ATLANTA — The Atlanta Braves are at home Friday night for Game 3 of the World Series.
On Tuesday, the team took Game 1 of the World Series in Houston, with a pair of home runs and scattered insurance runs, lifting the team to a 6-2 win over the Astros. However, game 2 went in a different direction for the Braves, as 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.
Here's what you need to know going into Game 3:
Rookie starters get the spotlight
Luis Garcia is set to pitch for the Astros against Ian Anderson. Both of them threw well in the games their teams won to clinch these spots.
It will be the first World Series pairing of rookie starters since the 2006 opener.
That night, Anthony Reyes led St. Louis over Detroit and its newcomer, Justin Verlander. This season, Verlander was on Houston’s injured list while recovering from Tommy John surgery.
Unfamiliar territory for the Astros
The Astros haven't visited Truist Park since 2017, the year it opened, meaning many of their players will be seeing it for the first time. The Astros hoped to work out at the stadium Thursday to get familiar with the “dimensions and the caroms and the corners,” Baker said, but rain limited their activity.
The tarp covered the field all day and a few Astros tossed the ball in the outfield before the drizzle turned to showers. The temperatures were in the 50s — a far cry from Houston — and the same kind of weather was in the forecast for Game 3.
A tribute to a legend
Major League Baseball and the Braves will honor one of their own before the game begins. A short video will pay tribute to the late Hank Aaron, who died on Jan. 22 at the age of 85. Aaron's No. 44 has been painted on the grass in center field at Truist Park all season. It remains in big, bold green for Friday night's Game 3.
The video will be followed by Aaron's children heading to the mound, where Hank Jr. will throw out the first pitch.
One of Georgia's own will sing the National Anthem
The Atlanta Braves announced Zac Brown, of the Zac Brown Band, will perform the Star-Spangled Banner.
The Zac Brown Band is a multi-platinum and Grammy Award-winning country rock band that was formed in the early 2000s. They have released seven studio albums as a band. The 43-year-old singer-songwriter grew up in Cumming, Georgia, before moving to Dahlonega. He now reportedly lives in Atlanta.
If the Braves win tonight, they're likely to win the whole thing
Yes, you read that correctly, if the Braves clinch Game 3, they're statistically more likely to win the whole series.
The winner of the series is determined in a best of seven playoff and currently, the teams are 1-1.
However, according to MLB, of the 60 World Series that have started out with a tie, the winner of Game 3 winner has gone on to win the series 69% of the time.
An if that doesn't give Braves fans confidence, the team has won all five of their post-season games at home this year.
Game 3 is set to begin at 8:09 p.m. Friday at Truist Park.