Major League Beisbol Playoffs 2021 (1 Viewer)

[Outbackjack]

Just an incredible Game 3.

This time, the Braves are the distant underdogs vs a LOADED LA roster….but the patchwork Braves are battling.

One pitch by Luke Jackson……that wasn’t even bad but Bellinger made an incredible swing….save for the Braves being up 3-0.

Instead it’s 2-1, and we’ve got a series.

 

[zatsnzapps]

I seriously have no idea how Bellinger got to that fastball, but all props to him for handling it.

I've never been a big Luke Jackson fan, but his pitches tonight were actually pretty good. The singles hit in front of Bellinger were on really good pitches, the Dodgers just made the better play.

Looking forward to the rest of the series.

 

[RaginCajun83]

Astros hitters can’t seem to hit anything tonight after the Bregman HR in the first

 

[zatsnzapps]

Oh, and a couple of comments on the game.

Regardless of the outcome (they won anyway), Walker Buehler deserved a better outcome than he got. He got hosed between Lux's missed catch (he's not entirely to blame, though) and the third strike he had on Pederson before Pederson got another chance and singled hard to right.

Which brings me to...the home plate umpire. He was awful. For both sides. If that's the best they can do for an LCS, then the umpiring in MLB is in sad, sad shape. So many strikes called balls and vice versa. His strike zone was very inconsistent. For one Braves batter (can't remember which), he gave Buehler a strike where the ball missed the bottom of the zone and turned around gave him the strike on ball that was a bit too high in the zone. You can't give both. If you're going to give one, be consistent with it and roll on. I know the Dodgers were screaming at him too. Just a terrible job calling balls and strikes tonight, and when there is so much on the line, that's inexcusable, IMO.

 

[RaginCajun83]

Oh, and a couple of comments on the game.

Regardless of the outcome (they won anyway), Walker Buehler deserved a better outcome than he got. He got hosed between Lux's missed catch (he's not entirely to blame, though) and the third strike he had on Pederson before Pederson got another chance and singled hard to right.

Which brings me to...the home plate umpire. He was awful. For both sides. If that's the best they can do for an LCS, then the umpiring in MLB is in sad, sad shape. So many strikes called balls and vice versa. His strike zone was very inconsistent. For one Braves batter (can't remember which), he gave Buehler a strike where the ball missed the bottom of the zone and turned around gave him the strike on ball that was a bit too high in the zone. You can't give both. If you're going to give one, be consistent with it and roll on. I know the Dodgers were screaming at him too. Just a terrible job calling balls and strikes tonight, and when there is so much on the line, that's inexcusable, IMO.

There’s been a couple questionable ball and strike calls in this game tonight too

 

[zatsnzapps]

Astros hitters can’t seem to hit anything tonight after the Bregman HR in the first

If it makes you feel any better at our expense, the Dodgers didn't do anything after Seager's 2 run HR in the first until the bottom of the 8th.

 

[RaginCajun83]

Well Altuve just tied it up in the top of the 8th

 

[zatsnzapps]

Enjoy it,.zaps and pray to God above the Giants/Dodgers series lasts a few more days so maybe the team, FO, management can get a little extra rest, time to adequately prepare and get ready to play one of two teams who are potentially more dangerous than Brewers were, are both stacked with quality talent in regards to HR hitters, All-Star relievers, starting pitchers, and closers and Gold Glovers on-field winners.

The next team you face in the NLCS will be a team who won 15 more games than you did during the regular-season, is well-focused, well-managed, have both made multiple WS appearances, and in case of SF Giants, have won multiple World Series over the past decade. Dodgers have made the NL West division almost a near-certainty in terms of winning it, overwhelming, out-thinking, and out playing their fellow NL West rivals and most of the rest of the NL, as a whole. Dodgers have advanced and played in 3 World.Series out the last 4 seasons.

The Braves postseason quest doesn't get any easier or less perilous from this point on.

84, I appreciate you mentioning that the postseason doesn't get any easier. The NLCS is a rematch of the teams from last year, but there are differences. For the Braves, there is no Ronald Acuna Jr., and for the Dodgers, no Max Muncey.

All of that aside, the Braves were barely treading water in July. They had never been above .500. Then, Acuna goes down for the season two weeks before the trade deadline. Alex Anthopolous saw the Braves were only 5 games out of the divisional race and made moves to buy, buy, buy. He got Joc "Captain Pearls" Pederson first, then added Adam Duvall, Jorge Soler, and a hurt Eddie Rosario. They rebuilt the outfield and found a groove.

Against all odds, they won the division to make the playoffs (there weren't going to be any wild card teams coming out of the NL East this year). The took on the Brew Crew that had a better pitching staff and lost the first one. They then won the next 4. Now, they're taking on the Dodgers in a rematch from last year. Dodgers won 106 games to the Braves 88. The Braves go up 2-0 on two walk-off wins to send the series back to LA.

Tonight's game was tough, but the Dodgers deserved it. Bellinger killed an amazing fast ball up by his eyes. 99/100 times that's a pop-out or a swing and miss. Those guys deserved the win and they got it.

It's going to be a hard fought rest of the series.

 

[RaginCajun83]

They missed a strike call against Castro 2 pitches before he hit the single to take the lead

 

[RaginCajun83]

Well the bats finally woke up in the 9th inning, ALCS tied 2-2 now guaranteed at least one game in Houston

5 down, 6 to go

 

[Eeyore]

 

[guidomerkinsrules]

Well the bats finally woke up in the 9th inning, ALCS tied 2-2 now guaranteed at least one game in Houston

5 down, 6 to go

Bats waking up after game was over is as good a time as any I suppose

 

[2009ring]

So if the Braves blow this NLCS after being up 2-0 and having a 3 run lead in the 8th inning of game 3, how close does it come to the 28-3 meltdown? I know some of you are Braves fans but remember a lot of Braves fans are Falcons fans too and a repeat performance of blowing a lead where it matters most would be great stuff to see.

 

[RaginCajun83]

Didn’t the Braves blow a series lead to the Dodgers last year too?

 

[porculator]

So if the Braves blow this NLCS after being up 2-0 and having a 3 run lead in the 8th inning of game 3, how close does it come to the 28-3 meltdown? I know some of you are Braves fans but remember a lot of Braves fans are Falcons fans too and a repeat performance of blowing a lead where it matters most would be great stuff to see.

For it to be comparable to the Falcons meltdown, they would need to be up 3-0 in the World Series, with a 5 run lead in the 9th inning of game 4, blow that game, and then blow 3 more

The tough thing about baseball is that you can't run out the clock. It's a one on one battle on every at bat, and the games not over until you win that battle 27 times with whatever pitcher you have out there.

The Falcons literally could have put in a random high school team to milk the clock and win the Super Bowl.