The Atlanta Braves Win Game 4; One Win Away from a Championship

The Atlanta Braves win game 4 3-2 over the Houston Astros and now are one win away from a championship.

The 2021 Atlanta Braves season has been a wild ride. It has been filled with plenty of ups and downs and now they are one win away from winning the World Series.

It did not come easily, as the Braves faced Zack Greinke for the Astros. While Greinke is not the same guy from years past, he is still a legend. He is currently third in active WAR leaders (73.1) behind Mike Trout and Albert Pujols, and he is third in active pitching WAR (68.0) behind Justin Verlander and Clayton Kershaw.

Throw out the 2021 numbers when Greinke stepped on the mound, as he turned back the clock for four innings, scattering four singles and striking out three, while keeping the Braves off the scoreboard. He had 12 swings and misses through four innings, so he did a great job of fooling the Braves.

This was worrisome because the Braves knew they were going to have to piece together game 4 with the bullpen. They turned to Dylan Lee to open, and Lee was unfortunately not sharp.

In his first career big league start — and first start since A ball — Lee only got one out, allowing 1 hit, 2 walks, and 2 runs. He did also add a strikeout and in fairness, his borderline pitches didn’t get the attention of home plate ump Dan Bellino.

Out of the bullpen to relieve Lee was Vanderbilt alum Kyle Wright. Wright looked good in an inning of relief in game 2 but has mostly struggled in his time in the big leagues. Entering with the bases loaded, it could have gotten away from him, but he got a fielder’s choice and a huge strikeout to limit the damage to 1 run.

Wright navigated a total of 4.2 innings, scattering 5 hits, 3 walks, 3 strikeouts,  while allowing only one run thanks to a Jose Altuve home run in the 4th inning. The Braves needed someone to step up to eat innings, and Wright did that and pitched well enough to give the Braves a shot to get to the “Night Shift.”

The Braves scored in the 6th inning thanks to an Austin Riley RBI single to drive in Eddie Rosario.

The 7th inning saw a Dansby Swanson opposite field home run on an 0-2 count to tie the game at 2 runs apiece. The momentum was shifting, and it was thanks to another Vandy boy.

Stepping up next was pinch-hitter Jorge Soler, who sat in favor of Joc Pederson tonight. It was not much longer until Soler hit a home run that would give the Braves the third run they needed to take their first lead of the night at 3-2… a score that would hold for the Braves to win game 4.

Reminder:  the Braves only needed to trade Kasey Kalich to acquire Jorge Soler. Soler not only gave the Braves the lead but became a part of history in the process.

That 3-2 score held up thanks to the Braves bullpen better known as the “Night Shift.” Chris Martin, Tyler Matzek, Luke Jackson, and Will Smith combined for four scoreless innings, allowing only two baserunners on two hits and striking out three to give the Braves a 3-1 lead in the World Series.

The Job Is Not Finished

Tonight, was fun and will go down as the “Kyle Wright Game” and rightfully so. Hopefully, that start will finally give Wright the confidence he needs to understand he belongs at this level.

However, that game will lose some meaning if the Braves do not finish it out.

There is a lot of discussion about how the Braves will go about this next game.

There was some speculation that the team would want to use Max Fried on short rest at home, but now being up 3-1, they may choose to allow him to rest up and save him for game 6.

If they do not go with Fried, then Tucker Davidson and Drew Smyly become relevant as the long men that can give the Braves length out of the “arm barn.” There is also the possibility of Jesse Chavez or A.J. Minter being used as an opener as they were not used in game 4 out of the pen.

SUNDAY UPDATE:

Either way, I look back on this season and I am amazed to see this team where they are:  just one game from a championship.

This team lost one of the best players in baseball in Ronald Acuña Jr., never had Mike Soroka throw a pitch, lost Travis d’Arnaud for half the season and were forced to piece together the catching position, lost an outfielder to a legal issue, and did not get over .500 until August 5th.

Credit to Brian Snitker, Alex Anthopolous, and the rest of the Braves staff, they made lemonade out of lemons and now are a game away from a championship.

The job is not finished yet, we need one more win, but the 2021 Atlanta Braves will go down as one of the more memorable teams of my lifetime. Maybe, just maybe, they really are the team of destiny.

Only time will tell.