Here’s what to look for as Astros-Braves World Series shifts to Atlanta
Through two games, the 2021 World Series scale has not tipped in either direction. The best-of-seven series has become a best-of-five as the teams descend on Truist Park for three battles in Atlanta’s home ballpark, with the series tied at one game apiece.
Game 3 should be a fairly straightforward baseball game, as both teams are rolling out traditional starting pitchers on normal rest. Luis Garcia will go for Houston against Ian Anderson for Atlanta. After that, things could get wonky. Neither team has announced their starter for Game 4, but plenty of signs point to Zack Greinke sharing a mound with an opener for Atlanta and a subsequent conveyor belt of relievers out of their bullpen.
Game 4 has a history of producing some weird and wild moments — Brett Phillips’ walk-off and Randy Arozarena’s adventure around the bases last year, Derek Jeter’s home run as the World Series calendar turned to November for the first time, the 15-14 game between the Blue Jays and Phillies in 1993 — and this year has the ingredients for another one.
In addition to wondering just who will start Games 4 and 5, the set of games in Cobb County this weekend features several scrumptious points of intrigue.
Breakouts coming for Yordan and Joc?
Yordan Alvarez hasn’t been bopping the ball like he did when he won ALCS MVP. One series after going nuclear at the plate (12 for 23 with five extra base hits and seven runs scored), Alvarez is mired in a mini slump. He started the World Series with a .200 batting average in his first two games and has one hit in seven plate appearances against left-handed pitching.
Alvarez is all but guaranteed to see lefties Drew Smyly, A.J. Minter, Dylan Lee, Tyler Matzek and Will Smith whenever Atlanta has a chance to throw them at him. A hulking presence in the left-handed batter’s box, Alvarez has historically fared very well against lefties. He hit .283 off them in the regular season and is .293 for his career, but with the shrunken sample size and increased pressure of the World Series, the conditions are harder for Alvarez to find that stroke again.
Joc Pederson is off to a slow start as well. He went 1 for 8 with three strikeouts and no walks in the juice box of Minute Maid Park. Pederson has regularly been hitting in the bottom third of the order, but that doesn’t mean his role on the team is insignificant. Apart from being somewhat of an emotional leader and martyr for people everywhere rocking pearls around their neck, Pederson’s presence gives pitchers one more powerful hurdle to clear before they can turn the lineup over.
One swing from Pederson can turn the tides of a game, especially if runners are on base. If Houston does wheel Greinke out for Game 4, Pederson will be licking his lips. Greinke and Pederson have engaged in combat from 60 feet and six inches 31 times. Pederson has had the upper hand, going 9 for 30 with a pair of dingers.
Outside of the usual suspects — namely Ozzie Albies, Freddie Freeman and Eddie Rosario — Pederson arguably has the most chance to impact the game of anyone wearing an A hat. The Astros’ pitching staff skews very right-handed as well. The only lefty relievers on the roster are Brooks Raley (who’s been bad this postseason) and Blake Taylor (who’s only pitched three times since September 28).
Do the stars come out in Georgia?
Now that Charlie Morton’s been knocked out with a broken fibula, Max Fried pitched in Game 2, and the Astros don’t have a true VIP on their pitching staff, the stargazing turns to the position players.
In the Houston dugout, it’s the three musketeers who have been together since the asterisk-laden 2017 championship march. Jose Altuve, Alex Bregman and Carlos Correa know this is both a chance to cement their places in baseball history, as controversial as it may be, and get one more ring before Correa likely chases the dollar signs as soon as the series’ final out is recorded.
Altuve, Bregman and Correa have hit just .226 in their three World Series appearances, including the first two games this year. Altuve may have gotten an important taste of momentum and good fortune at the plate when he curled a ball around the left-field foul pole on Wednesday for the Astros’ first home run of the series. Now it’s about him and his boys continuing that on the road, where they’ll lose a hitter to the National League rules.
Atlanta has not lost at home during the playoffs. If the Astros can’t put a stop to that, they’ll be eliminated before getting a chance to play in Houston again.
The aforementioned Albies, Freeman and Rosario represent Atlanta’s brightest stars with Ronald Acuna still sadly tethered to the bench. Those three have been fine so far in the World Series, but if they find another level, they’ll go from fine to fitting for a ring.
Will anything be done about the Tomahawk Chop?
Probably not! But at the very least, the Fox Sports broadcast should limit the number of times they show fans happily engaging in the tone-deaf ritual.
