LOS ANGELES — Michael Harris II turned a hometown memory into October momentum, going 3-for-5 and finishing a home run shy of the second cycle in MLB postseason history as the Atlanta Braves edged the Los Angeles Dodgers 3-2 on Sunday in Game 2 of the National League Division Series at Los Angeles to even the series at 1-1. The 25-year-old tripled and scored the go-ahead run in the fifth and added an RBI double in the seventh for crucial insurance.
The triple was unlikely. Harris got the end of the bat on an 86 mph sweeper off the plate from Dodgers reliever Kris Bubic and sliced it into left field, where Teoscar Hernández misplayed it as the ball rolled to the wall. It left the bat with a .016 xBA. "I knew I didn't fully get it. I knew I was slicing away from them," Harris said. "As I got closer to first, I was kind of blocked by his body. So I didn't know if he caught it or not. Then I [saw] it bounce off the wall, and I just had to keep digging to third." Bubic said he executed the chase pitch as planned: "I know he’s a guy that can make a lot of contact outside the zone," Bubic said. "He’s someone that excels on pitches outside the zone. He can get to pitches that other hitters can’t and he did. He got enough of that to slice it down the line and find a spot on the field where it could roll around a little bit to get to third."
Harris became the fifth player in Braves history with a double and a triple in the same postseason game, joining Ronald Acuña Jr. (2019 NLDS G4), Mark DeRosa (2002 NLDS G2), Mark Lemke (1991 WS G4) and Hank Gowdy (1914 WS G1). Brock Holt’s cycle for the Red Sox in the 2018 ALDS remains the only one in playoff history, and Harris came to the plate in the ninth needing a homer to join him. "I was aware, but I wasn't necessarily going for it," he said. "I knew it was a close game, and we still needed to get some runs and just find a way to get on base. Yeah, I was aware, but no [I wasn’t trying to hit a home run]." Manager Walt Weiss praised the breakout: "Michael had a great game, man. He had a great game," said manager Walt Weiss. "Postseason, you never know what's going to happen. There's no blueprint. There's no playbook. There seems to always be unsung heroes in the postseason."
The outburst continued a career year and timely October. Harris is coming off his best season since his 2022 Rookie of the Year campaign, slashing .294/.321/.491 with an .812 OPS and setting career highs with 174 hits, 26 home runs, 87 RBIs and 36 doubles. He finished fifth in the National League in hits, tied for fourth in doubles and sixth in average. He had already delivered in Thursday’s decisive Wild Card Series Game 3, hitting a first-inning three-run home run to spark a 6-2 Braves win over the Phillies. On Sunday, his production covered for a quiet night from the top of the order, as Atlanta’s top four hitters — Drake Baldwin, Ronald Acuña Jr., Matt Olson and Ozzie Albies — combined to go 2-for-15 with four strikeouts and five walks. "Michael has been a good player all year. He's had a helluva year for us," Weiss said. "If those guys have a quiet night, most likely it's going to be someone else, and tonight was Michael Harris."
For Harris, the stage carried extra weight. He watched the Braves’ 2021 World Series run from the stands at Truist Park as a fan. "It means a lot, just knowing I was there in that situation [in ‘21] watching, I guess [Austin] Riley was kind of the only one that was still on the team, Riley and Ozzie [Albies]," Harris said. "Watching [Riley] hit the walk-off and being there for that, just chanting ‘MVP’ for him. Now we're here in the playoffs trying to do the same thing. It means a lot, and now I'm out on the field to be able to wear that jersey in front of the city that I grew up in, and I was once sitting in those seats. Yeah, it feels good."