THE only 20-game game winner in the major leagues came through in the Atlanta Braves’ time of need on Wednesday (Thursday in Manila).
Kyle Wright pitched six scoreless innings as the Braves beat the visiting Philadelphia Phillies 3-0 to even their National League Division Series at one game apiece.
The Phillies won the opener 7-6 on Tuesday (Wednesday in Manila), and with the second game scoreless into the sixth inning, they had thoughts of heading home with a 2-0 lead in the best-of-five series.
Wright (1-0) made sure that didn’t happen.
The 27-year-old right-hander, who went 21-5 during the regular season, allowed two hits and one walk while striking out six. He threw 83 pitches, 52 of them for strikes. It was his seventh scoreless start of the year.
While the Braves were winning a World Series championship last year, Wright made just two postseason appearances. Both came in relief during the Fall Classic against the Houston Astros, when he pitched to a 1.59 ERA.
“I had success in the postseason last year, but to do it as a start, that was pretty cool to me,” Wright said. “I think I’ve worked on a lot of things this year. Really just goes back to confidence.
“I feel I had the confidence to pitch at this stage. (The Phillies have) a really good lineup and I knew that. But I knew if I executed then I was going to give myself a chance, and I really believe that.”
In the other game, Jurickson Profar hit a go-ahead single in the sixth inning, Manny Machado and Jake Cronenworth homered and the San Diego Padres evened the National League Division Series at one win apiece with a 5-3 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers.
The Padres’ bullpen delivered four more scoreless innings after tossing 5 1/3 shutout frames in Game 1 of the best-of-five set. San Diego earned its first-ever postseason victory against Los Angeles in five tries.
“Ever since (Tuesday) night, they have been awesome, coming in and pounding the strike zone,” Cronenworth said of the San Diego relievers. “They’re pitching great when they come into the game with runners on base. I think that has been the difference-maker for us.”
Freddie Freeman, Max Muncy and Trea Turner homered for the Dodgers, who won a franchise-best 111 games in the regular season but now must win twice in three games in order to advance.
Padres starter Yu Darvish (2-0) allowed three runs on seven hits over five-plus innings with two walks and seven strikeouts.
Dodgers starter Clayton Kershaw gave up three runs on six hits in five innings with no walks and six strikeouts.
“I had some traffic all day and it could have been a lot worse for sure,” Kershaw said. “I definitely made some mistakes that they made me pay for. Overall, I’d like to have a few pitches back.”
Unlike Game 1, when the Dodgers grabbed the early lead, the Padres went up first on Machado’s opening-inning home run to left, his second of the postseason.
The Braves’ bullpen closed out a three-hitter. A.J Minter pitched a perfect seventh, Raisel Iglesias worked around a hit in the eighth and Kenley Jansen retired the side in order in the ninth to earn a save. It was Jansen’s 20th career postseason save. — Field Level Media
