Tim Gouw / UnsplashOne Down. Ask Me Again Thursday.
Ozzie Albies singled home the go-ahead run in the eighth inning, and Raisel Iglesias stranded Shohei Ohtani at third to close it. Game 1 answered. Two to go.
I asked the Braves to tell me who they are this morning.
They sent Ozzie Albies.
Eighth inning. Tie game. Tanner Scott on the mound for LA in the biggest spot of the night. Albies put an RBI single through the right side and the conversation shifted. Not ended. Shifted.
Then the ninth. Ohtani tripled. Best player in baseball, ninety feet from tying it. That's the test. Three weeks ago, the Braves lose this game.
Iglesias retired Tommy Edman. Save twenty-eight. Ballgame.
Bryce Elder gutted through six innings on a night nobody expected him to anchor anything. Glasnow threw seven strikeouts in five innings and still lost. That's what a starting pitching edge looks like when you can't hold a three-run lead.
I'm not moving my number. One game doesn't rewrite a verdict I asked for over three. The Braves jumped out 3-0 in the first, let LA tie it by the fourth, then answered in the eighth. That's not dominance. That's survival. Survival against the Dodgers counts for more than a blowout against anybody else.
Two games left. The answer isn't finished.
But this was the right first page. Ask me again Thursday.
The Tilt
Beating the Dodgers once isn't a verdict -- it's page one.
— Dex Ponce
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