ATLANTA — The stadium went dark. Cellphones became glaring white lights. The chanting and tomahawking started again.
The 2021 Astros were knocked into a hole that might end them.
How much can this team overcome?
How much does Dusty Baker’s club have left in it, after all the national hate and nastiness that always shadows it, all the playoff deficits and near-defeats?
Dansby Swanson changed Game 4 with one big swing in the bottom of the seventh inning Saturday night at Truist Park. Jorge Soler followed that home run with a line-drive gut punch, blasting a shot that barely cleared the left-field wall and flew just out of Yordan Alvarez’s reach.
Four brilliant throwback innings from Zack Greinke were history. Astros 2-1 was suddenly Braves 3-2.
But this number was even darker: Atlanta 3-1 in the World Series.
After a stunning comeback victory Saturday, Brian Snitker’s refuse-to-lose Braves can close out this Fall Classic on Sunday.
There’s no guarantee the Astros are returning to Minute Maid Park this season. And unless Jose Altuve, Carlos Correa and Co. can discover three consecutive victories that change everything, the 2021 Astros are done.
Game 4 at Fenway Park in the American League Championship Series ultimately sent the Astros to the World Series.
Game 4 of the World Series was a series-tying win for six strong innings.
Then Swanson homered. Then Soler happened. Then the Astros were 27 outs away from another lost World Series.
The chop and chanting were back for Game 4. The new version of Braves Country buzzed as 8 p.m. approached, with concourses backing up and Saturday night kicking in in suburban Atlanta.
Throw in a distant appearance by former President Donald Trump, and Game 4 initially promised more excitement than the Braves’ tight 2-0 victory on Friday.
Correa insisted his Astros would be ready.
“It just feels like we want to go out there and win it,” Correa said. “It’s really hard to get to a World Series. Three years out of five, it’s pretty special. It will be even more special if we can win it. We didn’t win the last one, that one still hurts, so we want to make sure we go out there (Saturday), get this win, and keep going and hopefully win this one.”
Dylan Lee, who entered the evening with just 42/3 innings of big league experience, made it through1/3 of an inning in Game 4. Kyle Wright took over with one out and the bases loaded, handing the Astros an early lead via a Correa grounder but also preventing serious damage.
The Greinke Show began.
A smooth first. A single up the middle by the Astros’ No. 8 hitter in the second. Another scoreless Braves frame in the bottom of that inning. It was 1-0 Astros into the third and the club’s former ace was rolling, finally looking like himself again in Game 4.
The only issue for the Astros: After ending up with two weak hits in Game 3, they started Game 4 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position and left seven on base.
Altuve backed the 2009 AL Cy Young winner in the fourth. After swinging hard through a 93 mph first-pitch strike, Altuve followed with a deep shot to center field that forced Adam Duvall to sprint backward and handed Greinke a 2-0 advantage.
The crafty righthander responded with another big double play, getting Joc Pederson to ground out after an Austin Riley single.
It was still 2-0 Astros into the fifth, with Greinke at 58 pitches on the two-year anniversary of his masterful Game 7 for the Astros in the 2019 World Series.
“It’s super valuable to have a future Hall of Famer throwing for you,” Alex Bregman said after Game 3. “He’s pitched in big situations. He’s pitched great for us in the World Series before. So we have a ton of confidence in him and we want to play good defense behind him and give him some run support.”
The real support never appeared. The Astros also left themselves vulnerable to late-inning disaster in Game 4.
Swanson ignited a dulled and deflated Truist Park. Soler followed those fireworks with a go-ahead barrage off Cristian Javier.
The stadium lights went out, the cellphones lights started glaring and the chanting blended with the tomahawks.
The Braves were one win away from a world championship in their ballpark.
The 2021 Astros were down to their last life.
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