ATLANTA – The Houston Astros were held to two hits by a combination of five Atlanta Braves pitchers, falling 2-0 in Game 3, and as a result, now trail the World Series 2-1.
Aledmys Diaz broke up the no-hit bid with a bloop single to left field in the eighth inning that landed just in front of Eddie Rosario. The Braves had been working on a possible combined no-hitter that would have been the first no-hitter in World Series history since Don Larsen’s perfect game in 1956.
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Atlanta got on the board in the third inning, when Austin Riley doubled home Rosario. Astros starting pitcher Luis Garcia escaped further trouble by striking out Travis d’Arnaud with the bases loaded to end the threat.
That kept the game close. The Astros’ best opportunity came in the 8th inning after Diaz got his hit. Jose Siri came into the game as a pinch runner, stole second and advanced to third on an error on that play, but was stranded when Michael Brantley popped out to shallow left.
Then, in the bottom of the eighth, d’Arnaud got a bit of redemption for his earlier strikeout by hitting a solo shot off Astros reliever Kendall Graveman.
Braves starting pitcher Ian Anderson did not give up a hit through five innings before giving way to A.J. Minter in the sixth. Minter was followed by Luke Jackson and then by Matzek, who then gave up the hit to Diaz. Will Smith gave up a hit to Alex Bregman in the ninth, but proceeded to close out the Astros.
Game 4 will be played Saturday night, with the first pitch scheduled for 7:09 CT. You can see the full World Series schedule here.