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Friday night was a bit of a rough night for the home team. After scratching together a couple of runs off of Dustin May and AJ Minter absolutely shoving to start the game for three scoreless innings, things quickly unraveled thanks to Will Smith, both of them, and Corey Seager who helped lead the offensive in the sixth and seventh innings that ended up giving LA a substantial lead.
The Braves kept fighting along....even Josh Tomlin, who gave Braves fans a real fright in Game Two, performed ably in his two innings of work at the end of the game. The margin was 7-3 going into the ninth inning with the Dodgers sending Kenley Jansen, who has not been anywhere close to his peak self of late, to the mound.
Unfortunately, the Braves bats could not deliver in the bottom of the ninth and they fell to the Dodgers. They are still up 3-2 in the NLCS with Max Fried going on regular rest.
More Braves News
AJ Minter starting Game 5 of NLCS as Braves look to advance to World Series
The big news before the game on Friday night was that AJ Minter was getting the ‘start’ for the Braves. It was a known thing that this was going to be a bullpen game for the Braves, but Minter ended up shoving over three scoreless innings for the Braves so he rewarded their faith in him.
Examining the Braves’ pitching options for Game 5
While this is more a hindsight look at this point, Anthony did do a decent job here of analyzing where the Braves’ bullpen was going into Game 5 which, combined with a cursory look at who pitched in Game 5, should give you a good sense of where the bullpen stands as of now.
Braves respond to adversity in familiar fashion with huge win in Game 4
Game 3 of the NLCS was an unmitigated disaster. No one denies this. However, that this Braves team came right back out and dominated the Dodgers in Game 4 showed that this Braves team has the mettle to handle their business even when they get punched in the mouth.
MLB News
Rays can’t eliminate Astros, forced to Game 7
The Rays had the Astros right where they wanted them...but Carlos Correa and the Astros have battled back to somehow force a Game 7 in the ALCS. The Rays completing this implosion would be a historic implosion from the Rays.
9 likely suitors for Trevor Bauer
Trevor Bauer may rub some folks the wrong way, but there is no denying that he is a great pitcher whose services are going to be in high demand this offseason. Feinsand walks through some of the teams that are expected to be pursuing him in free agency.