I’m writing this on my phone because I’m traveling; I “watched†by Gameday and phone. This recap will not be the most verbose or detailed I’ve written, nor the most informed or the most accurate or the most good-est. But someone has to recap it, and I volunteered as tribute.
Charlie tapdanced through five innings, giving up two runs on three hits — well, honestly, the two runs were on another homer to Seager in the first inning, and frankly if we ever pitch to him in the first again, it’ll be too soon — and six (!) walks. Four in the first inning! That six-walk total was his most since June 9, 2018, and he needed 96 pitches to get five innings. As Marcus Stroman said:
Meanwhile, Walker Buehler just didn’t have it. The Braves hit into two twin killings in the first two innings, but they finally evened up the score and then some in the fourth, with RBI singles by Joc Pederson, Adam Duvall, and Dansby Swanson, and a bases-loaded walk by Rosario. But Freddie flew out with the bases still loaded to end the threat. (He was three for four with a walk. That was literally his only blemish on the evening. He’s fine.)
In the fifth, Albies singled and stole second, and scored on another Duvall RBI single, but the threat was prematurely ended by yet another double play. The Braves’ fifth run would be their last.
Morton didn’t pitch as deep as we could have wished, but with Buehler knocked out in the fourth, it was a battle of the bullpens. And as good as our guys have been lately, nothing is automatic. Minter and Matzek tossed two scoreless frames, then Luke Jackson gave up a three-run homer to Bellinger and every other comment on the blog was about Leyritz.
At the end of the day, the runs that Luke gave up in the eighth are the runs that Morton should’ve given up in the first. The offense did their job and the team nearly stole a third game from the team everyone in the world said would outclass us from the first game on. We’re still playing with house money. The national writers never thought we had a prayer; the Dodgers thought they had it sewed up the moment they rolled out of bed.
But I’m not a baseball fan, I’m a Braves fan. I don’t want a good series, I’d rather see us win ugly than lose pretty. The next bases-loaded walk we get, let’s get a based-loaded double.
Thanks for the great recap of a tough game. Up 2-1 after three puts it in perspective. We could have lost all three. Let’s get lucky again tonight. Go Braves!
Great recap. And nice aside re: Leyritz. The two moments are not remotely similar even if it may feel that way. The Leyritz game tied up a series in which we would not win another game. That was a true “game changer.” The momentum never came back for us in 1996. This merely gave the Dodgers a win they could have easily had in either of the first two games. The way I see it, we’re chalk. And with 4 potential games left to play, we only need two. They need three.
Negatives:
– As mentioned in the game thread last night, D’Arnaud looks gassed after catching every game of this postseason. And he’s taking a beating behind the dish.
– As good as Jackson has looked this year, he was bound to throw a gopher ball at some point. Let this be that moment and never speak of it again.
– Morton’s walks in the first. Though to be fair, Stroman was correct – only 2 runs after that inning? That’s a win so maybe not a negative.
– That last inning vs. Jansen. Sure, he’s a lights out closer, but I felt like we were just swinging at anything there leading to 3 Ks. Maybe we got demoralized after coughing up the lead.
– The immediate reaction by so many to think we’re “doooomed” the minute something poor happens.
Positives:
– Freddie went 3 for 4 after 7 Ks in the 1st 2 games. Looks like his bat is coming around.
– Hits by every other starting 8 outside of D’Arnaud. No one else seems to be slumping.
– In 3 games, we’ve knocked around all 3 of the Dodgers elite starting pitchers. Scherzer 4.1 IP and 2 runs scored, Buehler 3.2 IP with 4 runs scored, and Urias (who has not even started a game yet) 1 IP with 2 runs scored. They are not un-hittable and we know it.
– Morton’s following 4 innings after the first. You cannot say the man did not earn his money last night unless you expected a no hitter.
– Matzek and Minter remain lights out.
– And again…we still have 2 wins to their 1. Last year is last year. 1996 is 1996. This is 2021. These are not the Barves. Not by any means. We left that team at the All Star break.
I stand by these. Let’s go Braves!
Really tough loss. Bellinger’s home run brought to mind a distinct memory of Andruw Jones hitting a high heater almost in his eyes off Randy Johnson for a homer in some random game long ago. Went looking for it, believe it was this game but can’t find video.
https://www.espn.com/mlb/2001/20010428/recap/atlari.html
@2 very well said
It’s actually very similar to the Leyritz HR, in the sense that a potential deathblow post-season win turned on a tying, gut-punch, 3-run HR with 5 outs to go.
Going so quickly from thrills to anguish, it felt very close to the same.
How the rest of the series goes, we’ll just see. Hopefully, this’ll just be an ugly blip.
This is where the intangibles part of a manager are valuable. He’ll need to get them to flush that completely and not let last night beat them again. We’ll learn a lot about our boys in the way they respond to last night.
They’ve been pretty resilient all season so we will see. Really need Freddie to stay hot.
@2 regarding TDA, yes, he has looked bad, but I don’t think it is from exhaustion. He has caught 7 games since October 3rd, with ample time to rest in between series.
He has never really been himself this year with the injuries and whatnot. He hit less than .200 in september.
Sure, give him today off and hope you catch lightning in a bottle with Contreras, but there is probably some underlying physical issue (not exhaustion related) affecting him.
D’Arnaud had the day off on Monday. He had three (non-travel) days off last week. Catching every game in the postseason <> catching every game in the regular season.
He’s not hitting likely in part because of his injury and the sequelae thereof. Sitting him for a day is unlikely to change that.
Narratives created in real time are correct well under half the time. If the Braves win only one more game in this series (or less) the Bellinger homer will be seen as the turning point, whether it actually had any such impact or not. If the Braves win this series, which at this point is still about a 50-50 proposition (which is better than where they started) then all the Leyritz-comparing in the world is just is just like the 41 “this game is the the turning point of the season” narratives that were just false.
I do agree, though, that an important job for a manager is making sure his team understands this, well before any self-fulfilling prophecies take hold.
The thing about the Leyritz homer is that it wasn’t fated to decide the series. We had the rest of that game, which was tied into the 10th. We had a home game the next night which we lost 1-0 and if we win it we probably still win the series (or are at least favored to). After we didn’t do any of that, I’ll admit we were somewhat on life support going back to New York down a game. There’s no rule that said we had to lose Game 6 and get out of their way, though. And last night’s homer happened even earlier in the series than the Leyritz homer…and the last two games of the series will be in Atlanta, not New York (or LA, in this case).
Great recap, Alex. Wonderful comment, AL.
Get them today, boys. Hit ’em where they ain’t. Throw strikes. We can still win this thing in LA. The bums cannot.
P.S. JonathanF is a wise man as well as smartaleck.
@5 – It’s only similar if you look at it that way or want to (not that you do.)
It was a gut punch, no doubt, but you can’t say the Dodgers didn’t feel that way the last couple of games. They came back. Can we? I think so. Eternal optimist over here. This time does not have to be that (despite the ATL mindset.)
Last night’s game sucked for the Braves in terms of the outcome – but I like to focus on the positive that we’d nearly lost everything in the first inning and from there we dominated until the bottom of the 8th. Not only that, we forced the Dodgers to throw nearly all of their relievers AGAIN. I think the only well-rested good reliever on their team right now is Graterol.
Bottom line: we’re up 2 – 1 with only 2 games left in LA, facing a team with a depleted bullpen (starting a pitcher that we knocked around in a between-starts appearance earlier in the series). Leaving aside how we got to today (and the fact that we feel crappy today because of how last night’s game ended) the Braves are still in a good spot.
PS – How in the world did Bellinger hit a home run on that neck-high fastball? That’s an amazing swing from a guy who was pure, unadulterated trash all year at the plate.
He was sitting on the high fastball. Give him credit for guessing right, and even then you still have to execute. As we were watching that sequence, myself and the guys around me all wanted to double up on the high fastball after the swinging strike-two. I guess if we could call the pitch, so could Bellinger. A few inches more inside and he wouldn’t have been able to hit it hard…ugh…just sucks. Luke Jackson didn’t really throw bad pitches that inning, I feel for him.
Cody Bellinger hit a ball out that no one should be able to get hard contact on, much less knock it over the fence. That’s not on Luke. What question needs to be answered is why he was in there in the first place considering he was so shaky AND that Bellinger carried a .383 OPS against LHP this season.
Also, many on Twitter argued that they should’ve not pitched to Mookie and intentionally put him on, all the while ignoring that Corey Seager, Trea Turner, and Will Smith are the next 3 in the lineup who all have better numbers than Mookie this year. Seriously, Snitker gets thrown under the bus no matter what he does.
But yes, knowing the splits, I’d have brought in Smyly to get Bellinger out or Will Smith to get the last 4 outs.
Was the two extra innings from Morton really worth it? We’ll never know how many runs we passed on there. I’d have pinch hit for him if we had a decent option on the bench, but we don’t.
@16
1) Yes
2) I can just as easily ask whether or not taking him out when we did cost us a run. If we try and massage him through one more inning, he’s up to bunt in the sixth. If he successfully bunts Dansby over to second, Dansby could’ve scored on that Freeman single.
Basically, we have no worthwhile pinch-hitters right now, and it’s almost certainly not worth it to take a pitcher out to get one of these guys an at-bat during a rally. They’re going to strike out anyway.
@6 – Good insight Chief, although tonight’s game with starter unknown and a bullpen that was used more than we would have liked yesterday will be a very tough game to win. @16 – Good point about the extra innings from Morton. This is where the ripple effects of not having Soler on the roster really come into play.
On the Bellinger homerun, it looked like Jackson missed on a fastball a few pitches earlier and it was lower than he wanted it. I thought he could have hit that ball out but he looked seriously overmatched. That’s why when Jackson hit his spot on the higher fastball it seemed like Bellinger had even less of a chance to touch it.
Agreed. If we had Joc or Soler as options there, it would’ve been a tougher decision. Camargo as the first bat off the bench is just a shitty situation.
Who do we guess will actually start the game for us today? My guess is Minter. If we assume Ynoa is the “bulk pitcher,” that would whipsaw the Dodgers around between the lefty Minter, the righty Ynoa and then the lefty Matzek and Smith pretty nicely. Also, Minter’s been good opening for us.
(Edit: Written before Nick posted.) Pitcher usage tonight will be interesting. I guess we hope for 5 from Smyly/Ynoa. Webb and Martin might be ok for one each, plus maybe finishing the 5th if Smyly/Ynoa don’t make it. I’d plan on using Smith in the 8th if the game is close, since he didn’t pitch Monday or Tuesday and should be ok to go tonight and Thursday. That way someone who was used last night (Jackson, Matzek, Minter) wouldn’t have to be used unless the team is ahead or tied in the 9th, as I think using one of them two nights in a row probably burns them for Thursday, and giving Smith three off days in a row seems like a waste of resources. I wouldn’t use Chavez except in extras, as he threw a ton of pitches warming up several times last night before actually coming in. Anderson might even be an option in extras, though it would mean pitching Morton and Anderson both on short rest in games 6 & 7, but if it gets a win today it might be worth it.
I doubt Snit would use Smith in the 8th, though, as he prefers to stick to defined roles. He also said after the NLDS that he had been riding Matzek/Jackson/Smith hard and would keep doing it.
#5
Nothing’s fated. A HR like that only holds significance if it really does become the pivot point of a previously one-sided series.
But if you compare the two HRs within the context of each series, this game would’ve put us up 3-0, while the Leyritz game would’ve put us up 3-1.
As everyone knows, losing an MLB post-season series with a 3-0 lead has only happened once (out of 38 chances). Losing with a 3-1 lead has happened 14 times (89 opportunities). Quite a difference.
Hopefully, we’ll just put them to sleep in Tinseltown today & tomorrow.
So are we gonna name a starter or nah?
@23: It’s Ynoa. I disapprove. But I’m frequently wrong.
Definitely one way to get a strategic advantage – if we have no idea what we’re going to do, makes us much more unpredictable!
After looking at the Braves’ postseason stats so far, I have to notice that no one (except maybe TdA) is having a horrible 0-fer kind of streak. Several, more than one, of the hitters are having really good postseasons. That makes me feel a lot better about not going into a team slump and being able to overcome last night’s disappointment.
Did anyone see the Jayson Stark tweet comparing last night to both Leyritz and Carbo? As in, “for only the third time blah, blah, blah”. It’s not just us that are doing this but the media at large too.
So Peanut says the 10-day minimum expires on Friday for Soler. Could he be back for game 6 on Saturday at home???? Hopefully, we finish the series before then but could provide an emotional boost.
Does anyone else privately call Huascar ‘The Grouch’? Besides the obvious, there’s also the whole punched-a-dugout-bench-in-anger-and-missed-several-months thing.
Oh I like that. That’s good. Also, if he does pitch well, we could call him Huascar Wao.
Snit fucked up, pure and simple. A chance to go up.3-0 and he made a compromise.
I find when you compromise you generally lose. The Braves lost. 90 plus percent of managers given a golden opportunity to go up 3-0 against a better opponent don’t compromise. They release themselves from the tiny box they live in and do something smart and bold.
Not our manager. No he has only one way of doing things. Generally the wrong way when it comes to the bullpen. He is the weak link in this chain.
THE COMPROMISER. THE LOSER.
Atlanta Braves Hall of Fame He would be a compromise if elected.
.
Yep. It’s Ynoa. I also disapprove but who knows…maybe he finally remembers how to pitch. Only one time through the order, please.
@28 – Had to google that! Have never read Junot Diaz. Did you enjoy that book?
Now I’m hearing Ynoa has been pulled back due to shoulder inflammation and may be replaced on the roster. Not an official announcement yet. Who starts now??
@31, I really enjoyed it when I read it.
@32
How did they not know he had shoulder inflammation until after he was named the starter?
DOB says he’s been scratched and that Jesse Chavez is starting BTW, so yeah…this seems to be happening.
@34 – I’m going to assume something flared up during workouts. Can’t say I’m terribly disappointed. I’d prefer Minter to start but they may know him too much by now. So…roll with Chavez and see what happens.
By the way, the radio guys are railing on Smyly right now. Guy still gets a paycheck.
DOB says Ynoa’s shoulder “felt tight” this afternoon. And we’re not ILing him yet, so we’ll be minus a pitcher today.
Deactivating him at this point would mean that he’s out for the season, as the postseason IL requires you to sit for the remainder of the current series and the succeeding one. However, I’m having difficulty discerning a downside there.
https://twitter.com/bnightengale/status/1450940162087608321?s=21
@37
Autocorrect is a cruel mistress.
Last night, post-game, Jackson said about the pitch to Bellinger, “Sadly, it was where I wanted and I’d throw it again.”
https://twitter.com/fabianardaya/status/1450946797371748354?s=21
I welcome tonight’s Goggles Battle between Chavez and Urias.
Hopefully Urias is still hella tired.
Is Lee in LA? Did he travel with the team?
@2 Great post
@15 I agree. It was senseless not bringing in a lefty to face Bellinger. Snitker had said Smyly was unavailable since he is due to pitch today. He is also set in his way about ONLY using Smith as a 1 inning closer. This was a game where you needed the closer in the 8th…..even if it meant going with another reliever to close it out in the 9th.
I was worried about Ynoa starting tonight anyway. He has been awful lately. Smyly has been good out of the bullpen so, of the two, I prefer Smyly.
Anyone think Snit might go to Lee before Smyly?
@44 – Probably. Smyly hasn’t pitched for like two years (18 days) so for whatever reason he may be in Snit’s doghouse. That said, I think they start Chavez for a rotation and then move to Smyly. We’ll see how that works.
Not Braves-related, but with the Red Sox in the ALCS, I’ve seen lots of references to (ex-Dodger) Enrique “Kiké” Hernandez with an accent over the e in his nickname. I get that if you use the correct Spanish spelling for the nickname, with no accent because the emphasis is on the i, that’s a slur in English, or would be misinterpreted as such by some people. But why not at least put the unnecessary accent over the i so the name will be pronounced correctly? That would be unnecessary but not actively misleading.
For those who insist that my questions be Braves-related, is there any reason to hope that the Dodgers don’t have quite as detailed a book on Lee as they do on people who have thrown more than 2 innings in the majors?
https://twitter.com/UmpScorecards/status/1450831767259152385
@46
Is that name pronounced ‘keek’? I assumed given the spelling it was ‘kee-kay’.
@48 It is ‘kee-kay’.
Short for “Enrique.â€
@46 I’m Jewish. I can tell the difference between a nickname and a slur.
Jesus, Albies made that look easy. And it wasn’t!
EDIT – And say hello to Rosario’s boomstick!
@48, it’s KEE-kay with the emphasis on the first syllable (short for Enrique, which is pronounced ehn-REE-kay), not kee-KAY with the emphasis on the second syllable, which the misplaced accent makes it. Without the accent, it would be pronounced KEE-kay, but that looks like a slur in English, so putting the accent on the first syllable at least would keep the emphasis on the correct syllable.
@51, not everyone is so willing not to take offense when none is intended.
P.S. So far, my assertion that Chavez shouldn’t pitch tonight is looking about as good as all the preseason predictions that the Mets would win the NLE.
Rosario!!
Rosario in Yiddish means “yardâ€
Welp, I think we won the Panda trade. Anyone said that yet?
Duvy!!
Back-to-back JACK!
@56 You can say it as much as you want.
I don’t know what Duvall means in Yiddish.
It’s about time Duvall got one out!!! Nice!
@59 – Mitzvah? 😉
Duvall getting hot. Look out!!
Chavez only going 1 inning after just throwing 10 pitches?.
Just want to say I disagree with this move before Camargo gets out.
Edit: Predictable results. I hope this works.
What’s the good of a rubber-armed pitcher if you take him out after 11 effective pitches?
To update my earlier post: Urias – 3 IP with 4 runs allowed.
No clue what we’re doing with the pitching tonight. Where do the 9 innings even come from.
@60 Yeah. Mitzvah. It means Mitzvah.
Also – holy crap broadcasters. He caught a ball. He didn’t kill a kitten.
Smyly scares me.
What JonathanF said @ #63.
Should I be in love with Lux? TBS seems in love with Lux.
Lol at the open disappointment from Ron Darling. Frenchy needs to go full homer.
@68 If he gets a big hit it’s a week’s worth of fodder for fluffy articles.
“Miscast centerfielder casts mist†or something…
Duvall is a mensch
Bombs AWAY!!!
Poor Ron Darling can’t cope
Free Man!!!
This is how we won a bunch of games in the second half: good pitching and a bunch of solo homers.
Huh. Announcer says Rosario one of the fastest in the MLB, I think that can’t be right, look up stat cast. Sprint speed: faster than 97% of players in the big leagues. Huh.
EDIT: a confident true CF catches that fly, I think.
Lux Conrad
Is there any camera shot less informative than the base cam? Is there some reason they keep showing it?
[Let me modify that… shots of a pensive Dave Roberts are even less informative than base cam. And shots of celebrities in the stands are the least informative. So let me amend this to shots of the actual action on the field.]
I wondered about that too.
Correction – Urias with 4 IP and 6 runs allowed.
The Dodgers’ pitching staff is gassed. They’ve had to do bullpen games every game this series and Urias isn’t long for this game, either.
Freeman means “naches.â€
@77, on celebrities in the stands, one benefit of having TBS do the games is that we don’t have to endure lots of shots of actors whose shows the networks want to promote. That was a thing for many years (and may still be), and I always thought it showed lack of interest in the games themselves. TBS did show a couple of country stars last night, but it’s LA and celebrities are part of the scenery, and I assume they were at the game to actually watch it rather than just to be shown on camera, so it didn’t seem so forced.
Edit – No, no walks. Solo homers are ok, but not walks that can lead to multi-run HRs.
Soooo who’s gonna pitch the next 5 innings?
Would love for that woman beating POS Urias to get knocked out in the 5th….. he’s not going past the 6th in any case but I have little doubt we’ll see him in game 7 (If there is one).
Watching Smyly pitching meaningful innings is terrifying. Unfortunate about Ynoa, if for nothing else, being stretched out. I don’t know how long Dylan Lee can go, but perhaps K. Muller could’ve been an option.
Oh My! The ump didn’t screw up that strike 3 call! Maybe Smyly can be worth his contract yet!
Shut up, TBS! It’s not so much Darling (or Frenchy) but Anderson that keeps trying to find the Dodgers narrative. It must suck that we just shut them down again.
@83 – Minter, Martin, Matzek, Jackson, Smith.
Sorry Austin, Rosario may have you beat for NLCS MVP if all goes well.
Only missing a double for a playoff cycle.
Guys have to score here, add on at least 1.
Edit: yeah Duvall! And Rosario scaring me on the bases lol,
Updating the tally: Urias 6 innings pitched and 7 runs scored.
@86 That’s not good.
5 runs is not enough. We need about 3 more haha
Rosario is certainly making his case. Smyly is the perfect antidote to the hard-throwers. I’d like to see Smyly go 5. Of course, I also don’t think 5 runs is enough……
@81 Most people probably don’t that that’s “ch” as in “Chanukkah”. Hard to translate that gutteral “h”.
Edit: Maybe Smyly should not go 5……. Couldn’t even go 4.
Dang, Rosario is hot! And I ain’t talking about Dawson.
@89 – Or 5x Smyly, who knows?
Just as a reality check, I’m not expecting this to be a shutout. I don’t know that it’s so much that our bullpen is gassed, but LA has had a chance to see everyone. This would be an awesome win and I’m hopeful, but the Dodgers are not going to roll over and play dead. We don’t need to let up and miss scoring opportunities.
REALLY need a double play now. Left Smyly in a little too long……not sure why Minter didn’t come in
Goose was cooked on Smyly prior to Turner. Still, up by 5 with an out already. Shut them down!
Fing Coldplay.
Tried to get a bit too cute with Smyly, though we can understand why.
This is shaping up to be a repeat of last years unexpected win behind Bryce Wilson…..shoot, kinda wish he was here to take on multiple innings right now.
Edit: done in by defensive positioning 🙁
@91 With the ch – the more phlegm you can gargle, the better.
Oof. Bad Martin.
Dang it.
Still up by 3.
It’s Martin. He rarely holds runners and that cost us a run.
The double Grybo.
Sure am glad we got that past Betts, though. I am glad our pitcher stuck the landing on his Grybo.
How about that. Even TdA is getting into it.
Arcia…..ack
Ugh, this camargo, arcia bench is just ugh.
Not that adrianza, contreras and heredia scare anyone.
It didn’t matter but I still thought we should have bunted
@89
Do you want us to acquire a time machine and go back and grab the 1998 Yankees bullpen? Short of that, it is what it is.
I think Minter enjoys the big moments. Should he go 2?
I would prefer Luke Jackson and his ghosts to not make an appearance.
9 more outs, fellas. Just 9. Pile it on and hunker down! (Sorry, Rob, but you’ll appreciate it this time.)
I would bring Minter back out again…..they don’t do so well against lefties.
Snitker is driving me crazy. I guess keep it up, lol
Turner out…..that hurts them….and him.
Whew.
Poor Turner. I hate it when this stuff happens.
Cody Bellinger – on the other hand – I wish upon thee a thousand hangnails.
Maybe skip Jackson tonight? He could use a day off. Worst case a very very short leash.
And how about that Minter!
I would love to know the last time Bellinger wasn’t all over every single pitch thrown in a postseason at-bat. Certainly hasn’t been either of the last two years.
Love Alex Wood
https://twitter.com/Awood45/status/1451015808331649035
@114 would love to get through the 9th tonight without him coming up again.
Pretty sure Eddie isn’t gonna have another chance for the cycle either.
Playoff Minter is delightful.
@115 That kid was something special. The trade involving him was a travesty.
Minter has been great since he came back from AAA and worked with Mike Maroth.
Betts sure Lux’d that one.
6 more outs! Go get ’em!
@116 I hated that trade at the time because Alex was one of my favorites ……plus he is from Charlotte…..my adopted city. The trade ended up being much worse than we ever thought it could be.
Death Star!!! 3 more!
Tyler, wow.
Not that I want it to get that far, but the Dodger pitcher is due up 5th in the bottom of the 9th, and Barnes & Beaty are the only two bench bats they have left.
Oh man, that was a big 3 outs there.
Matzek is a boss.
@120 He had SO many years of control left and had always been good. I guess they were just expecting his arm to fall off at any moment. Yet another reason to hate the Dodgers.
That trade and the Andrelton Simmons trade are two of the worst recently.
How about that Matzek! Love that guy!
We are about to get screwed by replay. This type of review is not really what replay was meant for.
Haha, not enough evidence, suck it announcers and fans, lol.
The Dodger announcers think he is out
Whew……poor Ron
We finally got one to go our way and Freddie makes it pay off!!!! Woohoo, more Smith Space.
Rosario’s gonna get his double.
Oh no, will smith in a non save situation? We are already dead.
C’mon Eddie!
The HP Ump has been consistent and great tonight IMO, the first time that has happened all series.
I’m not sure who is more demoralized – Anderson and the booth or the LA crowd. The Swanson stolen base was a gimme (he was out) but I’ll take it. Bout time we got a replay to go our way.
2 doubles at one time.
Rosario means YARD!
BETTER THAN A CYCLE – 2-HR Eddie. Now we’ve got enough Smith Space.
This is where tomorrow being a bullpen day for the Dodgers helped – I’lm sure Roberts didn’t want to use another pitcher in the 9th down 3 and felt like he had to leave in Gonsolin even if he was tired.
Rosario is batting .588.
More lefty magic tomorrow with Varsity on the mound.
No comeback tonight, continue piling out of the stadium, Dodger fans.
Well, the lasting effect of yesterday was negated, as has happened so many times after tough losses this year.
3-1….now the true battle begins?
As I said, we need to take advantage of scoring opportunities. I think we can say that we did that. Now just 3 more outs without allowing 7 runs.
It’s funny to hear these announcers catch up to who we are (and Frenchy that knows better to just go along.) 3 more outs!!
Eddie Rosario could run for governor of Georgia and win in a landslide.
I need one of those great Max starts, not one of those “he didn’t have his best stuff today, but he battled”.
Sorry for the people who had tickets for 6 and 7, but I want this finished tomorrow.
Dodgers fans…say what you want about the cutouts last year, but at least they stayed for the whole game.
I think today our getting to their bullpen finally did work for us. They threw Urias in relief and he did not look right today. Hopefully tomorrow is more of the same.
The Dodgers now have to win 3 consecutive games started by Max Fried, Ian Anderson, and Charlie Morton.
Will Smith’s revenge!!!
Bad Willie has been great this postseason. He and Smyly have all three wins this NLCS.
So can we let “ley” all the Leyritz talk? What a difference a day makes and we’re back to 3-1. All those that want to kvetch about last year, feel free. I say…we now need 1 and they still need 3. This year is not that.
Rosario… just unreal.
@147 Well said.
I have tix for G6, but I will happily forfeit it for a 4-1 series win!! Go Braves!! Great Game!!
@147 the leyritz thing is a heat of the moment thing said due to frustration over yesterdays events. Would’ve been nice for today to be a sweep, though.
I tried my best to be only positive today and that seemed to work out pretty well.
I think the boys are still hurt from going through 3-1 last year and there is no way they will raise the foot from the pedal.
Wow.
I’ll get a recap out early in the morning. In the meantime, let’s party like it’s 1999.
A lot of people have already said it, but this is a heck of a ballclub. No idea how they’re this damn good without Acuña other than Alex Anthopolous pulling about seventeen different rabbits out of a hat. How he got Soler, Pederson, Rosario, and Duvall for approximately nothing combined, I’ll never know.
I look forward to that, tfloyd, but are you sure that’s the right party? I’ll take one from 1995, please and thank you. 😉
@147 Very well said. This was a great overall game (hitting, pitching, defense)
Dodger fans on social media are worse than Braves fans with their whining and crying right now.
I was not expecting us to win this game. The Dodgers seemed to have everything lined up for them, but they forgot about Drew Smyly’s ability to get a win. Chief’s comments at 6 bear repeating:
“This is where the intangibles part of a manager are valuable. He’ll need to get them to flush that completely and not let last night beat them again. We’ll learn a lot about our boys in the way they respond to last night.”
As noted, I think we learned a lot about this team and it was pretty special.
@145 This is the best reason of all for optimism. I also think there has been no point at which the Braves’ bats have been totally silent.
I don’t know why no one has pointed out that tomorrow will be the second bullpen game of the series for the Dodgers. That may be the best effect of the NLDS going 7 games. One of their three starters can’t go twice and the other two starters (both used in relief) seem gassed from the getgo. Totally opposite of the SP situation from last year when the Braves didn’t have but two starters and only one really proven. We started Wright, Wilson, and Minter and almost won. Not to mention that they had homefield advantage last year. This year is SO much better.
I just realized something terrible. The last 2 games of the World Series is scheduled while I am on vacation. I scheduled it during the summer when the thought of the Braves playing in the Series was laughable. Hopefully the games are at night at least (thinking positively here). I looked at the vrbo we rented …..it looks like they only have one tiny TV in the house. I hope they just didn’t picture all of them. I have the worst luck. I never take vacations and the Braves haven’t been to a World Series in 20 years.
@159, Cindy – take your laptop along and get mlb.tv maybe?
What a game. How about Minter and Rosario today. Smyly is a proven winner.
Basball is strange sometimes – gassed Braves bullpen vs Urias. Our bullpen as a total has been unreal.
Go Braves!
copied from TC commenter atlynkthtr:
“Adam Duvall, Joc Pederson, Eddie Rosario and Jorge Soler. In 101 plate appearances this postseason, they’re hitting a combined .341/.400/.593 with six homers and 21 RBIs in eight games.”
Always fascinating to read the comments the morning after
Go Braves. That is all
it sure is, what an improbable win.
Joyfully recapped