Anderson, Braves shut down Marlins, take 2-0 lead
Rookie Ian Anderson pitched like an October veteran. Old pro Nick Markakis threw the best strike of the game. And just like that, the Atlanta Braves are on the verge of something they haven’t done since the days of Chipper, the Big Three and Bobby Cox.
Anderson blanked Miami into the sixth inning, Markakis made a nifty play in right field to help preserve the lead late, and the Braves threw another playoff shutout in a 2-0 victory Wednesday for a 2-0 lead in the NL Division Series.
The Braves have pitched three shutouts in four games during this year’s playoffs. They’re just the third team in MLB history to toss three shutouts in the first four games of a postseason, joining the 1966 Baltimore Orioles and the 1905 New York Giants.
Travis d’Arnaud and Dansby Swanson each homered for the second straight day, putting the Braves one win away from a sweep in the best-of-five matchup. Game 3 is today in Houston.
“It’s hard to bunch hits together, pitching is too good,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said. “Power, I think is something that plays in the postseason and was witnessed today.”
Atlanta hasn’t reached the NL Championship Series since 2001 when Chipper Jones, Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine and John Smoltz played under Cox.
The Braves have lost in the division series eight times since then, including in the last two seasons — a fact star slugger Freddie Freeman said put a chip on their shoulders entering this round.
Anderson scattered three hits and struck out eight over 5 2/3 innings. The lanky right-hander who made his major league debut in late August added to his impressive outing last week in the wild- card series when he fanned nine in six scoreless frames against Cincinnati. RAYS 8, YANKEES 4 >> Randy Arozarena homered for the third straight game and Kevin Kiermaier and Michael Perez also went deep as Tampa Bay moved within one victory of reaching the AL Championship Series.
New York’s Giancarlo Stanton hit a two-run homer off rookie Shane McClanahan to center field in the eighth inning to become the first player with a home run in each of his team’s first five games of a single postseason.
The Rays took a 2-1 lead in the best-of-five Division Series. Game 4 is today at Petco Park, which has yielded 16 home runs in three games — nine by Tampa Bay.
MLB STARTS PROCESS OF TAKING OVER MINORS’ GOVERNANCE >> Major League Baseball is moving ahead with planning to eliminate the separate governing body of minor league baseball as part of a project to shrink affiliations from 160 to 120.
The Professional Baseball Agreement between MLB and the National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues expired Sept. 30 without a successor deal following a year of acrimonious negotiations. The National Association was founded in 1901 and Pat O’Conner, the National Association president for the past 13 years, last month announced his retirement effective Dec. 31. The National Association office has been in St. Petersburg, Florida, and MLB intends to move minor league governance to the commissioner’s office in New York.