Eyyyy, I’m back again, although without any Jethro Tull, sadly. But with or without the winners of the 1989 Grammy for Best Hard Rock/Heavy Metal Performance the World Series continues to make history. And generally in less ignominious ways than The Academy. Ok, this isn’t going anywhere useful so let’s talk about baseball.
Atlanta 3, Astros 2
Between the end of the NLCS and the beginning of the WS, I actually said “I want the NL to win, but I simply don’t think Atlanta is good enough.” I am quite the fool as they continue to Just Win. With Charlie Morton’s unfortunate injury taking him off of the roster for the rest of the series, it was the uh…perfect time for Dylan Lee to make his major league debut. No pressure, kid.
And things didn’t go particularly well. Jose Altuve did what Jose Altuve does and singled off of the first pitch of the game, which was followed by a Michael Brantley walk. Lee got Alex Bregman to strike out but then walked Yordan Alvarez on four pitches to load the bases with one out. Snitker was pretty candid about not expecting a long appearance from Lee, and he ended up with just the one out, and with the bases loaded he went to the pen and brought in Kyle Wright. Wright induced a groundout from Carlos Correa, but it was enough to get the first run across. He limited the damage to just the one, though, as Wright was able to strike out Kyle Tucker.
The bottom of the first means it was time for us to all get to enjoy watching Zack Greinke work. This also ties into that history I mentioned:
Zack Greinke is just the 2nd pitcher to hit above 9th in the lineup in the #WorldSeries.
The other is Babe Ruth in 1918 (Game 4), who hit 6th.
h/t: @SlangsOnSports pic.twitter.com/GqYP3McMmJ
— MLB Stats (@MLBStats) October 30, 2021
Babe Ruth and Zack Greinke, those two guys you hear mentioned together all the time.
Greinke acquitted himself much more admirably than in the ALCS, pitching four scoreless innings and sounding utterly incredible while doing it:
https://gfycat.com/dishonestvastbrahmanbull
I love it, 10/10, no notes, absolutely perfect.
For real, though, Greinke wasn’t exactly suffocating. Although he only gave up four hits over the four innings to go with the three strikeouts, he was helped by a pair of double plays that kept Atlanta from getting any momentum going on the bags. Dusty Baker said he wanted 15 outs from Greinke, and although he only got 12, it was still a good showing given that Houston’s rotation isn’t the healthiest right now either. He was replaced by Ryne Stanek, who pitched a clean inning with no hits or walks and one strikeout. Brooks Raley wasn’t so lucky, however. After getting Orlando Arcia to line out, Eddie Rosario doubled, and Freddie Freeman worked a seven-pitch walk. Raley was lifted for Phil Maton, who struck out Ozzie Albies but ran into the same problem Luis Garcia did on Friday. Austin Riley hit a line drive out to left field, Rosario came around to score and Riley made it to second. Joc Pederson was intentionally walked and Travis d’Arnaud struck out to end the inning to keep Houston up by one.
But not for long. Cristian Javier came in for the Astros and started out the bottom of the seventh by striking out Adam Duvall. Then he got Dansby Swanson into an 0-2 count and…
DANS💣#BattleATL pic.twitter.com/AxyBWaNHdh
— Atlanta Braves (@Braves) October 31, 2021
Simple as that, tie game. The pitcher’s spot was up next, too, and Jorge Soler stepped in on Tyler Matzek’s behalf. Here’s a quick little science lesson: solar power doesn’t function at night, but Soler power does.
AIR SOLER!@solerpower12 | #BattleATL pic.twitter.com/uDdo385pJo
— Atlanta Braves (@Braves) October 31, 2021
And here’s both with just the park noise, my preferred way to take those game-changing moments in:
…to back.#BattleATL pic.twitter.com/hsNsEhyczx
— Atlanta Braves (@Braves) October 31, 2021
Wright worked into and out of trouble until the fourth when Altuve launched a solo shot into CF to put the Astros up 2-0, although it was the only run he would give up over 4.2 innings of work. In the sixth, it was time for the night shift, as Chris Martin, Tyler Matzek, Luke Jackson, and Will Smith combined for four scoreless innings. Altuve’s homer being a solo shot was actually rather poorly timed for Houston as they managed to strand 11 runners over the course of the game. There was another moment of drama in the top of the eighth as it looked like he may have tied the game back up, but the ball ended up not only staying in the park but landing in a mitt thanks to some very nifty glovework from Rosario:
Eddie says nah 😎@EddieRosario09 | #BattleATL pic.twitter.com/whk5sbgImE
— Atlanta Braves (@Braves) October 31, 2021
The final out of the game was on a much more mundane grounder to first, and just like that, the NL East division winner with 88 regular-season wins are on the cusp of the first World Series title in over 20 years. Put on a costume and tune in tonight to see if they can pull it off.
Photo by David John Griffin/Icon Sportswire | Adapted by Justin Paradis (@JustParaDesigns on Twitter)