With the loss of Charlie Morton for the remainder of the series, everyone knew the Braves would need Ian Anderson to have a strong outing. But few, if any, expected him to no-hit the Astros. As a staff, the Braves no-hit the Astros until the first batter of the 8th inning.
Two Hits, Zero Runs
On an absolutely terrible read, Rosario & Swanson watched a routine fly-ball fall between them to eliminate the possibility of a combined no-hitter.
Back to Ian Anderson though, the man only threw 76 pitches. He left the game with four strikeouts & three base-on-balls on his stat line. His dominant performance not only set the bullpen up beautifully for tonight, but also kept them in great shape for the next two games over the next two nights; both of which are expected to be bullpen games.
In his postgame interview on the field, Tyler Matzek may have leaked the clubhouse name for the relief corps:
“…nah boys are all ready. We’re all ready down there. Night Shift’s ready.”
Night Shift? Pretty obvious he’s alluding to a nickname. If that’s what they’re called by the entire team, ESPECIALLY Snit, I’m going to come unglued. That’s awesome.
Video here:
Braves Offense
The offense wasn’t exactly lighting the World on fire in Game Three, but they did plenty in conjunction with the pitching staff. Austin Riley got the scoring started for Atlanta with an RBI-double in the 3rd inning; smoking a worm-burner between Alex Bregman & the 3rd base line:
Turns out, that was also the go ahead run. But just for good measure, Travis d’Arnaud went deep to dead Center Field in the eighth inning to extend the lead to two runs ahead of closer Will Smith’s appearance:
What Now?
Winning Game Three doesn’t guarantee the Braves will win the World Series, but it’s a MASSIVE step toward that ultimate goal. With two bullpen games incoming, I expect Tucker Davidson to be given the bulk of the innings in one of these next two games, and I fully expect that game in particular to end with a Braves victory. Best case scenario: the Braves stay away from the state of Texas until next season.