The Cycle, Issue 107: World Series Off Day #2
The Astros have battled back to force a Game 6. I recap the three games in Atlanta, check in on who’s hot and not thus far in the series, and try to figure out what to expect in Game 6.
In this issue of The Cycle . . .
The Braves got within 13 outs of winning this World Series on Halloween night. Now, it’s headed back to Houston for Game 6 on Tuesday. I look back on the last three games to figure out how we got here, check in on the best and worst hitters in the Series thus far, and look ahead to Game 6.
2021 World Series
Braves 3, Astros 2
As I pointed out in my World Series preview last Tuesday: in the playoffs leading up to this World Series, the Braves won small, and the Astros won big. After the two teams split the first two games in Houston via near-mirror-image games, that pattern reasserted itself when the Series moved to Atlanta, as the Braves scored five runs in their two wins, but five runs wasn’t enough to beat the Astros as Houston dodged elimination in Game 5. Here’s how it played out.
Game 3
Braves 2, Astros 0
Astros starter Luis Garcia stranded six baserunners in the first three innings of Game 3, and relievers Blake Taylor and Yimi García stranded three more in the next two frames. However, the one run Garcia did allow to score, a leadoff walk to Eddie Rosario plated by a one-out double by Austin Riley in the third, would prove to be all the Braves needed in this game.
Braves starter Ian Anderson, a postseason veteran despite being a 23-year-old rookie, wasn’t dominant exactly, but he worked around three walks and a hit batter to hold the Astros not only scoreless but hitless through five innings. Though Anderson threw only 76 pitches to that point, he also only had a one-run lead, so his manager, Brian Snitker, went to his end-game relievers in the sixth inning. A.J. Minter and Luke Jackson extended the no-hitter through seven, but pinch-hitter Aledmys Díaz greeted Tyler Matzek in the eighth by dropping one in shallow left between charging left fielder Rosario and retreating shortstop Dansby Swanson. It was a catchable ball, and Rosario probably would have had it were he not concerned about a collision with Swanson. Ironically, of those first three men out of the Braves bullpen, Matzek was the first Braves reliever to enter the game aware of the fact that there was a no-hitter in progress.