Ian Anderson talks about his outstanding start against the Reds

Ian Anderson: Made his seventh career start today, including his first in the postseason…At 22 years, 152 days, Anderson became the third youngest pitcher to ever start a postseason game for the Braves…Steve Avery, who started four games at 21 years old in 1991, and Mike Soroka (22 years, 63 days), who started last season’s Game 3 of the NLDS are the only younger starters to take the ball for Atlanta in a playoff game…Anderson is the only Braves pitcher in history to start a postseason game with six or fewer career appearances.

Anderson pitched 6.0 shutout innings in the start, allowing just two hits and two walks while striking out nine…He became just the fourth player in franchise history to throw at least 6.0 scoreless frames in their playoff debut, joining Steve Avery (1991), Johnny Sain (1948) and Bill James (1914), and is the only Braves rookie to do so…Anderson’s nine strikeouts matched Avery for the most by a Braves pitcher in his playoff debut.

Anderson’s 6.0 scoreless innings followed Game 1 starter Max Fried’s 7.0 scoreless yesterday…They are the first Braves teammates with back-to-back scoreless starts in the playoffs since Steve Avery and John Smoltz in Game 6 and Game 7 of the 1991 NLCS versus Pittsburgh…The Braves would hang on to shut out the Pirates in both of those games, which stands as the last pair of back-to-back playoff shutouts for the Braves prior to this series…The Braves are the first team to throw consecutive shutouts in the postseason since the Brewers and Dodgers both did so in 2018…That 2018 Dodgers club is the last team to open the postseason with consecutive shutouts, and they did so against Atlanta.