World Series Recap and Highlights
The Houston Astros and the Atlanta Braves have split the first two games of the World Series by almost identical scores, with the Braves taking Game 1 by a score of 6-2, and then the Astros returned the favor with a 7-2 victory at home.
Game 1 was highlighted by the first-ever leadoff home run in the first game of a World Series in the long history of the event, with Jorge Soler taking pitcher Framber Valdez deep to give the Braves a 1-0 lead that they never relinquished and eventually built to 5-0 after three innings before cruising to victory. Unfortunately for Atlanta, they lost starting pitcher Charlie Morton to a broken fibula after being struck by a batted ball in the second inning and leaving the game with one out in the third.
In the second game, Houston took a page out of Atlanta’s book, essentially putting the game out of reach with four runs in the bottom of the second inning on three seeing-eye singles to take a 5-1 lead and held the Braves to a single run the rest of the way. The Series moves to Atlanta for Game 3 on Friday night as the Braves host a game in the Fall Classic for the first time since 1999.
Many NJ betting apps such as BetMGM already have odds for Game 3, and have listed Astros at +155 and the Braves at -190.
The expected starter in Game 3 for the Astros is 24-year old right-hander Luis Garcia, who has a record of 11-8 and an ERA of 3.30 with 167 strikeouts in 155.1 innings pitched. Garcia has started three games in the 2021 postseason with a 1-1 record and an ERA of 9.64, but he threw 5 2/3 scoreless innings in his last start, where he picked up the win in Houston’s Series-clinching 5-0 win in Game 6 against the Boston Red Sox.
The Braves will counter with a right-hander of their own, 23-year-old Ian Anderson, who will also be making his fourth start of the 2021 postseason. Anderson threw four scoreless innings in his most recent start in the Braves’ 4-2 win over the Dodgers to clinch the NLCS and advance to the World Series.
According to ESPN, the second-year player has a 9-5 with a 3.58 ERA and 124 strikeouts in 128.1 innings pitched. In his prior three starts in the playoffs, he has a record of 1-0 with an ERA of 2.25 and has recorded 12 strikeouts and four walks in 12 innings on the mound, giving the Braves a good shot at taking a 2-1 Series lead in the first of three games in Atlanta.
Despite Atlanta being a slight Moneyline favorite for Game 3, the Astros are favorites to win the title primarily due to injuries the Braves have sustained in the postseason, most notably Morton’s broken leg in Game 1. Atlanta had the worst regular-season record of any team to qualify for the postseason, posting a mark of 88-73 to beat out the Phillies by 6.5 games in the National League East, while Houston was 95-67 in winning the American League West by five games over the Seattle Mariners.
Houston was second in the American League in run differential at 205, just one behind Tampa Bay. The Braves were third in the National League at 134 while allowing the same number of runs for the season as the Astros did but could not generate the kind of offense as Houston.
For the Astros to fulfill their favorite status as the Series progresses, they’ll need to continue to pressure Braves pitching as they did in Game 2, but Ian Anderson could present problems for Houston in Game 3.
