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Braves’ starter Ian Anderson held the Houston Astros hitless in five innings of work on the mound last night in Game 3 of the 2021 World Series in Atlanta, Georgia’s Truist Park, and he walked three batters, striking out four, before the bullpen took over with four scoreless innings in which they allowed just two hits in what ended up a 2-0 win for the Braves, who took a 2-1 advantage in the best-of-seven series.
Astros’ skipper Dusty Baker said after the loss, as he has before, that pitchers often have an advantage against teams that haven’t seen much of them.
“Like I told you a couple days ago,” Baker explained, “when you haven’t faced a guy, the nod goes to him for a while. He was effectively wild. I mean, he had a 1-to-1 ratio, balls to strikes, and our guys never could zero in on the strikes.”
As for the Astros’ lack of success against the Braves’ relievers?
“It’s no secret they’ve got a good bullpen,” Baker said.
“So we didn’t center too many balls tonight. We threatened a couple times and didn’t get the two-out RBI hits we’d gotten before, and it was kind of an uneventful night for us.
“But invariably when you shut us down, usually our guys come back the next day and score a bunch. So I hope history repeats itself.”
Brian Snitker too is hoping history repeats itself. At least recent history. Snitker’s club hasn’t lost a game at home so far this postseason.
“The guys like playing here,” the Braves’ manager said after their second win in the World Series. “I mean, they do. Guys ask me during the season, how come you win on the road and you don’t win at home and vice versa? I don’t know what it is. I know the guys like playing here. They like being at home. They like our atmosphere. Just everything internally. Our fans are awesome.
“I keep saying it and saying it, this Braves Country thing is real. It is so good, and our players love it, appreciate it, and it’s a real thing how these people come out and support this club.
“And they do feed off of it. I’m sorry, they feed off of it.”
If they can remain undefeated at home in the postseason for two more nights, the Braves will be the 2021 champs. Will they set themselves up to win at home with another W later tonight? Game 4 gets underway at 8:09 PM ET in Atlanta...