One hit.
One measly hit.
One hit that barely was a hit and prevented the Astros from suffering a historic embarrassment on national TV.
The only good news for the Astros in Game 3?
They weren’t no-hit. And they eventually ended up with two hits during a weak nine-inning defeat.
Other than that, I’ve got nothing for you.
This World Series obviously isn’t close to being over. Dusty Baker’s club has perfected the art of fighting, rallying and proving haters wrong. It’s just 2-1 Braves and the Astros have seen much darker clouds before.
Heck, they were down 2-1 to Boston during the American League Championship Series inside a raucous Fenway Park and traded that near 3-1 deficit for this prestigious World Series spot.
“I have a lot of confidence in this team moving forward,” said third baseman Alex Bregman, after a 2-0 shutout by the Braves on Friday night inside a tomahawking Truist Park.
But Game 3 of this World Series was all Atlanta.
And I mean all Atlanta.
Braves, Braves and more Braves.
Rookie starter Ian Anderson, a super-smooth collection of four Atlanta relievers, and the local red and blue completely silencing the visiting orange.
The Astros collected 21 outs without a single hit before Aledmys Díaz prevented MLB history. And that was the only highlight of the evening for what’s supposed to be the best hitting team in the major leagues.
“Invariably when you shut us down, usually our guys come back the next day and score a bunch,” Baker said. “I hope history repeats itself.”
Sometimes you just get beat.
Sometimes you lose because of bad timing and worse luck.
In Game 3, the Astros were fortunate to avoid being constantly trolled on social media for the next 24 hours.
“Give the credit to them,” Bregman said. “They played their tail off.”
Former ace Zack Greinke has another shot this postseason to live up to his Cy Young name in Game 4.
And Bregman’s right: Game 3 was so bad for the Astros that the only reasonable answer is to trash the two-hit defeat and immediately move on to the potential of Saturday night back in the same ballpark.
“Move on to the next day and have a short memory,” he said. “You have to in this game.”
Atlanta dominated Game 1 in a 6-2 win.
The Astros owned Game 2 with a 7-2 victory.
As the Fall Classic moved to Atlanta, two rookie starters were set to take the mound and uncertainty surrounded the Games 4 and 5 names for both staffs.
“I don’t have anything about Game 4,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said. “(Friday) we’re going to start this game and go after it. If we can win it, we’re going to do everything we can to win it and worry about tomorrow, tomorrow.”
Dark clouds hovered throughout the day. Hard rain started falling four hours before the first pitch, then came and went as Game 3 inched closer.
As Braves fans began chopping their arms through the air and chanting, the rain had stopped but a light fog remained.
Anderson threw a scoreless first. Luis Garcia hit 97 mph and struck out two.
Game 3 was on.
The rookies matched each other early. Anderson struck out Jose Altuve on high heat, leaving the Astros hitless through three innings. Garcia stranded two baserunners in the second, after the Astros intentionally gave a two-out free pass to No. 8 hitter Dansby Swanson with a runner on first.
All of Garcia’s misfired pitches helped pushed Atlanta to a 1-0 lead an inning later. But his 70th pitch of the night stranded three more Braves, keeping the Astros in Game 3.
“I think you see two damn good teams playing good baseball,” Bregman said. “It’s been fun. Both teams are really good. That’s what it’s all about. That’s why you play the game, play in the World Series, two of the best teams in the game going at it.”
Atlanta was 1-for-5 with runners in scoring position and had left seven on base entering the fifth inning. But the Astros hadn’t done anything at the plate. Marwin Gonzalez, a key member of the 2017 world champions, was inserted as a pinch hitter. He struck out on three pitches, watching the last fly by, and the Astros were still hitless as the fifth finished and the rain kicked in again.
Snitker removed Anderson after just 76 pitches. A.J. Minter kept the Braves rolling, erasing the Astros in the sixth and leaving the road team nine outs away from defeat with a hit still not on the board.
Carlos Correa, Kyle Tucker and Yuli Gurriel arrived and departed in the seventh. Two balls were well struck. Neither made a dent on the board.
Finally, Díaz broke through for the helpless Astros with a single in shallow left field that could have been caught by Eddie Rosario.
And that was it.
That was the offensive firepower for the road team in Game 3.
The Astros finished with two weak hits in an entire World Series game.
They are lucky they are only down 2-1 to the Braves.
