Atlanta Braves: Foltynewicz looks to shut down Cards in decisive Game 5
By Steven Teal
The Atlanta Braves will have to play their best baseball on Wednesday evening as they take on St. Louis for a shot at the NLCS.
It has been an incredibly exciting and stressful first four games for the Atlanta Braves in the 2019 NLDS. Neither team has been willing to back down and fight until the final out is recorded.
There have been so many ups and downs in this series and that’s to be expected in a playoff series. However, the Atlanta Braves have also had many opportunities to take this series early.
So, how exactly did we find ourselves in a winner-take-all fifth game?
For one, the Braves bullpen crumbled after Dallas Keuchel held St. Louis to just 1 run in 4.2 innings, allowing the Cardinals to take an early series lead.
Luke Jackson and Mark Melancon combined to allow 6 runs across the final 2 innings of the game. Had they not allowed these runs, Atlanta would have likely won that game and taken the series by now.
As deflating as it was to come up short in the first game of the series, we all know how resilient this Braves team is. We have the pitching and offense to make a deep run in the playoffs.
Games 2 and 3 featured outstanding pitching from Atlanta starter’s Mike Foltynewicz and Mike Soroka.
Folty tossed seven shutout innings allowing just 3 hits and striking out 7 Cardinal batters. Adam Duvall and the Braves bullpen sealed that win for Atlanta.
Duvall hit a late 2-run homer off of Cardinals ace Jack Flaherty while Max Fried and Mark Melancon combined to strikeout 4 hitters in 2 innings of relief. This sent Atlanta to St. Louis with momentum on their side.
Mike Soroka allowed an early run in the bottom of the first inning to St. Louis but then bore down and provided the Atlanta Braves with 7 impressive innings in the third game of the NLDS.
The offense struggled to get anything going during this game as it took a 9th inning comeback to win game 3. That exciting comeback fueled by Dansby Swanson and Adam Duvall.
Atlanta took a 2-1 series lead into game 4 of the series with Keuchel looking to make his presence known in the postseason. Keuchel would struggle as the Cardinals tagged him for 3 runs in 3.1 innings pitched.
Ozzie Albies put the Braves up by a run with a 3-run homer in the 5th inning and it looked like the series was about to be over.
Unfortunately, the offense couldn’t come through with big add on runs as they went 0-for-9 with runners in scoring position.
Shane Greene gave up a game-tying hit to Yadier Molina while Julio Teheran allowed the walk-off hit to Molina to send us to a fifth game.
Mostly, the Braves have suffered from an unclutch offense and some bullpen struggles. The offense has gone 4-for-34 or a .118 average with runners in scoring position during the NLDS. That’s not a recipe for success whatsoever.