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Both of the NLDS matchups could end tonight, with Milwaukee’s Brewers and the Colorado Rockies playing Game 3 in Coors Field after the Brewers took the first two in Miller Park and the Los Angeles Dodgers taking a 2-0 advantage in their best of five series to Atlanta where they’ll take on the Braves in SunTrust Park.
Milwaukee and Colorado are up first, at 4:37 PM EDT. Rockies’ skipper Bud Black was asked how he and his team will approach potential elimination.
“Well, it’s going to be different for sure,” Black said. “We won’t know how to approach it until the game unfolds. I think our goals will dictate how you see it, right, but we know we have to win. But to tell you a certain strategy, we won’t know until tomorrow. We know this is an elimination game for us.”
Brewers’ skipper Craig Counsell was asked about the importance of closing things out in three games.
“We’ll win the series anyway we can,’ Counsell told reporters. “Would we prefer to win it in three games? Of course. But they have something to say about that, and they’re going to put up a big fight.”
“You know, we’ll battle for the next three games if that’s what it takes,” he added.
“We hope to play a very good game tomorrow night and then obviously get people rest. But you expect to have to battle to win these things and understand that all your plans are not always going to work out the way you script them.”
With the Braves’ season on the line, Atlanta’s skipper, Brian Snitker, is turning to left-hander Sean Newcomb in Game 3 after losing the first two games in Dodger Stadium.
Newcomb struggled the first time he faced LA this season, giving up seven hits, two walks, and five earned runs in 5 1⁄3 IP on the road, but at home in SunTrust Park in late July, the lefty held the Dodgers to one run, hit, and walk in 8 2⁄3 IP, taking a no-hit bid into the ninth inning.
Snitker’s thinking in turning to Newcomb, who tossed two scoreless in relief against LA in Game 1.
“The start here obviously, the two innings in relief were really good, were strong,” Snitker said.
“It’s kind of like he’s thrown better recently than he had all September. And I think that’s the big factor is like he’s -- the way he’s throwing right now is kind of how we remembered in stretches all year. So I think that had a lot to do with it.”
“Obviously their backs are against the wall,” Dodgers’ manager Dave Roberts said when he was asked if he was surprised by Atlanta’s decision to with Newcomb, “and they feel it’s the best chance to give them a chance to win tomorrow. So he’s had success against us. I feel that just some history and a little bit more familiarity, you know, I don’t know what to expect of his length tomorrow. Obviously it’s contingent upon how he performs. But I like the guys we’re going to run out there.”
Will the Rockies or Braves live to play another day? We’ll find out tonight. It’s 4:37 PM EDT for Game 3 in Coors Field and 8:07 PM EDT in Atlanta. Enjoy your NLDS baseball...