The Braves' pitching was razor-sharp in Game 3 of the World Series on Friday -- in fact, they were a mere couple plays away from making Fall Classic history.
A parade of Atlanta pitchers held the Astros to just two hits on the night, the first coming on a soft-hit pop fly to shallow left field by Houston's Aledmys Diaz leading off the eighth inning.
Given the stakes of the series, the prospect of a no-hitter obviously takes a backseat to moving within two games of claiming a championship.
Still, it appeared that left fielder Rosario had a good chance to make a play on Diaz's dying quail, perhaps with a headlong dive or a slide on his backside.
Instead, after an initial charge, he eased up, allowing the ball to plunk down in front of him and giving the Astros their first knock.
After the game, Rosario told reporters that his hesitation was on account of the crowd noise, which made it difficult for him to communicate with shortstop Dansby Swanson, who was also charging toward the outfield to potentially make a play on the ball.
"I started charging it hard right away, and I noticed Dansby was charging hard as well, and he had his back to the ball," Rosario said. "Obviously, we're both trying to make a play on the ball. When I knew I had a beat on it, I was trying to say, 'I got it, I got it.' Obviously, I knew Dansby couldn't hear me, so at the last minute, knowing we couldn't communicate, I wanted to make sure I avoided any collision between the two of us. So I just kind of eased up on it right there."
The attempted rally went nowhere, and the Astros later collected their second hit on a ninth-inning single by Alex Bregman, so Diaz's blooper wasn't the difference between a no-no.
Even still, with the Braves clinging to a slim 1-run lead and nobody out in the inning, there was plenty of incentive to retire the leadoff man separate from the no-hitter.
The ball had an 85 percent chance of being caught off the bat, according to R.J. Anderson of CBS Sports, so concern is understandable. On the game's biggest stage, there's only so many easy chances you can squander before it catches up to you.
Thankfully for Rosario and the Braves, it didn't hurt them on this night.
As for Braves fans, while their excitement is to be expected, they may want to take it down a notch when the home team is in the field.
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