A guy who spent most of the season in the minors kept the Braves in it. Then the offense finally came to life.Just like that, Atlanta is one win from its first World Series title in 26 years.Dansby Swanson and pinch-hitter Jorge Soler connected for back-to-back homers in the seventh inning Saturday night, propelling the Braves to a 3-2 victory over the Houston Astros and a commanding 3-1 Series lead.Game 5 is Sunday night. The Braves can wrap up the championship on their home field, just as they did two stadiums ago when they beat the Cleveland Indians in 1995.That triumph at the old Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium remains the franchise's only World Series crown since moving to the Deep South in 1966.This is the closest they've been to a second title since then.A huge shoutout goes to a most unlikely hero.Former No. 1 draft pick Kyle Wright, who has largely been a huge disappointment in repeated chances with the Braves, turned in 4 2/3 gritty innings out of the bullpen after surprise starter Dylan Lee retired only one hitter.Wright was hardly overpowering, giving up five hits — including a homer by Jose Altuve in the fourth that staked the Astros to a 2-0 lead — and three walks. But he continually pitched out of trouble, giving the Braves a semblance of hope until the offense woke up.That finally occurred in the sixth when Eddie Rosario became the first Atlanta hitter to get past first base with a one-out double off Brooks Raley.Rosario wound up scoring on another clutch postseason hit by Austin Riley, who lined a two-out single to left against Phil Maton.The Braves left the bases loaded, but they weren't done. Just like that, they stunningly engineered the first lead change of the entire Series.Facing Cristian Javier, Swanson went the opposite way for a homer that tied the game at 2, the ball hit so hard that it ricocheted off the tabled section in the right-field stands and rolled all the way back to the infield.The celebration had barely simmered down when Soler stepped to the plate as a pinch-hitter. On a 2-1 pitch from Javier, he got hold of a hanging slider and drove it into the Astros' bullpen in left, Yordan Alvarez hanging helplessly over the fence as the ball sailed over his head.Luke Jackson worked a scoreless eighth, getting a great catch from Rosario slamming into the left-field wall that Soler homered over, and Will Smith worked a 1-2-3 ninth for his sixth save in six chances this postseason.The Astros could only kick themselves for squandering countless chances, going hitless in eight at-bats with runners in scoring position and leaving 11 on base overall.Houston got just what it wanted from 38-year-old starter Zack Greinke, who threw four scoreless innings.Greinke had last pitched in the World Series in 2019, when he was an 18-game winner acquired by the Astros in a trade-deadline deal.Two years later, Greinke is no longer one of baseball's most dominant pitchers. But he gave the Astros just what they needed in the bullpen era — four solid innings to leave with a 2-0 lead.The Braves' pitching was in a bit of disarray after Game 1 starter Charlie Morton was lost for the rest of the Series with a broken leg.With former President Donald Trump watching from a private box down the right-field line — he even joined fans for the tomahawk chop — Atlanta decided to go with a parade of relievers, starting with a guy who was released by Miami before the season and spent most of the year in Triple-A.Lee wasn't even told he would be starting until he got to the ballpark Saturday afternoon, in hopes that he wouldn't have too much time to get nervous.But he looked overwhelmed by the moment, retiring only one hitter before he was lifted with the bases loaded, having walked two and thrown just five of 15 pitches for strikes.It was the shortest Series start since 2003, when David Wells lasted only one inning for the Yankees in Game 5 before leaving with back spasms.Wright escaped the jam with only one run scoring on a groundout and made only one major mistake before his night was done.Altuve went deep with one out in the fourth, launching a 434-foot drive over the center-field wall. It was his 23rd homer in 77 postseason games, which pushed him to second place all alone on the career list behind Manny Ramirez with 29.Altuve had been tied with longtime New York Yankees star Bernie Williams.TRUMP'S CHOPOnly months after calling for a boycott of Major League Baseball, Trump chopped away with fans before the game while standing beside his wife, Melania.Trump said he was invited to the game by Commissioner Rob Manfred and New York Yankees President Randy Levine. Major League Baseball denied making the invitation, saying the former president asked to attend the game.Trump encouraged a boycott of MLB games after Manfred removed the All-Star Game from Atlanta over Georgia's new voting law. The game instead was held in Denver.Unlike the 2019 World Series in Washington, when Trump was booed while still in office, there was no obvious reception for the former president at Truist Park.His appearance was not announced to the crowd.LEE STARTSLee was one of the most unlikely starters in World Series history.The 27-year-old left-hander had never pitched in the big leagues until the final weekend of the regular season, when he was called up from Triple-A Gwinnett to make a couple of appearances after the Braves had already locked up the NL East title.He had been released by the Miami Marlins at the end of spring training and signed a minor league deal with the Braves.Lee didn't last long in Game 4, but he will forever be known as a World Series starter.UP NEXTGame 1 loser Framber Valdez gets his second start of the Series for the Astros. The left-hander lasted only two innings last Tuesday, giving up eight hits, five runs and two homers in a 6-2 setback.The Braves will counter with their second consecutive bullpen game. No word on who will be the opener in a start that would've gone to Morton if not for a broken leg that ended his season in Game 1.

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Rookie Ian Anderson and the Braves bullpen took a no-hit bid into the eighth inning, Austin Riley and Travis d’Arnaud drove in runs and Atlanta beat the Houston Astros 2-0 Friday night to take a 2-1 lead in the World Series.Anderson and four relievers combined on a two-hitter.Pinch-hitter Aledmys Díaz blooped a single leading off the eighth inning against reliever Tyler Matzek that dropped in front of left fielder Eddie Rosario, just 232 feet from home plate, for Houston's first hit. Alex Bregman grounded a single through the wide-open side of a shifted infield against closer Will Smith leading off the ninth.Riley's RBI double in the third off Astros starter Luis Garcia put Atlanta ahead, and d’Arnaud hit a 437-foot homer off Kendall Graveman's fastball in the eighth, d’Arnaud’s second home run of this World Series and first long ball at home this season.Of the 60 previous times the Series was tied 1-1, the Game 3 winner went on to win 39 times — including six of the last nine.Rosario walked leading off a 43-pitch half-inning in the third. Freddie Freeman singled and Garcia left an 0-1 cutter over the plate that Riley lined between Bregman and the third-bag, and down the left-field line for an RBI double.Jorge Soler walked, but Garcia stranded the bases loaded when Adam Duvall fouled to first and d’Arnaud struck out.The Braves, who stranded nine runners, improved to 6-0 this postseason at Truist Park, which opened in 2017 and where they have won 11 of their last 12 games. The Atlanta stopped a five-game home World Series losing streak.Houston, the top-hitting team in the majors during the season with a .267 average, was limited to two hits, three walks and two hit batters.Anderson, a 23-year-old right-hander, pitched through spotty control, striking out four and walking three. A.J. Minter and Luke Jackson followed with an inning each.Díaz’s hit ended the longest no-hit bid in the Series since Game 2 in 1967. Boston ace Jim Lonborg pitched a one-hitter and allowed a two-out double in the eighth to St. Louis’ Julian Javier.Pinch-runner Jose Siri stole second with two outs in the eighth and went to third when d’Arnaud’s throw skipped into center field for an error, but Siri was stranded when Michael Brantley popped out.While the Astros’ Dusty Baker (72) and the Braves’ Brian Snitker (66) had the highest combined ages of World Series managers, they lifted their starting pitchers on the timetable triggered by modern metrics — after exactly 18 batters each, not wanting leadoff hitters to face the same pitcher for the third time.In the Series for the first time since 1999, the Braves won in the Series at home for the time since the sixth and final game of the 1995 World Series against Cleveland.Anderson had the second-longest no-hit bid by a rookie starter in World Series history behind New York’s Jeff Tesreau in the 1912 opener, broken up when Boston’s Tris Speaker tripled with one out in the sixth.Anderson walked three, struck out four and hit a batter, throwing just 39 of 76 pitches for strikes.Garcia gave up three hits in 3 2/3 innings with six strikeouts and four walks, throwing just 72 pitches and coming out after getting the first two outs of the fourth with just two pitchesThis was just the eighth matchup of rookie starters in the Series, the first since Detroit’s Justin Verlander and St. Louis’ Anthony Reyes in the 2006 opener. None of the Braves had faced Garcia coming in, and Marwin Gonzalez was the only one to have batted against the Braves’ Ian Anderson (0 for 3).Daylong rain stopped about an hour before the game, which started with a 49-degree temperature on a damp night. The Braves became the first team to host the Series in six ballparks after Boston’s Fenway Park (1914) and Braves Field (1948), Milwaukee’s County Stadium (1957, ’58), Atlanta Fulton-County Stadium (1991, ’92, 95, ‘96) and Turner Field (1999).HAMMERIN’ HANKMajor League Baseball held a pregame tribute to Hank Aaron, the former Braves star and executive who died in January. Hank Aaron Jr. threw the ceremonial first pitch, accompanied by mother Billye Aaron and siblings Gaile and Dorinda.FAMILY AFFAIRBaker had hitting coach Troy Snitker go to the plate to exchange lineup cards with his dad, Braves manager Brian Snitker.UP NEXTZack Greinke was expected to pitch Game 4 for Houston, while the Braves go with the first of consecutive bullpen games in response to losing Game 1 starter Charlie Morton to a broken leg.

José Urquidy started Eddie Rosario with strikes. Five of them in a row.Looking calm and poised a night after overamped rotation-mate Framber Valdez was chased early, Urquidy's control gave the Astros' bats a chance to break out, and Houston rode a four-run second inning to a 7-2 win over Atlanta on Wednesday night that tied the World Series at one game apiece.A 26-year-old right-hander from Mazatlan, Urquidy became the first Mexican pitcher to make three World Series starts. He was looking to rebound from his Game 3 loss at Boston in the AL Championship Series, when he got just five outs in a 12-3 defeat."My last outing was for sure bad," he said through a translator Tuesday, "but there's good days and bad days."This was a very good day.Urquidy started 15 of 21 batters with strikes in improving his career Series record to 2-0. He allowed two runs and six hits in five innings with seven strikeouts, throwing 55 of 74 pitches for strikes.He mixed 38 fastballs, 16 changeups (getting five swings and misses), 12 sliders and eight curveballs, keeping the Braves off-balance other than Travis d'Arnaud's tying home run in the second inning and Freddie Freeman's two-out RBI single in the fifth.A night earlier, Valdez threw just 11 of 21 pitches for strikes in the first inning, and the Braves burst to a 2-0 lead and never trailed. Valdez overthrew, and while his velocity was up, so were his pitches.Urquidy recalled this week feeling nervous at the start of his Series debut, when he pitched five shutout innings of two-hit ball in a Game 4 win at Washington two years ago. He returned to face the Nationals' final three batters of Houston's Game 7 loss.By now, he's used to the Series pressure."I know that it's a big job that I have," he said," but I'm more excited and have left the nerves to the side a little bit."

Eddie Rosario capped a remarkable NL Championship Series with a three-run homer, sending the Atlanta Braves to the World Series for the first time since 1999 with a 4-2 victory over the defending champion Los Angeles Dodgers on Saturday night.The Braves won the best-of-seven series four games to two, exorcising the demons of last year's NLCS — when Atlanta squandered 2-0 and 3-1 leads against the Dodgers — and advancing to face the AL champion Astros.Game 1 is Tuesday night at Minute Maid Park in Houston.The Braves will be going for their first Series title since 1995, when they beat Cleveland with a team that included Hall of Famers Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine, Jon Smoltz and Chipper Jones — a no-nonsense group that became better known for numerous postseason flops during a momentous run of 14 straight division titles.This flashy team is led by a far more unlikely hero.Rosario, acquired in a flush of deals just before the July 30 trade deadline that rebuilt the Braves' depleted outfield, set an Atlanta franchise record and became only the fifth player in baseball history to record 14 hits in a postseason series.Will Smith worked a 1-2-3 ninth for his fourth save of the postseason after a brilliant relief stint by winner Tyler Matzek, who escaped a huge jam in the seventh by striking out the side. The left-hander has 11 strikeouts with runners in scoring position in the seventh inning or later this postseason.Spurred on by chants of “Eddie! Eddie! Eddie” from the raucous sellout crowd of more than 43,000, Rosario finished 14 of 25 (.560) against the Dodgers, with three homers and nine RBIs.His final hit was certainly the biggest of the 30-year-old Puerto Rican's career.With the score tied at 1 in the bottom of the fourth, Rosario came up after pinch-hitter Ehire Adrianza extended the inning with a two-out double into the right-field corner. Slow-running catcher Travis d'Arnaud was held at third by coach Ron Washington, surely aware of who was up next.Rosario got into an extended duel with Walker Buehler, who stepped up to start on three days' rest after ace Max Scherzer wasn't able to go because of a tired arm.Rosario swung and missed the first two pitches. Then he fouled one off. Then he took a ball. Then he fouled off two more pitches.Finally, he got one he liked from the Dodgers' 16-game winner — a cutter that Rosario turned into a 105 mph rocket down the right-field line, higher and higher, straight as an arrow until it landed well back into the seats below the Chop House restaurant.Rosario knew it was gone, dancing down the line after delivering a 361-foot finishing shot to a highly paid team that won 106 games during the regular season — 18 more than the NL East-winning Braves — but came up short in its bid to become baseball's first repeat champion since the 2000 New York Yankees won their third straight title.The Braves will be looking to bury their city's reputation for playoff misery. From four World Series losses in the 1990s to the NFL Falcons blowing a 28-3 lead in the 2017 Super Bowl, Atlanta again finds itself on cusp of an extremely rare feat.A championship.Those ‘95 Braves remain the city's lone team in the four major sports — baseball, football, basketball and hockey — to capture a title. Freddie Freeman said after a Game 5 loss that the city's history would remain an issue “until we kill that narrative.”They're four wins from doing just that.After starter Ian Anderson allowed Cody Bellinger's run-scoring single in the fourth on his next-to-last hitter of the night, the well-rested Atlanta bullpen took over.A.J. Minter struck out four in two innings of work. Luke Jackson failed to get an out in the seventh, giving up AJ Pollock's run-scoring double, but Matzek stranded runners at second and third with three straight strikeouts — the last of them by Mookie Betts on three pitches.Matzek returned to the mound for a 1-2-3 eighth before handing off to Smith.The Braves jumped ahead with back-to-back, two-out doubles off Buehler in the first — the second of them by Austin Riley, whose shot down the left-field line one-hopped into the Dodgers bullpen.With their pitching staff in disarray, the Dodgers scuttled plans to start Scherzer. The right-hander had complained of a dead arm after Game 2, and he was still struggling to bounce back after a workout Friday.Buehler, who had been projected to go in Game 7 if the series went that far, was bumped up to start for Scherzer on just three days' rest.Scherzer, the Dodgers insisted, would be ready to go Sunday night.Now, he's got all winter to rest up.TRAINER'S ROOMThe Dodgers brought an extra pitcher to Atlanta after LHP Justin Bruihl felt something in his arm while warming up for Game 5. But Bruihl remained on the roster after assuring manager Dave Roberts he felt good enough to take an inning in Game 6. As it turned out, he wasn't needed.UP NEXTDodgers: After a steak of seven straight victories in elimination games was snapped, they won't play another game that counts until the 2022 season opener against the Colorado Rockies. That comes on March 31 at Dodger Stadium.Braves: Charlie Morton is set to go against his former team in the opener of the World Series. He memorably came out of the bullpen in Game 7 of the 2017 Series to pitch four innings of two-hit ball, closing out the lone title in Astros history with a 5-1 win over the Dodgers.

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Eddie Rosario homered twice in his second four-hit game of the series and six pitchers combined on a four-hitter, giving the Atlanta Braves a 9-2 victory Wednesday night over the Los Angeles Dodgers and a commanding 3-1 lead in the NL Championship Series.Game 5 is Thursday at Dodger Stadium, with the Braves one win from their first pennant in 22 years and the defending World Series champions facing elimination. Last year, the Dodgers trailed 0-2 and 1-3 against the Braves in the NLCS before roaring back to win three straight games and claim the pennant at a neutral site in Arlington, Texas.They'll need to jump-start their offense to have a shot. Their first five hitters — Mookie Betts, Corey Seager, NL batting champion Trea Turner, Will Smith and Gavin Lux — were a combined 0 for 17.Rosario became the first player to have two four-hit games in a League Championship Series. He drove in four runs while continuing his torrid postseason hitting, finishing a double short of the cycle. He homered in the second, tripled in the third, singled in the fifth and clocked a three-run homer in the ninth. The left fielder has hit in every game of this postseason, collecting 14 hits so far. He has struck out once.The Braves' four homers tied a postseason franchise record.Each of the series' first three games was decided by one run in the last two innings.But when it got late, the Dodgers couldn't generate any comeback magic this time. Atlanta opener Jesse Chavez combined with Drew Smyly, Chris Martin, A.J. Minter and Tyler Matzek and Will Smith to hold down the Dodgers' offense. Los Angeles didn't get a hit until the fifth and was limited to one the rest of the way.The Braves wasted no time in jumping all over 20-game winner Julio Urías, who gave up three homers in just 2 2/3 innings. It was the second time he gave up that many in his career; the first time was in his second major league game in 2016.Rosario drove an 0-2 pitch into the left-field pavilion leading off the second and Adam Duvall followed with a shot to center, the first time the Braves homered back-to-back in the postseason since Oct. 3, 2002, against San Francisco in Game 2 of the NL Division Series.Freddie Freeman went deep leading off the third. Two outs later, Rosario tripled to deep right on a two-strike pitch, sliding headfirst into the bag. Duvall was intentionally walked and Joc Pederson singled to center, scoring Rosario for a 4-0 lead. The Dodgers closed to 5-2 in the fifth on pinch-hitter AJ Pollock's two-out, two-run single. Justin Turner singled for their first hit of the game and Cody Bellinger followed with a single and stolen base. Freeman's RBI double in the ninth made it 6-2 before Rosario went deep.Urías didn't record a strikeout until the fourth, when Dansby Swanson and Freeman went down swinging back-to-back to end the left-hander's first clean inning. Urías gave up five runs and eight hits in five innings. He struck out three and walked three.Urías started on two days' rest, having thrown an inning of relief in Game 2 at Atlanta. He gave up two runs on three hits, including a tying double to Austin Riley.Duvall robbed Lux of a home run with a leaping catch at the wall in center in the second. Duvall went to the warning track in the seventh to catch a ball hit by Bellinger, who hit a tying, three-run homer in the Dodgers' eighth-inning rally that helped win Game 3 on Tuesday.