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Sunday, October 31, 2021
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Braves win Game 4, can clinch Series TONIGHT
  The Atlanta Braves are one win away from winning the World Series.
Just saying that out loud should, theoretically, make Atlanta fans nervous. This is the Braves' 17th trip to the postseason since winning their last World Series in 1995, but despite some excruciating near misses -- from the 2-0 lead in the 1996 Fall Classic to a 3-1 NLCS lead last year -- they have never been as close to another ring as they are right now. There has been so much pain and frustration that you'd think Braves fans, being this close, would be hiding under their chairs.
But I don't think they are. I think they can smell it.
Saturday night's 3-2 win over the Astros could have -- should have, really -- been a loss for them. They started a guy (Dylan Lee) who has thrown two career regular season innings, against one of the best-hitting teams in baseball, and he only got one out. They were behind 2-0 in the bottom of the sixth, facing the meat of the Astros bullpen, rested for this exact situation. A raucous, downright rowdy crowd had been waiting all night, in vain, to scream. Heading into the Series, Game 4 was going to be a problem for the Braves. Maybe this just wasn't their night.
And then, in the seventh inning, Dansby Swanson and Jorge Soler sent Truist Park to the moon. The thing is: You got a sense the crowd knew this was coming the whole time.
There are many reasons to believe the Astros -- despite a 3-1 Series deficit -- aren't out of this yet. The Braves have another bullpen game tonight; the Astros get to start Framber Valdez, who may have struggled in his first start but is still not named "bullpen game." The Astros hitters are seemingly too skilled to remain this quiet much longer. This is still the team that the vast majority of analysts predicted to win this Series in the first place -- these guys are good.
But even with 25 years of groans and heartache in their rearview mirror, it was clear Saturday, that Braves fans really do think it's going to be different this time. That something special is happening. That this is the year.
They're either wrong, and they're about to suffer the worst Lucy-yanks-the-football moment in their history … or, well, look at that: The Atlanta Braves are one win away from winning the World Series. -- Will Leitch
This morning's top news   (1-3) World Series Gm 5 Houston @ Atlanta Truist Park | 8:15 pm ET   (3-1)
Projected Lineups:  Framber Valdez, LHP #59 11-6 | 3.14 ERA | 125 K Postseason: 1-1 | 6.35 | 15K 
Braves starting pitcher TBD
1. J. Altuve, 2B 2. M. Brantley, RF 3. A. Bregman, 3B 4. Y. Alvarez, LF 5. C. Correa, SS 6. K. Tucker, CF 7. Y. Gurriel, 1B 8. M. Maldonado, C 9. F. Valdez, P
1. E. Rosario, LF 2. F. Freeman, 1B 3. O. Albies, 2B 4. A. Riley, 3B 5. J. Soler, RF 6. A. Duvall, CF 7. T. d'Arnaud, C 8. D. Swanson, SS 9. TBD, P
Who's hot and who's not?  Braves: Travis d'Arnaud has gone 5-for-12 with two homers through the first four games of the World Series. Eddie Rosario has hit .426 with a 1.160 OPS this postseason. Freddie Freeman has a .947 OPS through 14 playoff games.
Astros: The only hot bat is Kyle Tucker's. He had two hits in Game 4 and is 5-for-15 in the World Series. Michael Brantley (6-for-17) has also swung the bat well, but pretty much every other regular player has been in a Fall Classic funk. Jose Altuve is 4-for-18, though he had two hits (including a homer) in Game 4. Then it gets ugly. Carlos Correa (2-for-14), Yordan Alvarez (1-for-11), Yuli Gurriel (3-for-15) and Alex Bregman (1-for-14) are a combined 7-for-54.
A few more things to see ...   Eddie Rosario sent the crowd into a frenzy with a sideways, backhanded catch before crashing into the left-field wall to rob Jose Altuve of extra bases and end the top of the eighth inning.  Fans can vote for the 2021 Willie Mays World Series Most Valuable Player presented by Chevrolet starting in the sixth inning.  The Astros are trying to join 14 other clubs that have rallied to win three straight and clinch a postseason series.  Eleven years after being diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer, Elizabeth O'Connor threw out the first pitch at the World Series.  Myles Straw played 98 games for Houston before being traded to Cleveland, so he wanted to catch up before Game 4.  With his second home run of this World Series, Jose Altuve took sole possession of second place on the all-time postseason homers list.  Will the Braves clinch their first title since 1995? Join MLB Network for live coverage, starting today at 3 p.m. ET.  World Series Game 4 Recap
 Today's Trivia Question Before Jorge Soler last night, who was the last player to hit a go-ahead pinch-hit homer in the World Series?  © 2021 MLB Advanced Media, L.P. MLB trademarks and copyrights are used with permission of Major League Baseball. Visit MLB.com. Any other marks used herein are trademarks of their respective owners. |
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