Bryse Wilson dazzles, and the Braves are one win away from the World Series

Bryse Wilson, you mullet-rocking beautiful human being; I’ll be the first person to apologize.

After Game 3’s embarrassing loss in which the Braves gave up 11 runs in the first inning, the last thing I thought Brian Snitker should do was start Bryse Wilson, who had a total of 42.2 innings pitched in his major league career and a 5.91 ERA. I wrote about it; I preached about it on Twitter and other platforms, and I am so happy Wilson forced me to put a sock in my mouth.

There’s nothing really else to say. In the biggest game of his baseball career, Bryse Wilson ignored the haters and pitched the best game of his life. He set the Dodgers down in order in the first two innings, but in the third, Edwin Rios struck with a home run to lead off the inning. It’s fair to say every Braves fan around the country rolled their eyes and said, “Here we go again.” However, Wilson took it on the chin and kept attacking the Dodgers, who failed to come up with answers.

The Braves couldn’t either, though, at least for three innings, but in the bottom of the fourth, Marcell Ozuna got things started, tying the game with a 422-foot home run into the left-field bleachers. Wilson would continue to dominate for the next two innings, and finally, the Braves broke through in the bottom half of the sixth inning.

Ronald Acuña got the rally started with an infield hit. Freddie Freeman brought him in with an RBI double, and then, the floodgates opened. Marcell Ozuna stretched the lead to two with a double; Swanson added two more to it with a single to center, and then Riley and Pache added another two with back-to-back singles. In the blink of an eye, the Braves led by six.

The Dodgers threatened in the seventh, scoring one and loading the bases, but Chris Martin was able to force Will Smith to line out, ending the inning. After that, it was smooth sailing.

Ozuna homered again in the bottom half of the inning, stretching the lead back to six. And the Braves added two more in the eighth, courtesy of a Freddie Freeman single and another Marcell Ozuna knock.

With the Braves up eight, Shane Greene came into to shut the door and pitched a perfect ninth, giving Atlanta a 3-1 series lead.

For the Braves, the gameplan worked to absolute perfection, and I was very critical of Brian Snitker for starting Bryse Wilson. I thought it was a miserable matchup, and it didn’t give the team much of a chance to win. I was wrong, and I want to give credit to Snitker for trusting his guys and Wilson for outdueling a three-time Cy Young award winner in the biggest game of his life. Both of those guys didn’t let the pressure affect them, and it has given the Braves a golden opportunity to make it to the World Series for the first time since 1999.