Michael Harris II leads Braves to 3-2 win over Dodgers in Game 2 to tie NLDS

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Michael Harris II tripled and scored the go-ahead run on reliever Kris Bubic's wild pitch in the fifth inning, and the Atlanta Braves beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 3-2 on Sunday night to even the National League Division Series at a game apiece.

“Getting the split in this place against these guys, yeah, it’s awesome,” Braves manager Walt Weiss said.

Harris' RBI double to right against reliever Edgardo Henriquez added an insurance run with two outs in the seventh in what turned into a bullpen game for both teams when the Braves chased Dodgers starter Blake Snell after 3 2/3 innings — his shortest postseason start since 2022 with San Diego.

Harris also singled in the third, coming up a home run short of hitting for the cycle.

“Michael had a great game,” Weiss said. “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.”

Max Muncy's two-strike, two-out homer off Didier Fuentes pulled the Dodgers to 3-2 in the ninth. Braves closer Raisel Igelsias, their fifth reliever, earned his second save after getting pinch-hitter Josue De Paula to foul out to third to end the game.

“They’re going to use any pitcher, try to get every matchup possible,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “They're going to ride certain guys, and obviously they use their bullpen accordingly.”

Runs were hard to come by after the teams combined for five homers in the Dodgers’ 5-3 victory in Game 1.

After Mookie Betts walked and Shohei Ohtani singled to open the fifth, Atlanta's bullpen retired the next 14 consecutive Dodgers' hitters.

Los Angeles stranded seven runners on base over the first five innings. Ohtani, the four-time MVP, wasn’t a factor for the second straight game, going 1 for 4 with two strikeouts.

"If you look at the at-bats, there’s a lot of chase,” Roberts said. “It’s hard to square up, put good swings on balls that are out of the zone.”

The Braves retook the lead, 2-1, on Bubic’s wild pitch after Harris' two-out triple, his first ever in the postseason.

Freddie Freeman tied it at 1 on a two-strike solo shot off Braves reliever Grant Holmes in the fourth while facing his former team for the first time in the postseason.

“We got to find a way to score some runs without hitting a home run. That's our biggest thing right now,” Freeman said. “Get guys on base, get that big hit and hope that our pitching keeps doing good.”

Snell struggled throughout, never finding a rhythm. The two-time Cy Young Award winner threw 90 pitches and only 47 for strikes. He gave up one run and three hits, walked five and struck out five.

Snell needed 27 pitches to get through the first, when he had only three more strikes thrown than balls. He wasn't available to speak with media after the game, having left the ballpark due to a family emergency, a team spokesman said.

The Braves led 1-0 on Mauricio Dubón’s bases-loaded, two-strike single to shortstop with two outs in the first. Betts made a diving stop, but his throw to first was too late, allowing Ronald Acuña Jr. to score after singling and stealing second.

Ray Kerr started the game for the Braves, who elected to give Chris Sale extra rest ahead of his start in Game 3.

Roki Sasaki, the Dodgers' sixth reliever, loaded the bases in the eighth on a walk, hit by pitch and an intentional walk with one out. Acuña hit into an inning-ending double play.

After a travel day, Braves LHP Chris Sale starts Game 3 on Tuesday in Atlanta against Dodgers RHP Yoshinobu Yamamoto.

See AP’s full MLB coverage here

Former Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Sandy Koufax, center, looks on during the second inning of Game 2 of a National League Division Series baseball game against the Atlanta Braves Sunday, Oct. 4, 2026, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

Los Angeles Dodgers' Shohei Ohtani exhales while batting during the third inning of Game 2 of a National League Division Series baseball game against the Atlanta Braves Sunday, Oct. 4, 2026, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

Los Angeles Dodgers starting pitcher Blake Snell appeals to an umpire on a swing by Atlanta Braves' Lane Thomas during the fourth inning of Game 2 of a National League Division Series baseball game Sunday, Oct. 4, 2026, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

Atlanta Braves' Mauricio Dubón hits an RBI single during the first inning of Game 2 of a National League Division Series baseball game against the Los Angeles Dodgers Sunday, Oct. 4, 2026, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

Atlanta Braves' Michael Harris II celebrates after hitting an RBI double during the seventh inning of Game 2 of a National League Division Series baseball game against the Los Angeles Dodgers Sunday, Oct. 4, 2026, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — Samoa’s Prime Minister Laʻauli Leuatea Schmidt apologized Monday for a video from 19 years earlier in which he said “Heil Hitler” and made a Nazi gesture during what he described as a family gathering.

His statement published on the government's Facebook page came a day after the Samoa Observer newspaper made public for the first time the existence and content of a seven-second clip that the outlet said was filmed at a Schmidt family reunion in Samoa in July 2007.

In a screenshot from the video, Schmidt holds a microphone in one hand with the other arm lifted, surrounded by others making the same gesture.

The newspaper reported Schmidt was heard saying into the microphone, “Raise your right hand, Heil Hitler!”

Schmidt, who was the deputy speaker of Samoa's Parliament in 2007, didn't dispute the report. He has led the South Pacific island nation of 220,000 people since winning an August 2025 election.

“I recognise that those words and gesture were inappropriate and capable of causing offence and hurt and I apologise for using them,” he said Monday. He added that the video was filmed “at a private family gathering — not intended for the public.”

He rejected “Nazism, antisemitism, racism and all forms of political extremism,” the statement said.

What happened immediately before and after the moment depicted was unknown, the newspaper said, and Schmidt's statement didn't explain further.

The episode unfolded as Pacific media groups decried Schmidt's ongoing rancor against the Observer, which has been barred from covering his and other government news conferences and events since November, when Schmidt accused the newspaper of misleading coverage.

On Friday, Schmidt confirmed claims that an Observer reporter's photos of him, taken in front of government buildings during an official event, were deleted from their camera by an aide. He defended the move, saying the Observer, Samoa's largest newspaper group, was flouting its prohibition.

The Observer has called his ban “authoritarian.” Pacific media groups have called on the prime minister for a reversal, with the Journalists Association of Samoa saying it was “deeply disturbed” by the photo deletion incident.

Like a number of other leaders of small island nations in the South Pacific Ocean, Schmidt has voiced vehement support for Israel before.

Since September 2023, three Pacific islands, not including Samoa, have been among a handful of countries to follow the United States in opening embassies in the contested city of Jerusalem instead of Tel Aviv, where most diplomatic missions are located.

Analysts attribute support for Israel in the region to deep Christian traditions woven throughout public life. When Schmidt was sworn into office in September 2025, he wore a Jewish prayer shawl during a ceremony that included the blowing of a shofar.

“Samoa will not withdraw from supporting Israel as the country of God’s people,” he told reporters after the event, according to local news outlets.

Samoa’s Prime Minister Laʻauli Leuatea Schmidt speaks during the launch of the Pacific Rugby league partnership in Brisbane, Australia on July 8, 2026. (Jason O'Brien/AAP Image via AP)