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Dansby Swanson and Jorge Soler hit back-to-back home runs in the seventh inning as the Atlanta Braves rallied to beat the Houston Astros 3-2 in Game 4 and walked one victory away from the World Series win on Saturday.
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After being hitless until the eighth inning the night before, the Astros wasted no time as Jose Altuve singled on the game’s first pitch and then rallied to score for an early 1-0 lead.
Altuve added another run for the visitors on a single shot over the center field fence in the fourth inning.
The Braves reduced the deficit to one run with an Austin Riley hit that pinned Eddie Rosario before Swanson hit his shot to right and Soler followed with a pinch homer to left to give the home team the lead.
The Astros had their chances, but they stranded 11 running backs. The Braves relied on six different pitchers after starter Dylan Lee failed to get out of the first inning.
The defensive play of the night came from Eddie Rosario, who made a backhand catch off the left-field wall in the eighth to steal an extra base hit from Altuve and send the crowd at Truist Park into a frenzy.
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Will Smith pitched a perfect ninth to close the game and improve the Braves’ record to 7-0 at home this postseason.
Swanson said he channeled his desire to win his at-bat against Cristian Javier of the Astros.
“At that point, I think the competition factor skyrocketed,” he said.
“This game is very funny. It can be such a challenging game, it can be so difficult. We can get so caught up in the results, but what matters is playing to win.
That’s where I went. Let’s get rid of everything else and compete. And something amazing happened. “
The Braves will look to win the Fall Classic for the first time since 1995 when they host the Astros for Game 5 on Sunday.
Reference-torontosun.com