*Photo from WIBW*
Atlanta leads series 2-1
Ian Anderson was dealing. He was through 5 no hit innings when he was taken out, which led to some controversy. Turns out, it didn't really matter. Austin Riley doubled, Travis D'Arnaud homered, and the Atlanta Braves defeated the Houston Astros 2-0 on Friday night.
Despite being pulled after 5 innings, the no hitter kept going for the Braves, lasting until a bloop single into left field by Aledmys Diaz to lead off the 8th inning for the Astros. It's the longest a no hit bid has gone in the playoffs since Don Larsen threw a perfect game in game 5 of the 1956 world series. But, the Braves still took home the win, and now have a 2-1 series lead in the world series.
D'Arnaud said of missing out on a no hitter that "The goal of every game is to get a win. I think a no-hitter would have been a bonus, but when they got that hit, that wasn't our goal when the game started. It was just to go out there, execute pitches, get outs and end with a win. That's ultimately what we did."
The Braves got rocking in the 3rd inning, when Riley took the pitch in front of him and roped it down the left field line, scoring Eddie Rosario on an RBI double to put the Braves ahead 1-0 to start the game. They did not score again until the 8th inning. That's when D'Arnaud provided the knockout punch, blasting a 437 foot solo home run to center field, making it 2-0 Braves late in the night.
Anderson walked 3 batters and hit another one in his start, but he did not allow a hit, striking out 4 hitters in his 5 innings pitched. AJ Minter and Luke Jackson followed it up with hitless innings of their own, before Matzek allowed a hit in the 8th. He was able to escape, and closer Will Smith did the same in the 9th, recording his 5th save of the postseason and first of the world series.
Anderson talked about being pulled, saying that "Obviously, you want the chance to compete. Especially on the biggest stage like this is. Yeah, I knew Snitker wasn't going to budge. It's hard to. You've got guys like Matzek and Minter and Luke and Will at the back end coming in, you can't blame him for going to those guys. Those guys, time in and time out, get it done, and they did it again tonight."
Rookie Luis Garcia got hit with the loss in his first world series start, but it wasn't necessarily his fault. Garcia allowed one run on 3 hits and 4 walks, striking out 6 hitters in 3 2/3 innings. Kendall Graveman allowed the home run to D'Arnaud in the 8th inning. Otherwise, Blake Taylor, Yimi Garcia, Brooks Raley, and Ryne Stanek kept the Braves offense quiet.
Astros 3rd baseman Alex Bregman talked about quickly moving on, saying that "I think we didn't swing it for one game. I think we flush it and move on to the next day and have a short memory. You have to in this game. You give all the credit to them tonight. They pitched their tail off."
Game 4 is on Saturday night in Atlanta, with rookie Dylan Lee making his first career MLB start on baseball's biggest stage. The Astros send veteran Zack Greinke to the mound, looking to tie the series up once again, which would force a game 6 back in Houston.
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