Braves manager Brian Snitker said all the right things about how he would approach Game 3 of the World Series. Then Snitker made decisions that didn’t seem to match his words.
Here was Snitker before the game on how his thin pitching staff would affect his decisions:
“Tonight we’re going to start this game and go after it. If we can win it, we’re going to do everything we can to win it and worry about tomorrow, tomorrow.”
Here’s what Snitker did during the game: He pulled starter Ian Anderson after he’d thrown five scoreless innings on 76 pitches with no hits allowed.
The Braves needed Anderson to go long. He did his part. He could have done more. But Snitker decided to have his relief pitchers cover the final four innings.
“It could have backfired, I guess,” Snitker said. “I just thought at that point in time, in a game of this magnitude and all, that he had done his job.”
It worked out for the Braves. They won 2-0 and lead the best-of-seven Series 2-1. Relievers AJ Minter, Luke Jackson, Tyler Matzek and Will Smith covered the four innings with no runs allowed. But cutting Anderson’s start short and using so many relievers could have residual effects for the Braves over the rest of the weekend.
It would be fine to do that if, as Snitker said, it was the best path for doing everything possible to win the game. But Snitker had a choice. Anderson had pitched five efficient and effective innings. Pulling him was a matter of preference, not desperation.
Anderson’s reaction to being relieved, per Snitker: “‘Are you sure? Are you sure?’ But I was just like, ‘Ian, I’m going with my gut right here.’ Just my eyes (and) my gut.”
Said Anderson: “I knew he wasn’t going to budge. ... You’ve got guys like Matzek and Minter and Luke and Will at the back end coming in, you can’t blame him for going to those guys.”
Snitker will have to patch together so-called bullpen games for Saturday and Sunday. It’s unlikely that all his best relief pitchers can go three days in a row. Bringing back left starter Max Fried on short rest for Game 5 is an option. A better one would have been letting Anderson keep pitching so long as he was effective.
The Astros had to be glad to see Anderson leave the game. They couldn’t do much against him. Another bonus of Anderson’s quick hook for Houston’s hitters: more chances to face the best Braves arms from the bullpen. That’s good information for later in the Series.
Anderson wasn’t his sharpest. He walked three batters and hit one with a pitch. Anderson still was getting it done.
“He was effectively wild,” Astros manager Dusty Baker said.
“I think that ‘effectively wild’ is a pretty good term,” Anderson said. “I was definitely a little amped up there at the beginning. I think that’s kind of what happens when you try to make quality pitches every pitch, not just give in or lay the ball in there.”
Anderson’s first three pitches to leadoff hitter Jose Altuve were balls. Only one of them was close to the strike zone. Altuve walked. Houston’s No. 2 batter, Michael Brantley, hit a sharp grounder through the middle. Anderson snagged it to start a double play at second base. Crisis averted.
Another fire immediately sprung up: Anderson walked the next hitter, Alex Bregman, with a curveball in the dirt for ball four. Then Anderson found his rhythm. He sat down the next nine batters in a row: three strikeouts, three weak fly balls, two grounders and a pop foul.
Anderson’s next hiccup happened with two outs in the fourth inning. Yordan Alvarez walked on five pitches. Ball four was another pitch in the dirt. Carlos Correa was up next. He worked a full count then took first base after Anderson’s inside fastball clipped his jersey.
Anderson ended the threat with another good defensive play. He tracked down Kyle Tucker’s slow-rolling ground ball in the wet grass, picked it up cleanly and threw to first for the out. Anderson was perfect in the fifth inning. Pinch hitter Marwin Gonzalez struck out looking for out three.
“Give him all the credit,” Astros third baseman Alex Bregman said of Anderson. “He pitched his tail off tonight, and we didn’t really get anything going offensively.”
Anderson was fired up after striking out Gonzalez. Soon, there was a strange site in the home dugout: Anderson accepting congratulations from teammates and coaches for a job well done.
Forget about the no-hitter. Anderson wasn’t going to pitch nine innings, anyway. The controversy was Snitker pulling an effective starter after 76 pitches. It didn’t make sense when viewed at the game level or in the big picture.
Anderson had faced 18 batters. One of them, Martin Maldonado, hit the ball hard on a line. Otherwise, the Astros ponded Anderson’s balls in the first or hit them softy in the air. No. 3 batter Ozzie Albies led off the fifth inning for the Braves, so the pitcher’s spot in the lineup was still six slots away when Snitker decided to pull Anderson.
Snitker’s counterpoint: Houston had the top of the order due up in the sixth and those hitters at the had seen a lot of pitches from Anderson. At that point, Houston’s Nos. 1-4 hitters were 0-5 with three walks.
In the aggregate, pitchers face a statistical penalty when going through the order a third time. In this game, the Astros couldn’t figure out Anderson when he threw strikes. Why not send Anderson back out for a chance to throw a clean inning and save one of the bullpen arms?
Then there are the circumstances of the series. Anderson and Fried are the only healthy starters left on the staff. Fried pitched Game 2 on Wednesday in Houston and gave up six runs. In Game 3, Anderson was having the best outing for a Braves starter since Fried held the Brewers scoreless over six innings with nine strikeouts Oct. 9.
Anderson could have gone at least one more inning. Snitker decided that going to his ‘pen gave the Braves the best chance to win this game. Arguments against it fell flat after it all worked out. Now we’ll see if the quick hook for Anderson has lasting effects for the rest of the weekend.
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