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The one-day break is finally behind us as baseball is officially back. The World Series has moved to Truist Park for the next three games and both teams have one victory apiece. With a win, the Astros are hoping to force Game 6 at Minute Maid Park, but the Braves don’t want to go back to Houston with such an electrifying crowd against them.
With Luis García and Ian Anderson as the starting pitchers tonight, this will be just the fifth World Series game in the last 24 years with both starters being under 25 years of age — the most recent came on October 30, 2015, with the matchup between Noah Syndergaard and Yordano Ventura. So you got interesting facts from the beginning.
For Game 3, the Astros are going to have a pretty powerful, dangerous lineup against Anderson. Without the designated hitter, Yordan Álvarez removed the dusk off his glove and is set to cover left field while Kyle Tucker and Michael Brantley were moved to center and right, respectively.
Lineups
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Starters
Luis García, RHP
Regular Season: 11-8, 3.30 ERA, 167 K’s
Postseason: 1-1, 9.64 ERA, 12 K’s
García looked awful in the ALDS against White Sox and in Game 2 of the ALCS vs Red Sox. But right when people thought he was out of gas to keep going, he looked like the best version of himself facing the Red Sox and firing 5 2/3 shutout innings of one-hit ball and seven strikeouts. After struggling in the regular season against lefties, García’s toughest challenge tonight could be keeping the first three men of the lineup off balance: Eddie Rosario, Freedie Freeman, and Ozzie Albies.
Ian Anderson, RHP
Regular Season: 9-5, 3.58 ERA, 124 K’s
Postseason: 1-0, 2.25 ERA, 12 K’s
While Anderson has been better than García in October, he won’t probably be the guy the Braves use for six or seven innings tonight. So if he fails to handle pressure and the Astros got him in the early innings, the bullpen might come sooner than expected. In his last five postseason starts, Anderson has gotten to the fifth inning just once, a key point the Astros should have in mind.
How to Watch
Friday, October 29th @ 7:09 pm CT
Listen: Astros - KBME 790 AM/94.5 FM HD-2, KTRH 740 AM/99.1 FM HD-2, ESPN Radio, TUDN 93.3/KLAT 1010 / Braves - 680 AM/93.7 FM The Fan, WNNX 100.5, Braves Radio Network, ESPN Radio, La Mejor 1600/1460/1130 AM
Watch: FOX, FOX-INT