Braves' pitcher A.J. Minter on the greatest three innings of his life
A.J. Minter made his first professional start and pitched 3.0 scoreless innings, allowing just one hit and fanning seven…Per Elias, Minter became the first pitcher in major league history to make his first career start in the postseason…All of his 221 professional appearances, between the regular season and postseason, had been made in relief…He last started a game in 2015, making four starts during his junior season at Texas A&M and going 2-0 with a 0.43 ERA (1 ER/21.0 IP).
Minter became the first pitcher in postseason history to strike out at least seven batters in an outing of three innings or fewer, and just the fourth pitcher in franchise history to do so in any game…Jesse Biddle was the last to do so, fanning eight Nationals in 3.0 innings of relief on June 2, 2018…Minter fanned five consecutive batters to end his outing, tying the NLCS record.
The Braves and Dodgers continued their best-of-seven National League Championship Series tonight with their fifth meeting of the season...Atlanta and Los Angeles did not play during the regular season, and last met in 2019...The Braves went 2-4 in six games against the Dodgers last season, getting swept at Dodger Stadium and winning two-of-three in Atlanta…The Braves and Dodgers have met three times in postseason play, all of which have come in the Division Series...Atlanta swept Los Angeles in the 1996 NLDS, while Los Angeles has won each of the last two series, in 2013 and 2018, three-games-to-one.
Game 5: The Braves have lost each of their last seven Game 5s, and are 6-14 (.300) in these games overall…Atlanta has been outscored, 32-7, in its last three Game 5s…The Braves have lost 11 of their last 13 Game 5s, last winning in the 1998 NLCS, beating the Padres, 7-6.