San Francisco Chronicle - (Sunday)
Unlikely bats have Atlanta on brink of championship
ATLANTA — A guy who spent most of the season in the minors kept the Braves in it. Then the offense finally came to life.
Just like that, Atlanta is one win from its first World Series title in 26 years.
Dansby Swanson and pinchhitter 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 3-1 Series lead.
Game 5 is Sunday night. The Braves can wrap up the championship on their home field, just as they did two stadiums ago when they beat the Cleveland Indians in 1995.
“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 26 years 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.
A huge shout-out goes to a most unlikely hero.
Former first-round draft pick Kyle Wright, who has largely been a huge disappointment in repeated chances with the Braves, turned in 42⁄3 gritty innings out of the bullpen after surprise starter Dylan Lee retired only one hitter.
The Braves’ pitching was in a bit of disarray after Game 1 starter Charlie Morton was lost for the rest of the Series with a broken leg, so manager Brian Snitker went with a bullpen game.
Wright was hardly overpowering, giving up five hits — including a 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 a semblance of hope until the offense woke up and Atlanta improved to 7-0 at home this postseason.
“Just so poised,” Swanson said. “This is really a big level, and, man, he was awesome.”
Then, 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 then engineered the first lead change of the entire Series in the seventh. Facing Cristian Javier, Swanson went the opposite way for a homer that tied the game at 2-2, the ball hit so hard that it ricocheted off the tabled section in the rightfield stands and rolled all the way back to the infield.
The celebration had barely simmered down when Soler stepped to the plate as a pinchhitter. On a 2-1 pitch from Javier, he got hold of a hanging slider and drove it into the Astros’ bullpen in left, Yordan Alvarez hanging helplessly over the fence as the ball sailed over his head.
Luke Jackson worked a scoreless eighth, getting a great catch from Rosario slamming into the left-field wall that Soler homered over, and Will Smith worked a 1-2-3 ninth for his sixth save in six chances this postseason.
The Astros could only kick themselves for squandering countless chances, going hitless in eight at-bats with runners in scoring position and leaving 11 on base overall.
“They say good pitching beats good hitting, and then when you don’t hit, they say what’s wrong?” Astros manager Dusty Baker said. “And they’ve been pitching good against us. They’ve been pitching great against us.”
After Altuve scored the Astros’ first run on a groundout by Carlos Correa in the first, Altuve went deep with one out in the fourth, launching a 434-foot drive over the center-field wall. It was his 23rd homer in 77 postseason games, which pushed him to sole possession of second place on the career list behind Manny Ramirez with 29.
Altuve had been tied with longtime New York Yankees outfielder Bernie Williams.