After losing Game 2 in Houston 7-2, the series comes to Atlanta for the next three games. The Braves are currently 5-0 in games played in Truist Park this postseason, so hopefully, they can keep that up tonight. Ian Anderson will be toeing the rubber for the Braves, while Luis Garcia will be on the mound for the Astros.
The Starters
Ian Anderson
Season:
24 Starts; 9-5
3.58 ERA
1.231 WHIP
2.34 SO/W
Postseason:
7 Starts; 3-0
1.47 ERA
1.109 WHIP
2.57 SO/W
Luis Garcia
Season:
30 Games (28 Starts); 11-8
3.30 ERA
1.172 WHIP
3.34 SO/W
Postseason:
4 Starts; 1-1
7.94 ERA
1.500 WHIP
2.25 SO/W
Both starters are coming off of great starts against their League Championship Series opponents. Ian Anderson went four innings, allowing one run on three hits and a walk, with four strikeouts. I fully believe that he could have gone at least six innings with the way he was pitching, but with his spot in the order up, Brian Snitker rolled the dice by pinch-hitting for Anderson, and the rest is history. With five days rest, he should be fully rested, and with him pitching at home, he should be in an excellent position to throw a good game.
Luis Garcia went 5.2 innings against the Boston Red Sox, only allowing a hit and a walk, while striking out seven. However, with Garcia, it is a tale of two pitchers. In his previous two postseason starts, he allowed 10 total runs over only 3.2 innings and quickly put Houston behind the 8-ball in those games. In reality, he is probably somewhere in between, as he had a decent ERA in the regular season. History shows, though, that good regular seasons do not always equal postseason success (i.e., Clayton Kershaw).
The Bullpens
Braves:
Season:
3.97 ERA
1.320 WHIP
.241 AVG
Postseason:
3.42 ERA
1.220 WHIP
.228 AVG
Astros:
Season:
4.06 ERA
1.300 WHIP
.230 AVG
Postseason:
2.95 ERA
1.110 WHIP
.215 AVG
Max Fried saved the bullpen by going five innings on Wednesday. After the atrocious first two frames, it looked like Snitker was going to have to go to his bullpen early, even after Game 1 when their high leverage relievers had to work multiple innings. He turned to his lower leverage guys since the Braves were already down several runs, which might have actually worked out for the best, though. Now, the aces in Atlanta’s bullpen are fully rested for the weekend.
The Astros were able to get length from Jose Urquidy after using a lot of the bullpen in Game 1. They still had to work a good bit in Game 2, but it was a lower leverage situation. They should all be rested for tonight’s contest.
The Lineups
Braves:
Eddie Rosario: .259/.305/.435; .740 OPS; 14 HR; 62 RBI; 11 SB
Freddie Freeman: .300/.393/.503; .896 OPS; 31 HR; 83 RBI; 8 SB
Ozzie Albies: .259/.310/.488; .799 OPS; 30 HR; 106 RBI; 20 SB
Austin Riley: .303/.367/.531; .898 OPS; 33 HR; 107 RBI
Jorge Soler: .223/.316/.432; .749 OPS; 27 HR; 70 RBI
Adam Duvall: .228/.281/.491; .772 OPS; 38 HR; 113 RBI; 5 SB
Joc Pederson: .238/.310/.422; .732 OPS; 18 HR; 61 RBI; 2 SB
Dansby Swanson: .248/.311/.449: .760 OPS; 27 HR; 88 RBI; 9 SB
Travis d’Arnaud: .220/.284/.388; .671 OPS; 7 HR; 26 RBI
Bench:
Guillermo Heredia: .220/.311/.354; .665 OPS; 5 HR; 26 RBI
Ehire Adrianza: .247/.327/.401; .728 OPS; 5 HR; 28 RBI
William Contreras: .215/.303/.399; .701 OPS; 8 HR; 23 RBI
Orlando Arcia: .198/.258/.309; .567 OPS; 2 HR; 14 RBI; SB
Terrance Gore: (AAA) .232/.361/.319; .680 OPS; RBI; 18 SB
Astros:
Jose Altuve: .278/.350/.489; .839 OPS; 31 HR; 83 RBI; 5 SB
Michael Brantley: .311/.362/.437; .799 OPS; 8 HR; 47 RBI; 1 SB
Alex Bregman: .270/.355/.422; .777 OPS; 12 HR; 55 RBI; 1 SB
Yordan Alvarez: .277/.346/.531; .877 OPS; 33 HR; 104 RBI; 1 SB
Carlos Correa: .279/.366/.485; .850 OPS; 26 HR; 92 RBI
Kyle Tucker: .294/.359/.557; .917 OPS; 30 HR; 92 RBI; 14 SB
Yuli Gurriel: .319/.383/.462; .846 OPS; 15 HR; 81 RBI; 1 SB
Chas McCormick: .257/.319/.447; .766 OPS; 14 HR; 50 RBI; 4 SB
MartÃn Maldonado: .172/.272/.300; .573 OPS; 12 HR; 36 RBI
Bench:
Jason Castro: .235/.356/.443; .799 OPS; 8 HR; 21 RBI
Aledmys DÃaz: .259/.317/.405; .721 OPS; 8 HR; 45 RBI
Jake Meyers: .260/.323/.438; .761 OPS; 6 HR; 28 RBI
Jose Siri: .304/.347/.609; .956 OPS; 4 HR; 9 RBI; 3 SB
As it turns out, Eddie Rosario is human. He went 0-for-4 on Wednesday, snapping an 11-game hitting streak. Travis d’Arnaud was the only Braves bat with multiple hits, recording a single and a homer. With the lack of success, Snitker might look to re-order his lineup going into tonight. Our own Sam Peebles wrote about what that lineup might look like.
Jose Altuve and the rest of the Astros hitters woke up, much to the detriment of the Braves pitching staff. Dusty Baker has stuck with the same lineup all postseason long, and it has gotten him this far, so don’t expect him to change anything.
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