2010 MLB Playoffs: Braves Vs. Giants NLDS Game 3 Viewing Guide
Time: 4:37pm ET
Starting Pitchers: RHP Tim Hudson vs. LHP Jonathan Sanchez
Series: 1-1
TV: TBS
TV Announcers: Dick Stockton and Bob Brenly
Radio: ESPN Radio
Radio Announcers: Chris Berman, Dave O’Brien, Rick Sutcliffe
Umpires: Dana DeMuth, Paul Nauert, Paul Emmel, Mike Winters, Jerry Layne, Ed Hickox
MLB.com Gameday: Link
Team Blogs: Talking Chop, McCovey Chronicles
Situation
For seven innings, it looked like the Braves would be returning home in a desperate 2-0 hole. Instead, they mounted an incredible comeback and won on a Rick Ankiel homer into McCovey Cove. The comeback and its conclusion breathed life into an uncomfortable dugout, and now the Giants might feel vulnerable for the first time in a calendar month. Suddenly, the Braves will turn to their ace with an opportunity to take the series lead and push the Giants to the brink.
Three Keys
(1) Jonathan Sanchez is what he's always been - he's a nibbler who knows he has strikeout stuff. Unlike his opponent, Sanchez won't pitch to contact, preferring instead to make people miss, and so the key for the Braves will be laying off all those pitches he puts outside of the zone. Sanchez doesn't have very good command. He can be beaten by a team with a disciplined eye. The Braves, though, got themselves in trouble by swinging at a lot of Tim Lincecum's junk, and they didn't do too great against Matt Cain either, so this could be a bad matchup. If the Braves try to be too aggressive against Sanchez, he'll keep them on the defensive.
(2) A good thing for the Braves - the Giants didn't swing well against Derek Lowe, and Tim Hudson is basically Derek Lowe. He's an absolute groundball machine against hitters from both sides, and this series has already demonstrated that that recipe can keep San Francisco quiet. And Hudson might be able to work a little deeper. As pedestrian as the Braves have looked at the plate for most of their first two games, the Giants haven't looked like world-beaters themselves, and Hudson has the sinker to stop rallies dead in their tracks.
(3) Through two games, Jason Heyward is 0-8 with four strikeouts. Short Chipper Jones and Martin Prado, the Braves need their big bats to come through even more than usual, and so far Heyward has not been up to the task. He has yet to make solid contact with a pitch, and he appears somewhat awkward and out of sorts. More than anything else, it's a small sample size. I don't believe that Heyward is succumbing to the playoff pressure. But he doesn't look good, and the Braves will need him to look good. Facing an effectively wild starter like Sanchez may not be the best situation for him to get it turned around.
