ATLANTA — When Mike Foltynewicz was summering in the minor leagues, it was hard to envision an October like this.
Yet there he was Friday, coming through when Atlanta needed it most.
Foltynewicz threw seven dominating innings, Adam Duvall hit a pinch-hit homer and the Braves evened the NL Division Series with a 3-0 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals in Game 2.
After spending a good chunk of his summer at Triple-A Gwinnett, Foltynewicz has been a different pitcher since returning from the minors. He went 6-1 with a 2.65 ERA over his last 10 starts — a brilliant run that carried right into the postseason.
“Pretty special,” Foltynewicz said. “I really made sure to slow things down, to stay in my mechanics and make sure all my pitches were working like they were tonight. It was smooth sailing, so it was a lot of fun.”
The best-of-five series now shifts to St. Louis, where Mike Soroka goes for the Braves in Game 3 on Sunday against Adam Wainwright.
Facing St. Louis ace Jack Flaherty, who had one of the great second halves in baseball history, Foltynewicz allowed three hits, struck out seven and walked none during an 83-pitch outing that kept the Cardinals from mounting any semblance of offense.
He only allowed one runner as far as second base — and that wasn’t even his fault. In the second, Yadier Molina singled and Braves second baseman Ozzie Albies extended the inning by misplaying Paul DeJong’s grounder for an error.
No problem. Foltynewicz fanned Harrison Bader to end the threat.
After Kolten Wong hit into a double play to wrap up the seventh, Duvall emerged from the dugout to hit for Foltynewicz in the bottom half.
Duvall was greeted by a smattering of boos from the SunTrust Park crowd that clearly wanted Foltynewicz to go at least one more inning — especially after the Braves bullpen imploded the night before in a Game 1 loss.
The heckles turned to cheers when Duvall drove a 3-2 pitch from Flaherty into the center-field seats for a two-run homer, giving the Braves a bit of breathing room.
“I heard 50,000 people let me know that they wanted Folty to stay in the game,” Duvall quipped. “I wanted to put together a good at-bat.”
Josh Donaldson drove in Atlanta’s other run with a two-out single in the first.
“I don’t look at what that other guy is doing,” Flaherty said. “It came down to really two pitches.”
An All-Star in 2018 who started two games for the Braves in last year’s playoffs, Foltynewicz was demoted to the minors in late June with a record of 2-5 and 6.37 ERA. He didn’t return until early August.
“It’s pretty cool to see for a guy that went through what he went through this year and where he’s come back from,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said.
Duvall spent nearly the entire season at Triple-A, so it wouldn’t be a stretch to say this was as much a victory for the Gwinnett Stripers as the Braves.
Max Fried, normally a starter and pitching on back-to-back days for the first time all season, breezed through the eighth before turning it over to Mark Melancon, who gave up four runs in the ninth inning of the series opener, sending the Braves to a 7-6 loss.
Melancon surrendered a pair of one-out singles, drawing groans from the crowd, but he struck out Molina and Wong to earn the second postseason save of his career.
Yet this one will be remembered for Foltynewicz outdueling Flaherty, who had surrendered three runs only one time in 15 second-half starts.
The 23-year-old right-hander went 7-2 with an 0.91 ERA after the All-Star break, a minuscule figure surpassed only by Jake Arrieta (0.75) for the 2015 Chicago Cubs and Greg Maddux (0.87) for the 1994 Braves.
Flaherty was the NL pitcher of the month for both August and September.
Foltynewicz has the upper hand in October.
ASTROS 6, RAYS 2
HOUSTON — Asked what went wrong for his Tampa Bay Rays, manager Kevin Cash invented a word.
“We got Verlandered,” Cash said.
Justin Verlander looked every bit the October ace, Jose Altuve polished his postseason resume and the Houston Astros kept rolling, beating the Rays 6-2 Friday to open their AL Division Series.
The Astros, who won a franchise-record 107 games for the best record in the majors, began their quest for a second World Series title in three years against a Rays team that downed Oakland 5-1 in the wild-card game this week.
Verlander kept up his dominant run this year when he posted an MLB-most 21 wins and fanned 300, allowing just a soft single in seven shutout innings. He struck out eight and improved to 8-0 in 12 career ALDS appearances — he’s 14-7 overall in postseason play.
He cracked up when told Cash used his performance to turn his name into a verb.
“It’s a pretty great compliment,” Verlander said. “I don’t know what else to say, other than that.”
Tampa Bay got its only hit off Verlander when Brandon Lowe singled to start the fifth. Verlander ended his day by striking out the side in the seventh, pounding his fist into his glove as he walked off the mound after fanning Lowe.
Manager AJ Hinch was asked about Verlander’s knack for getting stronger late in games.
“He’s got an incredible instinct for the moment,” he said. “He leaves some gas in his gas tank at the end of his outings … like a good sprinter, like at the finish line, he’s going to win. He’s going to win the race at the end of his outings.”
Rays starter Tyler Glasnow had given up just three singles when he walked Josh Reddick on four pitches to begin the fifth. He struck out George Springer, but Altuve then tagged him for a two-run homer, lining a fastball into the left field seats.
“I just left that pitch up and it was a two-run home run,” Glasnow said. “Hindsight, I would go back and change some things, but can’t do anything about it now.”
The sellout crowd of 43,360, which included Astros Hall of Famers Nolan Ryan and Craig Biggio, erupted into deafening cheers and fans twirled bright orange towels as Altuve trotted around the bases, a huge grin plastered on his face.
Altuve has homered in Game 1 of the ALDS for three straight years — including three against Boston in the 2017 opener — and the small-but-powerful second baseman now has nine home runs in 33 career postseason games.
“Just breaking through with the big swing for Jose doesn’t surprise me,” Hinch said. “It’s like clockwork, every ALDS it seems like he busts out with a really good game.”
Game 2 is Saturday when Gerrit Cole, who has won 16 straight decisions and led the majors in strikeouts, starts against Tampa Bay’s Blake Snell.
NATIONALS 4, DODGERS 2
LOS ANGELES — Stephen Strasburg turned in another dominant playoff outing, Max Scherzer overpowered Los Angeles for an inning out of the bullpen and the Washington Nationals held off the Dodgers 4-2 Friday night to even their NL Division Series at a game apiece.
Scherzer struck out the side in the eighth, but Washington’s shaky bullpen still ran into trouble. Daniel Hudson labored through the ninth, loading the bases with two outs before striking out Corey Seager for the save. The tense final inning also included a twisting, falling grab by third baseman Anthony Rendon on Cody Bellinger’s pop fly in shallow left field, as well as a gutsy intentional walk by manager Dave Martinez that brought the winning run to bat.
Game 3 is back in Washington on Sunday night, where Scherzer will face major league ERA leader Hyun-Jin Ryu.
Pitching on the shortest rest of his career, Strasburg took a perfect game into the fifth inning while outdueling Clayton Kershaw. Strasburg pitched one-run ball for six innings and struck out 10, lowering his career postseason ERA to 0.64 — the best in history for players with at least four starts. He edged out Dodgers great Sandy Koufax (0.95 ERA), who watched from the front row.
Rookie Will Smith broke up Strasburg’s perfect bid with a two-out single. The three-time All-Star allowed his first earned run in 23 consecutive postseason innings dating to the 2014 NLDS against San Francisco and limited Los Angeles to three hits and no walks.
Scherzer came on for the eighth and punched out Gavin Lux, Chris Taylor and Joc Pederson on 14 pitches. The 35-year-old right-hander threw 77 pitches in the NL wild-card game Tuesday, yet he topped out at 99 mph in his fourth career playoff relief appearance.
Justin Turner led off the ninth with a ground-rule double off Hudson, spurring hope from a sellout crowd of 53,086. A.J. Pollock struck out, and then Bellinger popped up to shallow left. Rendon misjudged the ball but recovered and made the catch while he tumbled over. The goateed All-Star smiled wide as he stood.
Martinez intentionally walked Max Muncy, who hit a solo shot off Sean Doolittle in the seventh, before Hudson walked Will Smith to load the bases. Seager fouled off four fastballs before Hudson got him to swing over a slider.
Los Angeles struck out 17 times.