
Luis Garcia starts for the Houston Astros tonight against Atlanta Braves’ starter Ian Anderson in Game 3 of the 2021 World Series. GAME TIME: 8:09 PM ET.
Dusty Baker did not panic after the Houston Astros’ Game 1 loss in the 117th World Series, and his club bounced back and beat the Atlanta Braves in Game 2, evening up the best-of-seven series before the venue shifted from Minute Maid to Truist Park, where the Fall Classic continues tonight (8:09 ET on FOX).
“I think human nature is to overreact,” Baker said on Thursday, after the Astros’ 7-2 win on Wednesday night. “Personally. It’s sort of short-sighted and you just see the feeling that you have at the moment. Right now, what is it, best three out of five now? We went from best four out of seven, now it’s best three out of five. That’s how you’ve got to look at it, whether you lose three still, you’ve got to win four.
“I’ll never forget like last year, we lost three, and damn near could have won four. I remember the Yankees in Boston, and they won four. So you’ve got to get to one at a time.”
Braves’ manager Brian Snitker echoed Baker’s take in his own workout day press conference on Thursday, after his club returned home to Atlanta.
“Every game is such a separate entity,” Snitker explained. “I think it lasts a couple hours after a big win, but then it’s kind of turn the page. I think that’s really true. That momentum is as good as your next day starter pretty much.
“I think you just — you don’t get tied up in that. When you play 162 games, if you get on those swings or whatever, you’ll drive yourself crazy, and you’ve just got to kind of take it a day at a time. I think you do this too. Yesterday didn’t go the way we wanted it, take a day off, and we’ve got a new day and a game to win tomorrow.
“So I think our guys do a really good job of compartmentalizing that and living in the present.”
Baker too, asked about each game being a “separate entity” as Snitker described it, said that seems to be the case now more than ever.
“Yeah, it’s gotten more and more with that recently,” Baker told reporters. “Guys have a shorter leash on everybody. They’re pinch-hitting more. I mean, we have more in today’s society, I think, you know what I mean? Where you’re worried less about tomorrow. I believe in living for today, but I also believe in preparing for tomorrow because, if not, you just go spend up your whole paycheck today and don’t worry about paying bills on the next day.
“So you’ve got to kind of live for today, but you also try to prepare for tomorrow. There’s some guys that they saved over there that they could have brought in to try to save that game, and we have some guys over here that I could have brought in that didn’t really need to, trying to hedge on going through your whole bullpen for tomorrow.”
Snitker said he and his team are happy to be back in Atlanta, where the home crowd will be able to cheer the club on and provide a home field advantage.
“I think it’s real. Braves Country is real. It’s been around for a while, for a lot, a lot of years,” he said.
“This has been a special area, what the Atlanta Braves bring. The fans have come out in droves.
“As I say, it’s a great place to play. The players — I don’t know that this group needs a lot more energy than what they have, but I think they can draw on the energy of the crowd, and they enjoy it and appreciate it.”
GAME 3 of the 2021 World Series starts at 8:09 PM ET tonight in Atlanta’s Truist Park…