Two games from being eliminated in the MLB playoffs, the Atlanta Braves had a difficult decision to make.
Do they bring back ace Chris Sale on short rest to start Game 2 of the National League division series? Or do they go back to the well with a bullpen game and hope a 32-year-old journeyman can pitch the game of his life … again?
Manager Walt Weiss decided to roll the dice. And left-hander Ray Kerr delivered.
As he did just three days earlier in the deciding game of Atlanta's wild-card series against the Philadelphia Phillies, Kerr came through with a masterful performance. He shut out the powerful Los Angeles Dodgers for 2 ⅔ innings, setting the tone for a 3-2 Braves win that evened the series at one game apiece.
"He did it again for us. Just
amazing," Weiss gushed afterward. "There always seems to be some unsung heroes in the postseason. Yeah, Ray's definitely one of them."
For Kerr, it brought confirmation that his hard work to make it all the way back to the majors was worth it.
Ray Kerr's postseason heroics
Before he took the mound in Game 3 of the NL wild-card series against the Phillies, even the most diehard baseball fans knew very little about Kerr.
He missed the entire 2025 season and didn't even appear in a game this season until mid-August due to his recovery from Tommy John surgery. After toiling on the back fields of the Braves' spring training facility in Florida for two full years, he made it back to the majors as one of the last arms in the bullpen.
Kerr appeared in nine regular-season games down the stretch, compiling an impressive 1.47 ERA in 18 ⅓ innings – good enough to be included on the postseason roster. And after not pitching in the first two games of the wild-card series, he got the call to open Game 3 with the Braves' season on the line.
Kerr was brilliant, shutting out the Phillies on one hit for 3 ⅓ innings as the Braves prevailed. With Sale needed to get the final four outs in the 6-2 win, Weiss made the decision to give his ace two extra days of rest and have him start NLDS Game 3 against the Dodgers.
That made Kerr the logical choice to serve as the opener on Sunday.
"Ray Kerr is amazing, man. He did it again and again," Weiss said. "I thought it would be a shorter leash tonight because 47 pitches, two days off, we hadn't done anything like that. But same thing, he was throwing well. So I went as long as I felt like we could with Ray because he's throwing the ball so well."
The lefty blanked the Dodgers on two hits and a walk in his 2 ⅔ innings. Five more Braves pitchers followed to close out the 3-2 win.
"It was kind of similar to what he did in the wild card series," catcher Drake Baldwin said of Kerr. "He goes out there, and he just kind of does what he does. It says a lot about him. He's very poised out there, confident in what he does."
Who is Ray Kerr?
The idea that Kerr would be on a major league baseball mound, pitching against the mighty Los Angeles Dodgers would have been an impossible dream back in high school.
As a profile in the Athletic describes, Kerr grew up in foster care with his mother absent and his father in and out of prison. He spent a good part of his teenage years in Reno, Nevada, working at a convenience store while he continued to hone his pitching skills.
He pitched at two different community colleges in California, played in the Alaska Baseball League, and eventually caught the eye of a minor league scout with the Seattle Mariners. After signing with the Mariners and making it all the way to Class AAA, Kerr was traded to the San Diego Padres after the 2021 season.
Finally reaching the majors the following season at age 27, he was traded again in 2024 to the Braves.
Then came the elbow problems. After just 10 appearances with Atlanta, Kerr underwent Tommy John surgery that June.
He didn't make it back to the majors until Aug. 17, 2026.
That long road back paid off with stellar performances in his first two playoff appearances. Now, his heroics could help the Braves knock off the two-time defending World Series champions.
"I think just kind of how our bullpen showed out says a lot about us," Baldwin said, "and especially when we have some starters lined up for the next two games back in Atlanta. I think it kind of instills some confidence in us and gives us some momentum going back to Atlanta as well."
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Who is Ray Kerr? Lefty reliever might have saved Braves' season
