Braves' 1st playoff loss a doozy, 15-3 to LA in NLCS Game 3

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — The Baby Braves were the Battered Braves in their first loss of these playoffs.

Now the young pitchers who had been so poised and effective in the postseason will have to try to get Atlanta back on track.

Rookie starter Kyle Wright and the Braves gave up a postseason-record 11 runs in the first inning of a 15-3 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers in Game 3 of the NL Championship Series on Wednesday night.

The 15 runs allowed in the first three innings were more than the Braves permitted in their first seven postseason games combined. And those 13 previous runs included seven scored by Los Angeles in the final three innings of Atlanta's 8-7 win in Game 2.

The Braves will have to remind themselves they still lead the series 2-1, with Game 4 on Thursday night in the first NLCS with no days off since 1978, and the first ever at a neutral site, the home of the Texas Rangers.

Wright gave up seven runs while getting just two outs after Atlanta starters allowed only five runs over 38 2/3 innings in the first seven playoff games.

The 25-year-old right-hander had one of the five scoreless starts for the Braves, who fell one win short of Kansas City's record eight straight victories to start the 2014 postseason.

Left-hander Grant Dayton replaced Wright and yielded eight runs in two innings, making them the second pair of teammates in postseason history to allow at least seven runs in the same game. Bartolo Colon (seven runs) and Steve Reed (eight) did it with Cleveland in a 23-7 loss to Boston in Game 4 of the 1999 ALDS.

Before this meltdown, Wright and 22-year-old Ian Anderson had given the Braves a pair of impressive rookie pitchers to go with young offensive stars Ronald Acuña Jr. and Ozzie Albies.

Wright pitched six scoreless innings in his postseason...

source https://www.chron.com/sports/article/Braves-1st-playoff-loss-a-doozy-15-3-to-LA-in-15649009.php