Back-to-back HRs put Braves on cusp of title

October 31st, 2021

ATLANTA -- Exactly three months from the day they summoned in those frantic final moments before the Trade Deadline, the Braves summoned the power-hitting outfielder to pinch-hit in a tied Game 4 of the World Series on Saturday night. What followed was a magnificent missile, a smoked line drive that sent Astros left fielder crashing violently into the wall and the Truist Park crowd into hysterics.

Soler¡¯s seventh-inning solo shot off immediately followed the same from , and those back-to-back blasts are how the Braves not only put together the first lead change of this Fall Classic, but also put themselves on the cusp of their first World Series title since 1995. With a 3-2 victory that required late-inning lumber and six pitchers, the Braves took a 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven Series to give themselves a chance to clinch at what is sure to be a charged Battery on Sunday night.

¡°At the beginning of the year, I wasn't part of this team,¡± Soler said through an interpreter. ¡°The organization traded for me. Obviously, I'm grateful to be here. It truly means a lot to be able to be here with this group of guys.¡±

That group of guys is the 47th team to take a 3-1 lead in a best-of-seven World Series -- an advantage that 40 of the previous 46 (87%) turned into a title.

¡°There's still a lot left to be written,¡± said Swanson, ¡°and I think that we need to go out and continue to compete to put ourselves in that position to give this city what it's been longing for.¡±

Swanson and Soler wrote quite a script in the seventh. In a stunning span of just five pitches in Game 4, they turned a 2-1 deficit into a 3-2 lead.

First, Swanson swatted Javier¡¯s 95.1 mph four-seamer over the heart of the plate into the right-field seats in front of the Chop House. Then, Soler, whose in-season arrival made him one of the four acquired outfielders who rescued the Braves in the wake of 's awful season-ending knee injury, punched a misplaced 80.6 mph slider to left.

¡°He threw me a couple sliders,¡± Soler said of Javier, ¡°and on that second slider, I felt like I got a pretty good look at it. On that third slider, I felt like he partially hung it a little bit, and so I was able to make that connection and get the home run.¡±

What it lacked in height, the 107 mph blast off Soler¡¯s bat made up for in speed and significance. It barely cleared the 6-foot wall that guards the Astros¡¯ bullpen, and Alvarez, a primary designated hitter in a ballpark that -- for now, anyway -- does not allow one, was unable to get a glove on it.

¡°I thought that Alvarez had a shot,¡± Astros manager Dusty Baker said. ¡°That would have been a fantastic play.¡±

Instead, Alvarez hit the wall, and Soler hit the biggest home run of the Braves¡¯ season, to date.

Swanson and Soler were, according to the Elias Sports Bureau, the first Nos. 8 and 9 hitters to hit back-to-back homers in the World Series.

Their timing was impeccable.

Prior to that point, the Astros had been winning/surviving a pitchers¡¯ duel, untraditional though it may have been. Houston had taken an early lead with the help of a short and shaky outing from , a 27-year-old Braves rookie making his first career start. The Astros had gotten some vintage effectiveness from potential Hall of Famer , who had seemingly been running on fumes. And 's 23rd career postseason home run -- a solo shot off in the fourth -- had put them in good position to even the Series at two wins apiece.

With these two clubs comparably compromised -- the Astros with the in-October elbow trouble of , and the Braves with the fractured right fibula suffered in Game 1 -- Game 4 was destined to be bullpen-oriented. That¡¯s how we wound up in a situation in which a reliever was warming just three pitches into a World Series game.

Lee¡¯s assignment had been a surprising one. He was released by the Marlins in March and made his big league debut for the Braves on Oct. 1. And though he didn¡¯t allow a ball out of the infield, he did show some jitters in walking and Alvarez to load the bases after Altuve¡¯s leadoff single to short.

¡°I was shocked, of course,¡± Lee said of being assigned his first start in the World Series. ¡°But I know that I'm a reliever now.¡±

So one night after pulling his starter five innings into a no-hitter, Braves manager Brian Snitker pulled Lee one out into a one-hitter. Wright was summoned into a stressful situation with the Astros in the heart of their order. While was able to make it a 1-0 game by grounding out to third and scoring Altuve, that fielder¡¯s-choice RBI was all the Astros could muster.

Wright struck out to escape the inning with minimal damage, and he went on to give the Braves 4 2/3 innings in which his only big mistake was Altuve¡¯s homer, which went a Statcast-projected 434 feet to dead center. (The Truist Park organist who had teased the 5-foot-6 Altuve with ¡°It¡¯s a Small World¡± seconds earlier didn¡¯t fare very well in that at-bat, either.)

That gave Houston a 2-0 lead. But it could have been much worse for the Braves, under the circumstances.

¡°Kyle is the reason we won the game, how he kept that thing in check and allowed us to stay around in that game,¡± Snitker said. ¡°That was huge.¡±

Greinke¡¯s performance, meanwhile, was all guts, grunts and guile. It was only four scoreless innings, but, in the context of a postseason that has largely revolved around relievers and Greinke¡¯s very limited role of late, it was everything the Astros could have possibly hoped for.

¡°We were going to take him as far as he could, and we took him to that point,¡± Baker said. ¡°He was dealing, and he threw up some key double plays. He was vintage Greinke.¡±

While Greinke¡¯s 90.2 mph four-seam average was above his season average (88.9), it obviously wasn¡¯t lighting up the radar gun. But he induced whiffs on 40% of all swings against him and limited hard contact. And he made the early runs scored by the Astros stand up.

The Braves, though, chipped away in the sixth. Baker turned to trade acquisition after pitched himself into a two-on, one-out jam. Maton struck out on some high cheese, but continued his star-building October with a sharp RBI single to left. Alvarez¡¯s debatable decision to throw home on the play allowed the Braves to get runners at second and third with two outs. But after intentionally walking to load the bases, Maton struck out to preserve the 2-1 edge.

Alas, it didn¡¯t last in the game-changing seventh.

Following those seismic swats from Swanson and Soler, the Braves got perfect eighth and ninth innings from and and a circus catch from left fielder on an eighth-inning Altuve fly ball to the warning track.

With that, they perpetuated their reputation for perseverance and put themselves on the precipice.

¡°I'm happy for our city that they can go through this, experience this,¡± Snitker said. ¡°What a great time of year. For the city, the Braves Country, to experience all this, for our players to experience it, it's a win-win situation.¡±

seductrice.net
universo-virtual.com
buytrendz.net
thisforall.net
benchpressgains.com
qthzb.com
mindhunter9.com
dwjqp1.com
secure-signup.net
ahaayy.com
tressesindia.com
puresybian.com
krpano-chs.com
cre8workshop.com
hdkino.org
peixun021.com
qz786.com
utahperformingartscenter.org
worldqrmconference.com
shangyuwh.com
eejssdfsdfdfjsd.com
playminecraftfreeonline.com
trekvietnamtour.com
your-business-articles.com
essaywritingservice10.com
hindusamaaj.com
joggingvideo.com
wandercoups.com
wormblaster.net
tongchengchuyange0004.com
internetknowing.com
breachurch.com
peachesnginburlesque.com
dataarchitectoo.com
clientfunnelformula.com
30pps.com
cherylroll.com
ks2252.com
prowp.net
webmanicura.com
sofietsshotel.com
facetorch.com
nylawyerreview.com
apapromotions.com
shareparelli.com
goeaglepointe.com
thegreenmanpubphuket.com
karotorossian.com
publicsensor.com
taiwandefence.com
epcsur.com
southstills.com
tvtv98.com
thewellington-hotel.com
bccaipiao.com
colectoresindustrialesgs.com
shenanddcg.com
capriartfilmfestival.com
replicabreitlingsale.com
thaiamarinnewtoncorner.com
gkmcww.com
mbnkbj.com
andrewbrennandesign.com
cod54.com
luobinzhang.com
faithfirst.net
zjyc28.com
tongchengjinyeyouyue0004.com
nhuan6.com
kftz5k.com
oldgardensflowers.com
lightupthefloor.com
bahamamamas-stjohns.com
ly2818.com
905onthebay.com
fonemenu.com
notanothermovie.com
ukrainehighclassescort.com
meincmagazine.com
av-5858.com
yallerdawg.com
donkeythemovie.com
corporatehospitalitygroup.com
boboyy88.com
miteinander-lernen.com
dannayconsulting.com
officialtomsshoesoutletstore.com
forsale-amoxil-amoxicillin.net
generictadalafil-canada.net
guitarlessonseastlondon.com
lesliesrestaurants.com
mattyno9.com
nri-homeloans.com
rtgvisas-qatar.com
salbutamolventolinonline.net
sportsinjuries.info
wedsna.com
rgkntk.com
bkkmarketplace.com
zxqcwx.com
breakupprogram.com
boxcardc.com
unblockyoutubeindonesia.com
fabulousbookmark.com
beat-the.com
guatemala-sailfishing-vacations-charters.com
magie-marketing.com
kingstonliteracy.com
guitaraffinity.com
eurelookinggoodapparel.com
howtolosecheekfat.net
marioncma.org
oliviadavismusic.com
shantelcampbellrealestate.com
shopleborn13.com
topindiafree.com
v-visitors.net
djjky.com
053hh.com
originbluei.com
baucishotel.com
33kkn.com
intrinsiqresearch.com
mariaescort-kiev.com
mymaguk.com
sponsored4u.com
crimsonclass.com
bataillenavale.com
searchtile.com
ze-stribrnych-struh.com
zenithalhype.com
modalpkv.com
bouisset-lafforgue.com
useupload.com
37r.net
autoankauf-muenster.com
bantinbongda.net
bilgius.com
brabustermagazine.com
indigrow.org
miicrosofts.net
mysmiletravel.com
selinasims.com
spellcubesapp.com
usa-faction.com
hypoallergenicdogsnames.com
dailyupdatez.com
foodphotographyreviews.com
cricutcom-setup.com
chprowebdesign.com
katyrealty-kanepa.com
tasramar.com
bilgipinari.org
four-am.com
indiarepublicday.com
inquick-enbooks.com
iracmpi.com
kakaschoenen.com
lsm99flash.com
nana1255.com
ngen-niagara.com
technwzs.com
virtualonlinecasino1345.com
wallpapertop.net
casino-natali.com
iprofit-internet.com
denochemexicana.com
eventhalfkg.com
medcon-taiwan.com
life-himawari.com
myriamshomes.com
nightmarevue.com
healthandfitnesslives.com
androidnews-jp.com
allstarsru.com
bestofthebuckeyestate.com
bestofthefirststate.com
bestwireless7.com
britsmile.com
declarationintermittent.com
findhereall.com
jingyou888.com
lsm99deal.com
lsm99galaxy.com
moozatech.com
nuagh.com
patliyo.com
philomenamagikz.net
rckouba.net
saturnunipessoallda.com
tallahasseefrolics.com
thematurehardcore.net
totalenvironment-inthatquietearth.com
velislavakaymakanova.com
vermontenergetic.com
kakakpintar.com
begorgeouslady.com
1800birks4u.com
2wheelstogo.com
6strip4you.com
bigdata-world.net
emailandco.net
gacapal.com
jharpost.com
krishnaastro.com
lsm99credit.com
mascalzonicampani.com
sitemapxml.org
thecityslums.net
topagh.com
flairnetwebdesign.com
rajasthancarservices.com
bangkaeair.com
beneventocoupon.com
noternet.org
oqtive.com
smilebrightrx.com
decollage-etiquette.com
1millionbestdownloads.com
7658.info
bidbass.com
devlopworldtech.com
digitalmarketingrajkot.com
fluginfo.net
naqlafshk.com
passion-decouverte.com
playsirius.com
spacceleratorintl.com
stikyballs.com
top10way.com
yokidsyogurt.com
zszyhl.com
16firthcrescent.com
abogadolaboralistamd.com
apk2wap.com
aromacremeria.com
banparacard.com
bosmanraws.com
businessproviderblog.com
caltonosa.com
calvaryrevivalchurch.org
chastenedsoulwithabrokenheart.com
cheminotsgardcevennes.com
cooksspot.com
cqxzpt.com
deesywig.com
deltacartoonmaps.com
despixelsetdeshommes.com
duocoracaobrasileiro.com
fareshopbd.com
goodpainspills.com
hemendekor.com
kobisitecdn.com
makaigoods.com
mgs1454.com
piccadillyresidences.com
radiolaondafresca.com
rubendorf.com
searchengineimprov.com
sellmyhrvahome.com
shugahouseessentials.com
sonihullquad.com
subtractkilos.com
valeriekelmansky.com
vipasdigitalmarketing.com
voolivrerj.com
zeelonggroup.com
1015southrockhill.com
10x10b.com
111-online-casinos.com
191cb.com
3665arpentunitd.com
aitesonics.com
bag-shokunin.com
brightotech.com
communication-digitale-services.com
covoakland.org
dariaprimapack.com
freefortniteaccountss.com
gatebizglobal.com
global1entertainmentnews.com
greatytene.com
hiroshiwakita.com
iktodaypk.com
jahatsakong.com
meadowbrookgolfgroup.com
newsbharati.net
platinumstudiosdesign.com
slotxogamesplay.com
strikestaruk.com
trucosdefortnite.com
ufabetrune.com
weddedtowhitmore.com
12940brycecanyonunitb.com
1311dietrichoaks.com
2monarchtraceunit303.com
601legendhill.com
850elaine.com
adieusolasomade.com
andora-ke.com
bestslotxogames.com
cannagomcallen.com
endlesslyhot.com
iestpjva.com
ouqprint.com
pwmaplefest.com
qtylmr.com
rb88betting.com
buscadogues.com
1007macfm.com
born-wild.com
growthinvests.com
promocode-casino.com
proyectogalgoargentina.com
wbthompson-art.com
whitemountainwheels.com
7thavehvl.com
developmethis.com
funkydogbowties.com
travelodgegrandjunction.com
gao-town.com
globalmarketsuite.com
blogshippo.com
hdbka.com
proboards67.com
outletonline-michaelkors.com
kalkis-research.com
thuthuatit.net
buckcash.com
hollistercanada.com
docterror.com
asadart.com
vmayke.org
erwincomputers.com
dirimart.org
okkii.com
loteriasdecehegin.com
mountanalog.com
healingtaobritain.com
ttxmonitor.com
nwordpress.com
11bolabonanza.com