'Pen in paradise? 'Send them all to Hawaii'

ATLANTA -- With many questions left to be answered in the World Series, one uncertainty was clarified for the Braves following their 3-2 victory over the Astros in Game 4 on Saturday night at Truist Park: Max Fried does not have to start Game 5 on Sunday on short rest.

Atlanta extended its Series lead over Houston to 3-1 thanks to an explosive eighth-inning comeback powered by back-to-back home runs from Dansby Swanson and Jorge Soler. Had the Braves dropped Game 4, they would have had to decide whether to give the ball to Fried just four days after he started Game 2 on Wednesday, when he pitched five innings in a 7-2 loss.

In the wake of losing Charlie Morton to a fractured right fibula during his Game 1 start, the Braves holding a 3-1 Series lead the next time his spot on the rotation arrived is about as good as it gets. On what will be the Braves' second straight bullpen day, manager Brian Snitker has far less pressure in determining who will get the ball first in Game 5, something that won’t be announced until Sunday.

In Game 4, Kyle Wright covered 4 2/3 innings after opener Dylan Lee recorded only one out, keeping most of the bullpen fresh. One option to open Game 5 could be A.J. Minter, who earned the win in Game 1 on Tuesday and also pitched in Game 3 on Friday.

“Other than Kyle, all the guys we pitched can throw again; they’re all available [Sunday],” Snitker said. “So if we choose to go the bullpen game, we have bodies to do that and we've got guys we really like to be able to do that.

“What Kyle did extending that game was just -- he probably doesn't even realize what he did for us and how big that was, especially the situation that he came in.”

Obviously, the best-case scenario for the Braves is to clinch the title on Sunday and not have to make any more pitching decisions until Spring Training 2022. But even if the Series goes back to Houston for Game 6 (and possibly 7), the Braves will have Fried and Ian Anderson -- who tossed five no-hit frames in Game 3 -- available on regular rest, needing to win just one of those games.

“We won the game because I think Kyle Wright had a huge spot in this,” Snitker said. “Chris Martin [pitched], then we got it to [Tyler] Matzek and Luke [Jackson] and Will [Smith], and that's kind of what I was working for. I was kind of working to get through the fifth inning so we could give it to our guys, and we did that."

Instead of crumbling under the increased workload, the bullpen has stepped up and rallied around one another to cover extended innings.

“What we're doing down there and what those guys are doing night in and night out, it's incredible,” said veteran right-hander Jesse Chavez. “It's something we talk about each and every day, pre and post. … That's the good part about this group, we tend to keep each day in check. That's the best part about us, which is why we're able to go out there and do our job every day.”

The roles and leverage situations may vary, but the end result has been the same, giving the Braves a boost of confidence to turn to their relievers in what could be a World Series-clinching event.

“I can't say enough about our bullpen,” Snitker said. “My God, I'm going to talk to ownership and send them all to Hawaii for a week when we're done.”