Down three games to one, down 4-0 after the first inning, it wasn’t looking good for the Houston Astros.

But they had three things going for them.

One, their lineup is potent.

Two, it was only the first inning.

Three, Braves pitching is operating on fumes.

Atlanta started the game with Tucker Davidson, who pitched all of four games for the Braves in 2021. In fact, he wasn’t on the World Series roster at first. He watched Game 1 from a hotel near their ballpark. It was only when Charlie Morton broke his fibula and was lost for the Series that Davidson got added to the roster.

Like with Dylan Lee the night before, Tucker Davidson was overmatched. He was staked to a 4-0 lead he couldn’t hold. Neither could the rest of the Braves pitchers.

They gave up two in the second, two more in the third, three in the fifth, one in the seventh, one in the eighth.

One of the problems with this Parade of Relievers philosophy is every new arm you run out there has the chance to have an off night. And the more these guys pitch, the more familiar the other team’s hitters get with them.

That happened with A.J. Minter. He had a bad day. He entered in the fifth with his team up one and left with it down two.

Now Houston goes back home for Game 6 on Tuesday, still needing to avoid a loss but just needing to get back into the Braves bullpen.

Because when you run six pitchers out there a game, game after game, one of them is going to fail. 

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