Braves lean on Kerr, Fuentes in lieu of Sale, win NLDS Game 2 - ESPN

LOS ANGELES — When spring training began and the Atlanta Braves reconvened, Ray Kerr was a minor league journeyman in the midst of a prolonged recovery from Tommy John surgery, and Didier Fuentes was a 20-year-old phenom with little chance of cracking the major league roster.

Eight months later, in Game 2 of the National League Division Series, the two combined for 19 of the Braves' 27 outs in an improbable 3-2 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers, earning them a split on the road with Chris Sale on tap to start Game 3 in Atlanta.

Kerr took the first eight outs Sunday, three nights after dominating as an opener and becoming a folk hero in a win-or-go-home game against the Philadelphia Phillies. Fuentes took all but one of the final 12. Neither was supposed to go that long.

«It wasn't the plan,» Braves manager Walt Weiss said. «Believe me.»

The plan was for Sale, the Braves' lone ace, to take that start. He was initially lined up on four days' rest to do so. But then the Braves used him for the final four outs in Game 3 of their wild-card series Thursday night, throwing uncertainty into his availability for Game 2.

The Braves' rotation was especially thin going into this best-of-five series. Their best shot at beating the two-time defending champions, many thought, was for Sale to make two starts, which was only possible if he took the ball in Game 2. The urgency around that only heightened after the Braves lost the opener.

The Braves spent the better part of two days agonizing over the decision. Then, on Sunday morning, Kerr got a phone call while spending time with his wife and young daughter at the team hotel. He was told he would start. The Braves would stage their third bullpen game in four days.

«I was like, 'All