The Astros and Braves finished their 2018 Postseason with a Game 163 that featured a historic finish, as the Astros won on walk-off home run by Alex Bregman. Clemens had only pitched in one postseason game before this game, so what was his role?
The “atlanta baseball team” is a professional baseball team in Atlanta, Georgia. The “atlanta baseball team” has been around since 1871 and has had many great players such as Hank Aaron, Dale Murphy, and John Smoltz. The “atlanta baseball team” is also the only Major League Baseball franchise to have won a World Series championship in four different decades.
The Atlanta Braves and Houston Astros will face off in the 2021 World Series, which will include a variety of compelling stories. Of then, there’s the Houston Astros, a team that many will never forgive for the 2017 cheating scandal that shook Major League Baseball to its core. They do, however, have a little nostalgia in the shape of Dusty Baker, the 72-year-old skipper who has accomplished everything a manager can do short of winning the World Series. Baker assumed over in Houston when A.J. Hinch was ousted as a result of the incident.
The Atlanta Braves (with whom Baker made his Major League Baseball debut in 1968) are in the World Series for the first time since 1999. And their manager, Brian Snitker, is no stranger to nostalgia, having joined the Braves as a player in 1977 but never making it to the major leagues. He moved about the system for decades after his release in 1980, managing in the minors while also serving three stints as a coach with the big club.
When Fredi Gonzalez was sacked in 2016, the Decatur, Illinois native was chosen interim manager before being named full-time skipper at the conclusion of the season. He was elected NL Manager of the Year in 2018 after leading Atlanta to the first of four straight playoff visits, the fourth of which is this World Series versus the Astros, who happen to employ his 32-year-old son, Troy, as a coach. So there’s that amusing anecdote.
We also have the reality that this isn’t the first time the Braves and Astros have met in the postseason, as they were regular opponents in the National League playoffs in the late 1990s and early 2000s. So, although there’s a lot of history being created this year with Baker and the Snitker family and other things, these two organizations have a lot of postseason history. In reality, the Braves’ last playoff game before the 2021 World Series created MLB history by including a Roger Clemens uncommon.
The Braves and Astros played 18 innings in Game 4 of the 2005 NLDS, establishing the mark for the longest playoff game in MLB history.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pnUCwt5 qPM
Before these 2021 World Series, the Braves and Astros last met in the playoffs in the 2005 NLDS. With a record of 90-72, Atlanta earned the second seed in the NL East, while Houston finished second in the NL Central behind the St. Louis Cardinals, earning the wild card position (there was only one at the time) with an 89-73 record.
By double up the Braves 10-5 in Game 1, the Astros seized a 1-0 lead in the best-of-five series. Atlanta came back to win Game 2 after roughing up Clemens, who had a league-leading 1.87 ERA during the regular season but gave up five runs and six hits in five innings in the 7-1 defeat. The Astros, on the other hand, rallied back with a 7-3 victory in Game 3, giving them a chance to clinch at home in Game 4.
And Game 4 turned out to be one of the most unpredictable games in baseball history. The Braves grabbed a 4-0 lead in the fourth inning on Adam LaRoche’s grand slam, and led 6-1 heading into the eighth inning. The Astros, on the other hand, scored a grand slam of their own from Lance Berkman to trim the advantage to one going into the ninth inning.
Houston was down to its last out after Atlanta failed to score when Brad Ausmus hit a game-tying home run off Kyle Farnsworth to send the game to extra innings. And we’re talking about a lot of extra innings here…nine to be precise.
The dramatic 16-inning fight in Game 6 of the 1986 NLCS between the Astros and the New York Mets, which the Mets clearly won, was the longest MLB playoff game in history at the time. However, Game 4 of the 2005 National League Division Series between the Braves and the Astros lasted 18 innings. With one out in the bottom of the 18th inning, rookie Chris Burke, who had hit five home runs in 108 regular-season games and only had two prior bat appearances in the series, blasted a game-winning home drive off Joey Devine to give the Astros a 7-6 victory.
And who was the winning pitcher on that particular night?
The Astros won thanks to Roger Clemens’ three-inning bullpen appearance.
Following the Houston Astros’ 18-inning triumph over the Atlanta Braves in Game 4 of the 2005 NLDS, Chris Burke and Roger Clemens | Doug Benc/Getty Images
When games go longer than an extra inning or two, managers must make decisions they aren’t accustomed to making. And, with Game 4 of the 2005 NLDS between the Braves and the Astros dragging on and on like an Energizer bunny, Bobby Cox and Phil Garner had to make some difficult choices.
Normally, Roger Clemens would not be anyone’s first option for a pinch-hitter role. But that’s precisely what he was doing at Minute Maid Park that night in the bottom of the 15th inning, performing a sacrifice bunt. And, despite the fact that the Astros had already used seven pitchers, “Rocket” remained in the game and took the mound in the top of the 16th inning. Clemens had only come out of the bullpen twice in his career, and it had been since his first season with the Boston Red Sox in 1984. In 2007, as a member of the New York Yankees, he came in in relief for the third and last time.
Clemens won the marathon in 2005 by pitching the 16th, 17th, and 18th innings, allowing only one hit and striking out four batters.
The Astros beat the Cardinals in the NLCS, but the Chicago White Sox swept them in the World Series.
Since then, two MLB playoff games have reached the 18th inning.
Two MLB playoff games have reached the 18th inning since the Astros upset the Braves in Game 4 of the 2005 NLDS.
In 2014, Game 2 of the National League Division Series between the San Francisco Giants and the Washington Nationals lasted 18 innings. Giants first baseman Brandon Belt homered off Tanner Roark in the top of the 18th inning at Nationals Park to break a 1-1 tie, and San Francisco held on for a 2-1 win to grab a 2-0 series lead. Tim Hudson, who started Game 4 of the 2005 National League Championship Series for the Braves, started this game for the Giants.
The World Series Game 3 between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Boston Red Sox reached the 18th inning in 2018. This game had 46 participants, including 18 pitchers, and was tied 1-1 after nine innings. The Red Sox scored in the top of the 13th inning, but LA answered with a run of their own in the bottom half.
Max Muncy’s walk-off home run in the bottom of the 18th inning against Nathan Eovaldi, who was pitching in relief, gave the Dodgers a 3-2 win. It was Los Angeles’ sole victory in the series.
Baseball Reference provided the statistics.
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