I assume you all watched it, so you know the Dodgers defeated the Braves 3-1, taking a 2-1 lead in this best of 5 series.
JonathanF said before the game that this was a matchup between two of the top three pitchers in the league. I love Chris Sale; he’s a no doubt hall of famer, and I hope he pitches several more seasons for our Braves. Tonight Chris was just a little off. It was a combination of not having his very best command and the Dodgers having a very good approach.
“Admiral” Yamamoto is pretty remarkable himself. When he commands the fastball (which he almost always does), it makes his wipeout splitter and curveball practically unhittable. The Braves’ batters haven’t done much this series, and Skubal and Yamamoto are a big part of the reason. They just need to find a way to start hitting long fly balls instead of grounders. Also, take Roger’s advice and score at least five runs.
Let’s hear it for the Braves bullpen. Dodd, Lee, Suter, and Iglesias held them scoreless on just one hit over four innings. These guys, plus Kerr and Fuentes, keep giving us a chance to win. Even in the two losses, the Braves had the tying run at the plate when it ended.
The Dodgers have several good role players. Kike Hernandez’s role is to hit home runs in the postseason. Kike’s been with the Dodgers since 2015, with a couple of years exile in Boston before returning to LA. Throughout, he’s been just a role player in the regular season, but always comes up big in October. Freddie Freeman’s role is to torture his ex-teammates. Freeman hit only one home run in the regular season after the ASB. In three games against the Braves in this series, he’s hit three—although Mauricio Dubon made a terrific catch that brought one of those back. Is there just a little part of me that feels good for Freeman, since he was such a big part of this franchise for over a decade? No, there is not.
To advance to the NLCS, all the Braves have to do is win two more ballgames. I realize some may believe that’s an insurmountable task. But it’s not; odds are about one in four, if you assume you have a 50% chance against each of Tyler Glasnow and Tariq Skubal. Glasnow is good, but I like our Tyler. Skubal is tough, but the Braves have Ray Kerr. Might as well believe. I guess the alternative is to proclaim loudly that it’s hopeless. If the Dodgers do win this series, you’ll at least have the satisfaction of being right. As for me, I’m looking forward to the exhilaration of overcoming the odds and crushing this blue monster.
Acuña did not speak with media after the game, per the beat.
Yes, we need to score more, but sometimes you just face a really good pitcher and the only way to win is to pitch a little better and win 1-0 or 2-1. We didn’t do that.
I think there’s a good chance we win tomorrow and send it back to LA. And then anything can happen.
I take no pride in being a negative Nancy, it was the braves themselves who made me this way. Being the best record in baseball only to get trounced by cold bats, Eric gregg, leyritz, Lonnie smith, infield flies, or a dozen other stupid things.
I’ll tell you one thing: I did NOT watch the world series in 2021. I was afraid of jinxing it, and only watched it on YouTube, (many times), right after the series was over. Obviously jinxes are (probably) not a thing, but I will try it again the rest of this series to see if it works. See you all in the NLCS, hopefully.
I feel it too. The reason I prefer the regular season to the postseason is that so many stupid random things have cost our team in October over the years. The playoffs are a crapshoot, but our luck never seems to even out.
I’m not necessarily referring to this series right now. The Dodgers are really good. But having a Cy Young pitcher start every game for your team doesn’t guarantee victory, as Braves fans from the 90’s know all too well.
FWIW, I’m going to have to miss most or all of tomorrow’s game. I have something I must do from 6:00 to 8:30. If the Braves win, it might be because I didn’t watch, so perhaps I should not watch on Friday either. Nah—I’ll be right there with them every pitch. I’ll take the chance that a loss would be my fault.