It may not have been pretty in the early innings for the Braves bats but with Kyle Wright dealing on the mound, Atlanta did just enough to break through in the 6th inning of game two of the NLDS to tie the series at a game a piece with the Phillies.
The Braves were just 10-26 before last night in games where they did not hit a home run and 20-43 when scoring 3 runs or fewer. They added a win in both columns Wednesday with what Brian Snitker called “three well-placed balls” from Matt Olson, Austin Riley and Travis d’Arnaud.
While we know that the Braves lineup is certainly capable of more after finishing the regular season with the 2nd most home runs in the league with 243, Steak Shapiro & Drew Butler know that come the postseason, you’ll take a win however you can get it.
“11 wins to win the World Series…You know that some of those wins are going to need 6.0 shutout innings by your starting pitcher and a couple of bloopers to put three runs on the board. It’s not all home runs and perfect games, so you're in fights and the Braves have the perfect roster to get through those dog fights and win another championship,” Butler said on the 92.9 The Games' The Steakhouse.
Shapiro believes that with the series tied up at 1-1, there is another shoe that is about to drop for the Braves lineup.
“There’s going to be a 5,8 or 9-run game coming up where we’ll have three home runs…With this lineup there may be a 2-home run Ronald Acuña night, you’ve got to assume Michael Harris gets in the mix…You’re 1-1, you’ve got the better lineup, you went out last night and executed and did what you had to do. It doesn’t mean you can’t lose the series, but it does mean that if the Braves and Phillies play 10 series, Braves probably win 7 or 8 of them,” Shapiro said.
Thursday is an off day for the Braves and Phillies as the series shifts to Philadelphia for Friday’s game three. Aaron Nola is set to start for the Phillies while Snitker is playing it close to the vest in terms of the Braves starter at this point. First pitch is scheduled for 4:37 Friday afternoon.
