*Photo from Fox Sports*
Series tied 1-1
Adam Duvall homered, Mike Foltynewicz threw 7 innings, and the Atlanta Braves shut out the St.Louis Cardinals 3-0 to even the series at 1-1. After spending the summer at Triple A due to a horrible start to the season, Foltynewicz has turned it around immensely, and got the nod to start game two. He delivered. Manager Brian Snitker said that ''It's pretty cool to see for a guy that went through what he's went through this year and where he's come back from, to see him step up like that is something really special.''
The Braves scored in the first inning, when Josh Donaldson singled to left to score Ozzie Albies. After Foltynewicz finished his start in the 7th, Duvall was sent up to pinch hit for him, and he took a 3-2 pitch from Jack Flaherty into the center field stands to make it 3-0 Braves.
Flaherty took the loss for the Cardinals, going 7 innings and giving up 3 runs on 8 hits and one walk. Tyler Webb pitched after Flaherty. Marcell Ozuna and Yadier Molina each had two hits to pace the Cardinal offense. Kolten Wong said of facing Foltynewicz that ''The fact he has three pitches with command, it's always tough when you face a pitcher who has that." The Cardinals weren't known for their offense this season, and that reared it's head in game two.
Foltynewicz went 7 innings, giving up no runs on 3 hits. He only let one baserunner get to second base, and that was only because of an Albies error. Max Fried pitched the 8th, and Mark Melancon got the save by shutting the Cardinals down in the 9th. When Duvall was announced as Foltynewicz's pinch hitter, the crowd unleashed boos. Those quickly turned to cheers. Duvall said that ''I heard 50,000 people let me know that they wanted Folty to stay in the game, I wanted to put together a good at bat." Duvall spent almost all of 2019 at Triple A Gwinnett, where he set a franchise record with 32 homers. This victory belongs to the Gwinnett Stripers as much as it does the Braves.
The series shifts to St.Louis for games 3 and 4. The Braves will look to lead in their first playoff series since the 2002 NLDS by sending 22 year old Cy Young candidate Mike Soroka to the mound. The Cardinals send 38 year old Adam Wainwright to the mound, a postseason veteran. Wainwright began his career in the Braves organization before a trade to St.Louis in 2003.
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