ATLANTA — You wonder, in sports, how the little things might have made a big difference.
Maybe in Game 2, with two men on and one out in the top of the first, if Freddie Freeman or Eddie Rosario get a big hit and the Braves score a couple runs, things go differently.
Maybe it gives Max Fried a boost, and he goes six or seven innings strong and the Braves go up 2-0 in the World Series.
That's not how it went, in any case. Fried came out getting hit hard by the Astros bats from the get-go, and was probably lucky to escape the first with only one run allowed.
Game 2 at a glance
- Final score: Astros win 7-2
- Winning pitcher: Houston's Jose Urquidy, who struck out seven in five innings and allowed two runs
- Losing pitcher: Atlanta's Max Fried, who gave up six runs in five innings of work on seven hits and a walk
- Astros player of the game: Jose Altuve, who went 2-5 with a home run
- Braves player of the game: Travis D'Arnaud, who went 2-4 with a home run
An inning later, he wasn't as lucky, and Houston plated four more and that was effectively the ball game.
The Astros won by a final score of 7-2, bringing the World Series level at 1-1 with the series headed to Atlanta for Games 3-5.
Despite the dud feeling of Wednesday night, it's important not to lose perspective: The Braves did what they needed to do in Houston, taking a game on the road and giving them a chance to take control of the series back home in Atlanta.
There's also reason for concern: For the second big game in a row, Fried looked overwhelmed by the moment. A couple bad defensive miscues didn't help his cause, but he also simply wasn't fooling Houston's hitters.
He'll have to start at least one more game of this series, so if the Braves want to win the title they'll very likely need better out of him next time.
With Charlie Morton now out for the rest of the series following his devastating injury in Game 1, Fried pretty solidly becomes the Braves' most important pitcher going forward.
Whether he can shake off the last two starts and be the same pitcher who was basically Atlanta's ace this season may be the deciding factor in the 2021 World Series.