Braves move to brink of surprising title
ATLANTA — This Atlanta Braves team couldn’t have picked a more fitting way to move to the brink of a World Series championship.
A pitcher who spent most of the year in the minors kept ’em in it.
A slugger who came in a flurry of trades won it for ’em.
If this gritty bunch can do it one more time, the Braves will have their first Series title in 26 years.
Dansby Swanson and pinch-hitter Jorge Soler connected for back-to-back homers in the seventh inning Saturday night, propelling the Braves to a 3-2 victory over the Houston Astros and a commanding 3-1 Series lead.
Game 5 was underway at press time Sunday night. The Braves were looking to wrap up the championship on their home field, just as they did two stadiums ago when they beat the Cleveland Indians in 1995. They’ve been tough at home, taking a 7-0 postseason record into Game 5.
“It’s just such a cool moment for this city,” Swanson said. “But we’ve got one more. They’ve got a great ballclub over there and we can’t take anything for granted.”
That triumph more than a quarter-century ago at the old Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium remains the franchise’s only World Series crown since moving to the Deep South in 1966.
This is the closest the Braves have been to a second title since then. What an improbable crown it would be.
The Braves stumbled along at .500 or worse until Aug. 6. They had to rebuild their entire outfield before the July 30 trade deadline after Ronald Acuña Jr. went down with a knee injury and Marcell Ozuna was sidelined by a hand injury and legal troubles. They won the National League East with just 88 wins, the fewest of any of this year’s 10 playoff teams — and fewer even than two teams that didn’t make the postseason.
With former president Donald Trump watching from a private box down the right-field line, the Braves got a huge boost from a most unlikely player.
Former first-round draft pick Kyle Wright, who made only two appearances in the majors during a season spent mostly with Triple-A Gwinnett, got through 4 critical innings out of the bullpen after surprise starter Dylan Lee retired only one hitter.
Wright was hardly overpowering, giving up five hits — including a solo homer by Jose
Altuve in the fourth that staked the Astros to a 2-0 lead — and three walks. But he continually pitched out of trouble, giving the Braves hope until the offense woke up.
“He probably doesn’t realize what he did, how big it was,” Atlanta manager Brian Snitker said. “I’m so proud how he handled the situation.”
Wright has a career MLB record of 2-8 with a 6.56 earnedrun average. In two 2021 starts for the Braves, he was 0-1 with a 9.95 ERA.
“Honestly, I was a little lost,” he conceded. But he found himself just in the nick of time for the Braves.
In the sixth, Eddie Rosario became the first Atlanta hitter to get past first base with a one-out double off Brooks Raley.
Rosario wound up scoring on another clutch postseason hit by Austin Riley, who lined a two-out single to left against Phil Maton.
The Braves left the bases loaded, but they weren’t done. Just like that, they stunningly engineered the first lead change of the entire Series, with Swanson and Soler becoming the third duo in World Series history to hit back-to-back homers that tied and put a team ahead.
The first two guys to do it were named Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig.