A “gut” decision on Friday to pull starting pitcher Ian Anderson after five no-hit innings paid off, Atlanta Braves manager Brian Snitker said after his team’s dominant 2-0 win over the Houston Astros in Game 3 of the World Series at Truist Park.
The 23-year-old had four strikeouts through the first five innings to the delight of the Atlanta crowd, as the city hosted a World Series game for the first time in more than two decades and faced the tantalizing prospect of a potential no-hitter.
Anderson had given his manager little cause for complaint, putting up the second-longest no-hit bid by a rookie in a World Series game, but Snitker nonetheless turned to the bullpen to start the sixth inning, a decision he later credited to his intuition.
Photo: AFP
“He’d thrown a lot of pitches in the top half of that lineup,” Snitker said in a post-game news conference. “I thought the fourth inning he really had to work to get through that. He had a really good fifth inning.”
“And I told him, because he was like: ‘Are you sure? Are you sure?’ But I was just like: ‘Ian, I’m going with my gut right here.’”
Atlanta fell short of a no-hitter, as the Astros were held to two hits, but the gut call paid off and the Braves ended the evening with a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven Fall Classic.
Photo: AFP
“You want the chance to compete, especially on the biggest stage like this is,” Anderson said. “I knew he wasn’t going to budge — it’s hard to ... you can’t blame him for going to those guys. Those guys time in and time out get it done. And you know they did it again tonight [Friday].”
Austin Riley and Travis d’Arnaud drove in the runs for Atlanta.
Pinch-hitter Aledmys Diaz blooped a single leading off the eighth inning against Tyler Matzek that dropped in front of Eddie Rosario for Houston’s first hit as the left fielder pulled up to avoid colliding with shortstop Dansby Swanson.
Alex Bregman grounded a single through the wide-open right side of a shifted infield leading off the ninth against Will Smith, who remained perfect in five save chances this post-season.
Anderson threw 76 pitches, and A.J. Minter, Luke Jackson, Matzek and Smith combined for the last 57 of the 18th two-hit shutout in Series history.
“He was effectively wild,” Astros manager Dusty Baker said of their opponents’ starter. “Our guys never could zero in on the strikes.”
Riley hit an RBI double in the third on a cutter from rookie Luis Garcia after Freddie Freeman singled, while D’Arnaud added his second Series homer in the eighth, a drive off Kendall Graveman that was D’Arnaud’s first long ball at home since September last year.
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