Behind a terrific performance by the bullpen and a huge night from Eddie Rosario, the Braves defeated the Dodgers 9-2 to take a three games to one lead in the NLCS. And what a satisfying win it was. As you well recall, the night before the Bums scored four in the 8th inning to erase a 5-2 Braves lead and win 6-5. From reading the comments here and elsewhere, many of the Braves faithful were having Jim Leyritz nightmares.
Going into Wednesday night’s game, the Dodgers had the National League’s only 20 game winner on the mound, while the Braves didn’t even know who would start until an hour before game time. We knew it would be a bullpen game, but Huascar Ynoa, who was to have been the opener, was scratched from this start (and from the rest of the postseason) with a sore shoulder. So at the last minute the Braves turned to Jesse Chavez instead. He came through with a perfect first. Chavez was followed by Drew Smyly, who had not pitched in 18 days—and who had not pitched very well for several weeks before that. Smyly was also a revelation. In fact, through four innings, the only baserunner surrendered by Chavez and Smyly was a walk. Smyly was aided by a tremendous catch in center by Duvall, who made a leaping grab of a Lux drive at the top of the wall.
Meanwhile, the Braves hitters unloaded on Urias. Rosario and Duvall went yard back to back in the second for a 2-0 lead, and in the third Freeman hit a solo shot and Joc drove in Rosario who had tripled. So the Braves were improbably up 4-0 after three innings. Surprisingly, at least to me, Dave Roberts stuck with Urias, who clearly was not sharp. The Braves tacked on another run in the fifth on singles by Albies and Rosario and a sac fly by Duvall.
The Dodgers finally got in the hit column in the fifth, with singles by J Turner and Bellinger. Chris Martin replaced Smyly, and Bellinger stole second. AJ Pollock then drove in two on a single to right. Martin escaped further damage, but the score was now 5-2 (an ominous score for those who remembered the night before).
But Minter came on to pitch two scoreless innings, and Snit turned to Matzek for the eighth. Death Star (aka Every Day Tyler) was having none of this déjà vu stuff, and set them down in order. Going to the ninth, the Braves hitters decided to have mercy on my heart rate, so they scored four more to put the game out of reach. Swanson singled and stole second, Freeman hit a ground rule double, and Rosario, needing a double to hit for the cycle, just missed. His long drive to right sailed over the fence for a three run homer. Cycle? Nah, been there, done that. We’ll take a 4-4 night with two homers.
Will Smith, who hasn’t given up a run in several weeks now, closed it out with a perfect ninth. The once maligned Braves bullpen went nine innings and surrendered only four hits and one walk.
The Braves stand one win away from going to the World Series for the first time since 1999. Do you realize how improbable this is? Return with me to the days of yesteryear—or maybe I should say yestermonth. Do y’all remember what it was like being a Braves fan way back in July 2021? Remember when the team reached the end of July without once being over .500 for the season? Since August 3, the Braves are 41-20. Remember when the Braves went forever without winning even two games in a row? Now they’ve gone 23 games without losing two in a row (18-5 in this stretch). Remember when the Braves regular outfielders included some combination of Arcia, Heredia, and Adrianza? This postseason, the “Anthopoulos Four†in 101 plate appearances are hitting a combined .341/.400/.593 with six homers and 21 RBIs (thanks, timo, for this factoid). Remember when there was no one in the Braves bullpen who inspired the least bit of confidence? Over the last couple of months, the pen has been the best in the league. And last night they had perhaps their finest moment.
I know this series isn’t over. Of course we all know that, and if you don’t the TBS announcers will continue to remind you every five minutes that the Dodgers erased a 3-1 deficit last year.
But let’s appreciate where we are now. We’ve got Varsity Fried on the mound with a good chance to finish this off tonight. Go Braves.
I know we were up 3-1 last year, but it feels different this year. There was a change in the force last night in the ninth.
This TBS crew is awful. Like worse than Chip Caray
Thanks Rusty.
Duvall’s catch was underrated. Big moment in the series. And really, it’s friggin’ nuts that we’re up 3-1 on the Dodgers with a completely rebuilt outfield that has Adam Duvall playing CF some nights.
Yeah I’m not good at making memes.
Fantastic recap, Rusty, thank you.
“Anthopoulos Four” – love it!
Does Chief still think we should sell?
Credit for this recap goes to tfloyd. But if I ever write one this good, I’ll definitely expect to be thanked.
Close it out tonight. No need to bring it back to Truist.
A game like this blows up human notions of “momentum.” But that cuts both ways. As tfloyd points out, correctly, the new notion of “Destiny” is just as false as the old notion of “Doooomed.” It’s playoff baseball, and it’s a crapshoot. Roll the dice. (It’s OK to blow on them first, though. That always helps…. except when you forget to stand on one leg while you blow.)
To be just a tad more analytical, though, Muncy-less Dodgers are a lot less Dodger-like than I really expected.
@7 – I agree. While I’d love to do it on our home field, there would be a certain sweetness at celebrating in Chavez Ravine.
And I definitely agree with Smitty @1 – this year feels different.
Lord knows this franchise is due for the good luck to go our way this postseason.
I have been getting the ‘Why Not Us?’ vibe from this group for the last six weeks.
Thank you, Tfloyd. All your recaps are great. The game setting makes this my (so far) all time favorite.
Tuck the bums in tonight, boys. It’s time the Dodgers call it a season.
Man, was that fun last night… yes, sleepytime for the LA crew.
Win tonight & all pitchers are on full rest for “the next round.” Get greedy, fellas.
Chief said it, and td called it out:
We’ve got a good team, and Snitker does a terrific job of keeping them ready to play. And with Varsity on the bump, we can play with anybody.
A major difference between this year and last is that home-field advantage actually existing does make big comebacks in series tougher, I’d wager. Last year, they simply had to win three in a row at the same sterile half-empty ballpark they’d been playing for 18 days already. This year, they have to beat us twice at Truist Park, and that’s even if they get through Max tonight. By the same token, I very much doubt we have a 2-0 lead last year if the first two games had been played in Dodger Stadium, which they would’ve been if not for the COVID protocol.
When you combine that with the fact that there were no off-days in last year’s LCS, it was tailor-made for weird stuff to happen. And it did in both cases (Houston became only the second team ever to come back from 3-0 down to tie a seven-game series before finally losing on the AL side).
On my 35th birthday, I feel like I’m 10 years old again! Love this team.
@6 of course, tfloyd! All you recappers are the true co-MVP this season.
I’m happy for Rusty to get the credit. He’s like Freddie Freeman: one of those players that makes everyone around him better.
@8–that’s a good point about Muncy. Their lineup really does seem to miss him. He, more than any of them, never chases the slider that’s just below the knees or just outside. I don’t know if his absence is the cause, but they do seem to be chasing more than they used to.
It may not be very analytical of me, but I’m wearing my lucky shirt tonight. It’s not that I really believe it makes a difference, but why take a chance. I’d hate to feel responsible if they blow it. (BTW, my lucky shirt is a Braves t-shirt my son had made that has the number 17 on the back and the name “Channel” above the number.)
I haven’t seen any analysis to suggest that shirt isn’t lucky, tfloyd, and, in Pascalian terms, as the value is highly positive if you wear it and it is lucky and zero if it is not, and the value would be highly negative if you do not wear it though it is lucky and zero if it is not, you may as well wear it.
My Luke Jackson tee was 5-0 in the playoffs until game 3. I avoided the shirt yesterday since it had lost its mojo.
I’d like to say I’ve given up on all that lucky/unlucky superstition (though this IS baseball we’re talking about) however I’ve used the same coffee cup for weeks with a Georgia G on it and so far so good. So…yeah. No switching. Wear it with pride, tfloyd!
@20–Pascal was a pretty smart “analytics” guy. His reasoning is good enough for me.
@8 @19 Absolutely a good point. Muncy tears us up. BUT… I don’t care; we don’t get Ronald so they don’t get Muncy – even steven. It is what it is. If we win, we deserve it.
If you are an old dog and cannot learn new tricks, Braves Journal is the cure.
We’re also missing Soler and that other outfielder.
Astros are missing Verlander. Nobody makes it to October unscathed.
Dusty @ #21
Try a pre-soak before washing to restore the shirt’s mojo.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/mlb/columnist/bob-nightengale/2021/10/21/dodgers-battered-mlb-playoffs-nlcs-braves/6115562001/
@24: Sure, but (a) if we’d had RAJ, we’d have never gotten Rosario. RAJ is much better than Rosario, but the odds that he would have generated Rosario’s results in any particular series are pretty low; and (b) Muncy got injured on the last game of the season. Thus, it’s a lot more like “Martin goes down” or “Duvall goes down.” You’re bound to replace them with someone not ready to get the role… in this case Gavin Lux, who, from no fault of his own, is an adventure out in center field. (It’s little known, by the way, but Gavin Lux is the only player in MLB history whose name ends in X.)
And this has nothing to do with who “deserves it.” Anyone who gets it, deserves it.
#19
Messersmith!
@28 – Wow! I never expected to see a sportswriter like Nightengale turn on the Dodgers, but he’s not wrong. (And by the way, I’ve just parted ways with Joe Posnanski after he tried to defend Plaschke as a “sportswriter.”) I hesitate to even post on this because I don’t want to jinx anything, but yeah…it’s our time!
I’m sorry tFloyd!
I have always felt Munsey and Turner set the tone in their lineup. Munsey would always have some inspirational 14 pitch AB that he starts 0-2 and draws a walk. Turner the same way.
If I’m LA, I’d start Puljos at first and Bellinger in center. Puljos is that guy who could still work a great AB.
Who do they have left in their pen? Those guys look gassed to me.
Great recap.
This year does feel different and I will tell you why. THIS year WE have Joctober!!!
Loved that Smyly was given a chance yesterday. He was actually ok once he was moved to the bullpen. His problem as a starter was that he couldn’t go through the order more than twice.
Today is the day for Max to step on the world stage!!
Thank you tfloyd. Excellence abounds and overflows.
Last year’s Dodgers thought they would win it. This year’s Dodgers know they are beat.
27 – Remy – thanks for the tip, I did just that and it’s ready to go for Game 5.
31 – That’s a bit harsh to Pos. His JWIB basically politely told Plaschke his column was idiotic and wrong.
33 – I had the same thought except, when I looked, I think they have 7 relievers who didn’t pitch last night (Graterol, Knebel, Jansen, Kelly, Phillips, Vesia and Treinan) and Bruihl only threw 5 pitches (though he did throw 14 the day before). If it goes extras, idk what they do though.
Should also point out Phillips threw 34 pitches Tuesday, so he may be limited a bit but probably not.
@29 “It’s little known, by the way, but Gavin Lux is the only player in MLB history whose name ends in X.”
Lol, I got that reference.
Sorry… I’m clearly on the slower side this morning, can you unpack?
@38: https://awfulannouncing.com/mlb/chip-caray-major-leaguer-last-name-ends-in-x.html
I didn’t get the reference either, thanks Jonathan.
Can the Dodgers replace Turner with Muncy? That would stink.
@36 I had to read his article too. I got a little different take. The article was about Plaschke’s article after game 3 that concerned momentum. Plaschke said the Dodgers had taken all of the momentum and would basically start rolling over the Braves. Joe’s article was about the fallacy of momentum. If you didn’t read the full article you would think Joe was defending Plaschke’s onslaught of nonsense about shopping malls, Waffle House, and the Dodgers beating themselves. It didn’t concern that at all. I brought it up in a comment though.
Tough news for L.A. that Turner’s out, but not that surprising. It sounded from the radio call like he was REALLY in pain on the field.
https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/32443286/los-angeles-dodgers-all-star-justin-turner-likely-rest-postseason-hamstring-injury
It would be really surprising if Muncy were feeling good enough to play, but I’m sure they’ll be asking themselves that question all day. You know they’re thinking Kirk Gibson.
Poor Chip. What a macaroon.
Adding Muncy to the roster in place of Turner is a dice roll that he might be good enough to go once the series gets back here…if it gets back here. From news reports, it seem inconceivable that he’d be able to go tonight. So if they’re gonna do that, they’d be better off leaving Turner on the roster for tonight so they have more information on Saturday, if it gets that far. Which means you’d be without a bench player today…a day when you’ll be needing pinch-hitters throughout the game because it’s a bullpen game. It just doesn’t seem very realistic.
@41, me neither, and I was ready to say something about Mike Devereaux and Ken Landreaux, both of whom played CF for the Dodgers.
#39
He forgot Maddux — how ’bout that?
Well, he did get hit in the head once.
I still have no idea how that “factoid” got on the air. I still maintain there’s no way that Chip just pulled that out of thin air. I remember some suggestions that maybe he did it as a joke, but what kind of lame joke is that? I almost don’t want to know the answer as it’s almost certainly not as interesting as the stupefying mystery.
I am wearing my Braves Journal shirt right now and have been a lot during the playoffs.
By the way, Mike Devereaux, the 1995 NLCS MVP, did this in our four-game sweep of the Reds:
4-13, 2 R, 1 HR, 5 RBI, 1 BB, .308/.357/.615
Rosario has done this in four games against L.A.:
10-17, 5 R, 2 HR, 6 RBI, 2 BB, .588/.632/1.059
#49
Both of them were trade-deadline acquisitions.
I do think it’s curious why they’re playing Lux in CF when they have other guys in the lineup who have more experience in CF.
Nice article on Matzek.
@51, basically, because they want Lux’s bat in the lineup and the infield is too crowded.
I assume the Dodgers will go: Knebel SP, W Smith C, Pujols 1B, Turner 2B, Taylor 3B, Seager SS, Pollock LF, Bellinger CF, Betts RF
I don’t understand why Lux doesn’t play 3B? Taylor can play a better CF.
55 – Well I’m just guessing on tonight’s lineup, but I’m thinking Lux starts on the bench with Fried in there since he is a lefty.
Or Lux at 1b and Bellinger in CF. Or Lux in left and Pollack in CF.
I think Dave Roberts has really mismanaged his pitching staff this series. I mean, they don’t even have a bulk pitcher available tonight unless they bring back Scherzer on short rest, which seems bad considering he said he was exhausted after pitching on short rest last time.
#56 & #57
This lineup carousel reminds me of something the Phillies would do under Gabe Kapler.
@51 & 53, I haven’t followed the Dodgers closely enough to know, but are all their 2b/3b/cf and 1b/cf/ss types outstanding defenders at all their positions, or are they more like basketball “tweeners” who are not ideally suited for any of their positions but good enough (like Duvall in cf) at all of them in a high-strikeout environment where there aren’t as many balls in play? I can see the value of the flexibility, but the defensive tradeoffs have shown up in this series (or maybe it’s just bad luck). Lux’s error on Riley’s ball, Seager not handling Rosario’s game 2-winning smash, even Betts making an error in cf and kicking Rosario’s triple in rf. On the other hand, Bellinger made a catch on a ball behind first that showed why he’s a cf.
I guess on Lux in particular, if they had thought about the possibility of needing a LH 1b in case Muncy was out, they would’ve given him an opportunity to play first sometimes (he’s 6’2″). As is, both he and Bellinger (who’s 6’4″) are playing unfamiliar positions. (Edit: written before I saw the last several messages.)
@57, Agreed. Using Scherzer to close out the Giants led to a bullpen game in game 1 and 5, to Scherzer lasting 4 1/3 in game 2 and using Urias, then to having to ride out an ineffective Urias in game 4, even down 2 games to 1, because he’s set up for another bullpen game.
@46: lol.
@57
And if they do bring back Scherzer today, they have no one to pitch Game 6. Unless they bring back Buehler on short rest, in which case they have no one to pitch Game 7. Unless they bring Urias back on short rest (I’m assuming they would have to if they go this deep into this hypothetical), in which case that’s been going well so far.
Long story short, Roberts has done an excellent job of eviscerating his own pitching staff. Maybe one or two instances couldn’t be helped (he had to win the Wild Card game, for instance), but a lot of it has been extremely self-inflicted.
They say you can never have enough starting pitching. The Dodgers probably felt Kershaw, Scherzer, Bauer, Urias and Buehler were enough. I know I would. (Admittedly, Scherzer is really a replacement for Bauer.) In the olden days, the Dodgers could have made some kind of waiver deal to replace Kershaw. But one of the problems with being the Dodgers is that you’re paying your front-line pitching too much to run the Albuquerque Shuttle and have someone like Bryse Wilson [although maybe Evan Phillips is the equivalent of Bryse Wilson] to at least give you some innings. But really, (he says from complete ignorance) do the Dodgers not have any AAA starting pitching they might trust to keep from screwing up the guys they’re paying hundreds of millions of dollars to? [To be fair, it’s really the same question I have about Kyle Muller’s absence from the Braves’ roster.]
@59 to add to the pile-on, Bellinger is a legit excellent CF.
Don’t forget that David Price is not an option.
They’re also missing Dustin May a lot.
Essentially, Roberts is used to being able to mess around with four or five potential starting pitchers during these playoff runs. This year, he’s got three. Problem is, he’s managing like he’s still got five.
I’ll sing you this October song,
Oh, there is no song before it.
The words and tune are none of my own,
For my joys and sorrows bore it.
@66: They lost Dustin May in May and knew he was gone for the season. Plenty of time to adjust.
Whoa! Jorge Soler is cleared and back on the roster for tonight’s game!
Pache is out, as was required. I’m not sure if he can come back if this series continues and there’s an injury, but he definitely could be back for the World Series (if we make it, not assuming anything, blah blah blah…).
Soler Power – a pretty good upgrade for the bench
@43 There’s a Bugs Bunny quote in there…. “What an ultra-maroon, what an im-becil, what a nincowpoop”
This is the one remaining game where we have a significant advantage. If the Dodgers survive today’s game and are able to start Scherzer/Buehler in games 6 and 7, they have a fighting chance. Need to make sure they don’t get that chance.
Joe Kelly is an interesting choice. We have done nothing with Kelly this series.
@70: Bugs was a ballplayer.
Mookie Betts, in the pregame show, just sounded as defeated as I’ve ever heard a ballplayer sound, describing how the pitching situation and their bats just not being hot made this year and series different from last year.
@71. Well, I don’t think our home-field advantage in Games 6 and 7 is nothing.
@74 Yep, it sounded like he had already conceded. Weird. Also talked about their injuries as if the Braves haven’t had injuries.
@71, @75
I think we are definitely still a favorite to win one of two at home, but tonight we /have/ to be a significant favorite with Max going against their bullpen.
That’s an out by Rosario, but I will never say no to that hard contact.
beautiful
Freddie Destructo!
Freddie seems ok now.
Keep the boot on their throats.
Seeing Freddie like this just makes me happy. I still have some bad memories of injured Freddie, impotent in the playoffs.
This is gonna take forever.
Annoncers: Kelly looks great, all pitches are working.
3 pitches later, Albies 1B, FF HR….
10 pitches later, Kelly removed due to injury.
Nice jinx, booth!
@85 I mean, I’m concerned that the injury thing is kinda weird. Usually if you get removed for injury they wanna treat you, not have you in the dugout?
@86 maybe they wanted to quasi cheat like the astros to get infinite warm up time? The timing was really suspect.
And here go the talking heads feeling sorry about the dodgers pitching injuries. Oh, woe is them!
What happened to May? He was injured…in May.
What happened to david price? He was left off the roster….ouch, that must have hurt.
Speaking of injury, keep an eye on TDA
Roberts gonna Roberts. And I don’t blame the announcers too much – that is one hell of a rotation on the shelf.
Hanger after hanger
Come on Max!
Varsity, you got this.
Two hits given up because of the shift
Max is in for the long haul. Suck it up and let the offense get your back.
Max = no bueno against the dodgers. His only other loss in his last 13 starts was right here in this stadium, too. And by no bueno I mean not up to his usual standard.
@88 the pitching injuries aren’t really an excuse for the dodgers having to have 2 bullpen games so far. It really has been mismanagement. Kershaw was the only injury close to playoff time.
everything going wrong
Fried’s command just isn’t there tonight.
That could have been a lot worse.
A LOT worse. Simmer down now.
Really hope Max can settle in. It’s not in the script for him to have to get pulled early.
My wife doesn’t watch baseball much and doesn’t often complain about announcers. Her first comment was “Those announcers really want the Dodgers to win.”
Radio guys say that Max may be tipping pitches. Dodgers’ bat boy may be relaying info to batters. Spy vs. Spy.
Other than that, Max can’t locate his fastball.
Get him out. He obviously doesn’t have it.
Get Max out please!!
Ugh, I am going to be so pissed at you guys if you got me to stop being negative only for ATL sports to happen again.
@105 yeah, the announcers have been unbearable.
Dodgers announcers are sooooooo excited…..they can shove it.
Gotta be his last hitter…….oh no.
oh…ok
He’s been getting dinked and doinked to death this inning. But his command isn’t to where he can just put them away. And he’s nibbling a bit, which I wouldn’t have expected. That strikeout of Bellinger was absolutely awesome — challenged him up with gas. He hasn’t been doing that enough today.
Morton battled out; I’d just as soon see Fried get a chance as to get into the bullpen so early.
Maybe one more hit and he’s done.
Apparently hibernation mode began after our third hitter of the game
Don’t like the gameplan from TDA and Fried tonight. Too many fastballs in to righties. Like to see him establish the curveball and pitch backwards.
@109 do you remember how badly these guys did against the bullpen game 1? It was a miracle they won that one.
Graterol needs to take a 100+mph line drive off his fat gut for excessive celebration.
Like I said, leave Max in there……..ahem…..
Need runs!
This ump has been a return to awful. Every single game has been in favor of the dodgers, but the game 4 guy called it the closest to fair.
4 more innings and LA still has Knebel, Treinen, and Jansen. And Graterol could even go another inning. About as good as the Dodgers could have hoped. Hopefully we got another comeback in us.
Tough to be effective when your secondary stuff is nowhere near the zone all night. Hitters are just too good. We got 12 more outs, need to put together some better ABs.
Woof.
Another questionable pitch call by TDA. Not a fan.
Nice pitching change there. Use dylan lee and the other bottom guys. See ya in Atlanta.
And this is going to eat away for a second consecutive year at Fried. Choked again, worse than in 2020.
Two years ago half of Braves country was convinced the absence of Chris Martin was all that kept them from the World Series. What if this year the PRESENCE of Chris Martin keeps them from the World Series?
Chris Martin doing Chris Martin things
@119 Well if the braves don’t make it to the WS, we already have someone to blame, and it is Luke Jackson who prevented 4-0.
So we’re back to the Bellinger home run deciding the series, even though we won the next night. And Max Fried is now a choker. Got it. Go to bed, Carl.
Why in the blue hell would Dave Roberts bat Graterol and then take him out of the game?
@121-Man, I still don’t think Luke made a bad pitch. It was where he was trying to go. Maybe a bad pitch call, but it was out of the zone.
NOW a theme I can get on board with is the amount of 2-strike hits they seem to be giving up to the Dodgers. Good approach by LA no doubt, but wonder if there is something to Braves pitchers not sealing the deal? Lack of killer ‘out’ pitch?
Footy used to be the king of 2-strike hits. Dude just couldn’t put them away.
I swear our hitters have swung at everything tonight, especially early
@122 just pure math, buddy. If the braves don’t make it, we need to find one win that was lost. RIGHT NOW, we need only look back at that, which cost them a game. Chris Martin, even with all his missteps, is not responsible for a braves loss, as per the original statement.
@124 I don’t have an issue with Luke, read the above. And yes, giving up 0-2 hits has been an issue all season, don’t know if TDA is responsible.
Notice I said IF the braves don’t make it, and not when the braves don’t make it. That is not pessimist at all.
Look at Fried last year, he knows what happened, and take a look tonight; choking is a possible way of calling it.
@124
He did. Neither Snitker nor Luke did anything wrong. They just beat us and we bounced back from it last night. Why anyone would still be thinking about that play is beyond me. Unless you’re just looking for negative crap to say, and it being Carl…
Rosario is as locked in as you can be.
I can’t deal with negative right now.
Glad to see Lee in there. I would love to see if he can go more than one.
I know it doesn’t matter now, but they are obliterating the shift. Might need to back off that on Saturday
I’m just about done with the shift with two strikes.
Darling, “I’d like to see a steal here”.
I say, “stuff it”.
@127 go back to 119 and get some reading comprehension, buddy. All this conversation was just a hypothetical. Luke has a worse WPA than Martin, backing up my claim if we have to find someone regarding the original statement.
I will watch 6 and 7 (if needed) this year which says a bit for my overall positivity.
I think your game frustration tonight might be causing you to read more into my comments than was meant. I’ve been on bravesjournal for a long enough time that I remember you and Chief being the resident curmudgeons.
I think Ron Darling has been a bit unfairly pilloried. Emphasis on a bit, but that’s not saying much given the beating he’s taking on social media this week. I don’t think he’s actually rooting for the Dodgers. More likely, he just knows more about them probably having done more of their games this year and having worked every single one of their games all postseason. Also, he may be trying to offset Frenchy and miscalculating how neutral Frenchy has played it in this series.
The thing he does that is super annoying, though, is the constant vocal exclamations when something happens. It was so insufferable in the first three games that I’m surprised Brian Anderson (who he kept talking over while doing it) didn’t throw him right out of the booth head first. I think he got told to knock it off after Game 3, as he’s done it less in the next two games. However, he’s still doing it occasionally. And it’s still annoying.
No reason to complain about our pitching when our offense is being dominated. I’d rather face Scherzer than their ‘bullpen game’. Their pen is filthy.
Be nice, guys.
If the score doesn’t improve, I’d put in Contreras for the bottom of the 8th in case TdA’s thumb is a problem for the weekend. Let Soler PH and play right as well.
I hear that Dodgers team is pretty good.
No need for scapegoating or misery. I said after Game 3 “Braves go 2-2 and advance to World Series”. That’s still on the table with Ian Anderson and Playoff Charlie on tap.
This Braves team is pretty good too.
SOLER!!!!
Welp, at least the good relievers are getting a night off and we get to finish it off tomorrow night in Atlanta.
Well, I do not believe we should have much interest in this end of the bullpen seeing any time the rest of the series.
UPDATE: Or essentially what CindyJ just said.
Matzek could use a night off, I’m sure. I hope Freddie doesn’t mind.
Dodgers take the lead in run-differential. I’d rather have the lead in wins.
Well we have a long flight back and a long off day to stew on this. Honestly I think it’s better to lose a laugher than a heartbreaker. Get mad and come out and beat their asses Saturday.
Dylan Lee looked pretty good except for the gopher ball. Let’s score a few runs in the 9th. We won’t win, but it’s good to know we aren’t giving up. Of course when the ump calls a strike on a ball that isn’t even close it makes it tough.
Braves got to have a short memory again when they play on Saturday. Hopefully the dodger bats used all their bullets tonight.
Recapped.