The stadium went dark. Cellphones became glaring white lights. The chanting and tomahawking started again.
The 2021 Astros were knocked into a hole that might end them.
How much can this team overcome?
How much does Dusty Baker’s club have left in it, after all the national hate and nastiness that always shadows it, all the playoff deficits and near-defeats?
“How small is your faith if you just crumble under every circumstance? You’ve got to have faith that you can do it and it will get done,” said Baker, after 3-2 Braves in Game 4 was official on the board, fireworks took over Truist Park and Atlanta fans began believing that this World Series belongs to them.
Dansby Swanson changed Game 4 with one big swing in the bottom of the seventh inning on Saturday night. Jorge Soler followed that home run with a line-drive gut punch, blasting a shot that barely cleared the left-field wall and flew just out of Yordan Alvarez’s reach.
Four brilliant throwback innings from Zack Greinke were history. Astros 2-1 was suddenly Braves 3-2.
But this number was even darker: Atlanta 3-1 in the World Series.
After a stunning comeback victory Saturday, Brian Snitker’s refuse-to-lose Braves can close out this Fall Classic on Sunday.
“I think the team that plays with emotion and enjoys what they’re doing in the postseason is really dangerous,” Snitker said.
Throw in the fact that Oct. 31 is Halloween and Baker’s club has a ton of work to do just to stay alive the next few days.
“They’ve been playing us tough. They’ve been playing us real tough,” Baker said. “We’ve got to win (Sunday). We’ve had our backs to the wall before. Our guys know what to do. There’s not a whole lot to be said. We know what we have to do. We have to win (Sunday).”
Forty-eight teams have faced a 3-1 deficit in the World Series. Seven fought back to win it all, including the 2016 Cubs. But that Chicago team played Game 5 at home and the last of those winning seven to take Game 5 on the road was the 1985 Kansas City Royals.
There’s no guarantee the Astros are returning to Minute Maid Park this season. And unless Jose Altuve, Carlos Correa and Co. can discover three consecutive victories that change everything, the 2021 Astros are done.
“You lean on your past,” Baker said. “These guys, we were down 3-0 last year, and you lean on that, and you lean on the other series that they’ve come back on. You really don’t have any choice but that.”
Game 4 at Fenway Park in the American League Championship Series ultimately sent the Astros to the World Series.
Game 4 of the World Series was a series-tying win for six strong innings.
Then Swanson homered. Then Soler happened. Then the Astros were 27 outs away from another lost World Series.
Dylan Lee, who entered the evening with just 4-2/3 innings of big league experience, only made it through 1/3 of an inning in Game 4. Kyle Wright took over with one out and the bases loaded, handing the Astros an early lead via a Correa grounder but also preventing serious damage.
The Greinke Show began.
A smooth first. A single up the middle by the Astros’ No. 8 hitter in the second. Another scoreless Braves frame in the bottom of that inning. It was 1-0 Astros into the third and the club’s former ace was rolling, finally looking like himself again in Game 4.
“He was vintage Greinke,” Baker said.
The only issue for the Astros: After ending up with two weak hits in Game 3, they started Game 4 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position and left seven on base.
Altuve backed the 2009 AL Cy Young winner in the fourth. After swinging hard through a 93 mph first-pitch strike, Altuve followed with a deep shot to center field that forced Adam Duvall to sprint backward and handed Greinke a 2-0 advantage.
The crafty righthander responded with another big double play, getting Joc Pederson to ground out after an Austin Riley single.
It was still 2-0 Astros into the fifth, with Greinke at 58 pitches on the two-year anniversary of his masterful Game 7 for the Astros in the 2019 World Series.
“It’s super valuable to have a future Hall of Famer throwing for you,” Alex Bregman said after Game 3. “He’s pitched in big situations. He’s pitched great for us in the World Series before. So we have a ton of confidence in him and we want to play good defense behind him and give him some run support.”
The real support never appeared.
The Astros finished 0-for-8 with RISP and left 11 on.
They also left themselves vulnerable to late-inning disaster in Game 4.
Swanson ignited a dulled and deflated Truist Park. Soler followed those fireworks with a go-ahead barrage off Cristian Javier.
The stadium lights went out, the cellphones lights started glaring and the chanting blended with the tomahawks.
“We usually try to really concentrate on winning the seventh, eighth, and ninth, and they won the seventh and the eighth,” Baker said. “That got the crowd excited.”
Excited?
Atlanta fans were screaming, high-fiving and running through the concourse after the stunner was complete.
The Braves are one win away from a world championship in their ballpark.
The 2021 Astros are down to their last life.
