His team needing a win to avoid falling into an 0-2 hole against Philadelphia in the best-of-five National League Division Series, Braves pitcher Kyle Wright came through, just as he did so many times at Truist Park during the regular season.
The right-hander pitched six shutout innings, grinding his way through the Phillies’ lineup until his team broke through with three runs in the bottom of the sixth in Wednesday’s 3-0 victory. It was Wright’s ninth consecutive win this season and improved his home record to 14-2.
“I had success in the postseason last year, but to do it as a starter was, that was pretty cool to me,” Wright said. “(I’ve) worked on a lot of things this year. And I, it really just goes back to the confidence. I felt like I had the confidence to pitch at this stage. They’re a really good lineup. And I knew that, but knew that if I executed, I was gonna give myself a chance.”
Game 3 is scheduled to be played Friday in Philadelphia.
A day after Max Fried was touched for six runs, four earned, in 3-1/3 innings, Wright allowed only two hits, struck out six and benefited from a terrific over-the-shoulder catch by shortstop Dansby Swanson in the outfield to end the sixth.
Wright pitched well because he stayed ahead of the Phillies, throwing 13 first-pitch strikes to the 21 batters he faced. Relying on a four-seam fastball and a sweeping curve that he said he worked on during the week, Wright got 13 called strikes, including in back-to-back strikeouts looking to start the sixth. Braves manager Brian Snitker said it was huge that Wright got through the top of the Phillies’ order in the sixth before the bullpen took over in the seventh.
“We needed to kind of get to our back-end (bullpen) guys,” Snitker said. “That was pretty impressive what he did.”
The only trouble Wright faced came in the second inning. Bryce Harper doubled to lead off. Nick Castellanos lined out to Ronald Acuna, allowing Harper to go to third. Wright got Alec Bohm to ground out to Matt Olson, who made Harper go back to third by staring him down, before he touched first to end the inning. Wright then calmly struck out Brandon Marsh swinging to end the inning.
Braves pitching coach Rick Kranitz said that Wright’s ability to stay relaxed, to understand what is needed and at what time, and to anticipate “the game within the game” have become among his biggest strengths.
“He knew how important this was, and he stepped up, and that’s what big-time pitchers do is they have the ability to make those kinds of pitches when it’s on the line,” Kranitz said.
Wright’s calmness Wednesday started during the nearly three-hour rain delay. Wright said he “checked out” during that time. He spent time on his phone, rode a stationary bike, watched some TV and enjoyed his teammates. Once he found out when the first pitch was scheduled, he was able to start his routines, telling Kranitz that he needed only an hour.
Wright’s performance was another in a series of strong ones this season against the Phillies. He went 2-1 with a 2.84 ERA, allowing only eight hits. Philadelphia batted .123 against Wright this season.
“He can pitch,” Phillies manager Rob Thomson said.
Wright led MLB with 21 wins, including eight consecutive to end the season, to go along with a 3.19 ERA. He was the first Braves pitcher to lead the NL in wins since Russ Ortiz in 2003, and the first to lead the majors in wins since Tom Glavine in 2000. The 27-year old Wright improved his playoffs record to 2-1.
“He’s always obviously had a good head on his shoulders and always had the ability and it’s just so amazing to watch someone go through obstacles, go through struggles and come out on top,” teammate Dansby Swanson said. “He’s the epitome of it’s not necessarily about becoming something that you are, it’s always about getting back to who you truly are.”
Wednesday’s performance was a long way from his second start for the Braves in the postseason, which came against the Dodgers in the NL Championship Series two years ago. Wright allowed seven runs in two-thirds of the first inning in that game. He said pitching against the Phillies on Wednesday was like “night and day” compared to his rough outing at Chavez Ravine.
“As he’s out there and figures things out, he’s going to continue to develop and grow and gain confidence. With that arsenal that he’s got, he can be a force for a long time,” Snitker said.
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