.
For Giants fans looking back on the wider baseball landscape, McDowells legacy is part of the sports shared history, the kind of career that earned respect in every clubhouse and from every team that faced him. The Guardians acknowledged his passing with a statement honoring both his impact on the organization and his place in the game, a reminder that some players are remembered not just for where they pitched, but for how they shaped an era. [Read more 🡒]
Patrick Bailey Needed A Fresh Start The Giants Couldnt Give Him
Patrick Baileys move out of San Francisco in May 2026 looked like the kind of reset both player and team could use. After a poor offensive start to the season, the Giants dealt the catcher to the Cleveland Guardians, ending a run that had begun with real promise but had gone sideways at the plate. In return, the Giants added pitcher Matt Wilkinson and a draft pick they later used on Carson Bolemon, while also shifting more of the catching workload to Daniel Susac and Drew Cavanaugh.
Baileys production picked up quickly once he got to Cleveland, which only sharpened the sense that a change of scenery mattered. For the Giants, the trade was about more than moving on from a struggling bat - it was a reset at a demanding position and a chance to redistribute playing time behind the plate. What they gave up was a player who clearly benefited from a fresh start, even if San Francisco decided that start had to happen somewhere else. [Read more 🡒]