In today’s FOX Sports Insider with Martin Rogers: What type of advantage do the Braves have heading back home with the World Series tied at 1-1? ... we take a look at Clippers rookie Jason Preston, who used to blog on the NBA ... and we are treated to a must-see video featuring Pro Football Hall of Famer Bruce Smith.
We all like being at home, don’t we?
Perhaps more than ever, we are working from home, shopping from home, spending most of our time at home, buying new homes, decorating our home and just being, in many cases, happier at home than any other place.
In sports, home is where the heart is, right? For the longest time in our favorite leagues and competitions, playing at home came with not just the benefit of comfort, but with a greatly enhanced probability of success.
But things are a little different now. Across sports there is evidence things are a-changing, at least for now and maybe forever. There are a multitude of numbers to crunch, and we’ll get to the crunching shortly, but most of them suggest being a road warrior is no longer the kind of uphill struggle it once was.
However, the Atlanta Braves hope the old way persists for a little bit longer.
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With the World Series delicately poised at 1-1 but the Houston Astros coming off a surge in momentum after dominating Wednesday night’s Game 2, 7-2, common opinion suggests the Braves need to either finish things off at home over Friday, Saturday and Sunday, or at least come away with a pair of victories and a slender advantage heading back to Houston.
“Realistically, you want to win (the first) two games of the series,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said on Wednesday night. “But if you can split and get out of here and go home, where we've been really good, that's a positive.”
During the regular season, Atlanta held an unremarkable home record of 42-38, but have caught fire at Truist Park recently. The Braves have won 10 of their last 11 at home, going a perfect 5-0 in the postseason.
“You got to say Atlanta has the edge in Atlanta, but when you are facing a team like Houston anything can happen,” Hall of Famer and FOX Sports MLB Analyst Frank Thomas said. “Atlanta will feel a little more pressure at home, but we see that crowd in Atlanta, the edge will go … to them.”
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FOX Sports colleague Alex Rodriguez insisted on the broadcast that the Braves are well set up to secure at least two games at home and move the franchise to within a single victory of its first title since 1995. Right hander Ian Anderson will start Game 3 on Friday ( 8:09 p.m. ET on FOX), while ace Max Fried could return on short rest for Game 5. Luis Garcia will try to throw fire for the Astros in Friday’s matchup.
For Houston, it has been the Michael Brantley show through two games in this series and throughout the entire playoffs. The Astros’ star outfielder is hitting .352 this postseason and has two hits in each of the first two games of this World Series matchup.
On the other side, all eyes will be on five-time All-Star Freddie Freeman, who is chasing that elusive, first World Series ring, as well as outfielder Eddie Rosario, who has been nothing short of spectacular throughout this postseason.
Yet while the Braves would certainly rather be facing three home games than not, it is hard to know what’s what these days.
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Being at home is still a clear advantage. Or is it? Some peculiar things have been happening, both in baseball and elsewhere.
Houston’s win at Minute Maid Park was the first time since Game 3 of the 2018 World Series that the home team had prevailed, breaking a streak of 10 road victories and last year’s COVID-enforced neutral site games.
In the National Football League, the oddsmakers typically skew their lines based on who is at home, but that trust hasn’t paid off recently. Home teams are just 53-54 this season, similar to the 127-128-1 record from last year, an all-time low.
A reduction in fans due to COVID may have been part of the reason, though other factors such as better officiating and enhanced travel and sleep may have led to better road performances.
The NBA is typically home court heavy, but in the early stages of the current campaign, home teams have won just 30 out of 64 times, going into Thursday’s games.
Amid all that equality, this MLB postseason has been somewhat of an outlier, with home teams sporting a 22-11 record to date. Amid so much conflicting data though, would you be brave enough to put your faith in that trend holding up – and in the Braves?
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FOX Bet has Atlanta listed at -115 for Game 3, almost identical to Houston’s price of -105.
“Playoff numbers don’t matter,” Astros star Jose Altuve said. “You have to stay positive you have to wait until your time has come and that’s the way we all are. We are thinking about winning. We are going to go to Atlanta and win as many games as possible.”
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Here’s what others have said ...
Pedro Moura, FOX Sports: “The biggest difference between the Braves and Astros was the trajectory of their seasons. The Braves were bad early and mediocre for a while until they came alive after the deadline. The Astros were steadily solid.”
Jose Altuve, Houston Astros: “The fans are the No. 1 reason why we play the game.”
Sarah Langs, MLB: “Truist Park will be the 6th ballpark where the Braves will play World Series home games, TWO MORE than any other franchise!” |
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Just last week, we shared a post in this section of the newsletter highlighting a postgame exchange between Kyler Murray and Myles Garrett, where Murray asked the Cleveland Browns pass rusher why he put him in his “QB Graveyard.” Murray was referencing a Halloween graveyard Garrett put together outside his house, featuring several quarterbacks across the NFL. Now, former Buffalo Bills legend Bruce Smith shared his QB graveyard, and it is on another level. Check out this tweet, which shows names like Drew Bledsoe, John Elway and Dan Marino, along with many others. “Myles, I was inspired by your graveyard,” Smith says in the video before the camera pans out to show all the graves. “To you and all my fellow pass rushers, keep hunting.” |
| New York Knicks at Chicago Bulls (NBA TV, 8 p.m. ET)
Julius Randle and the New York Knicks take on DeMar DeRozan and the Chicago Bulls.
Green Bay Packers at Arizona Cardinals (FOX, 8:20 p.m. ET)
Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers go up against Kyler Murray and the Arizona Cardinals on Thursday Night Football. |
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Odds provided by FOX Bet
Ole Miss at Auburn: Ole Miss +2.5
Via FOX Sports Betting Analyst Sam Panayotovich:
Rinse, repeat. Rinse, repeat. I absolutely love this Rebels team. My affection for them dates back to the preseason when I placed wagers on Over 7.5 wins and Matt Corral +2500 for the Heisman. And I'm keeping my foot on the gas.
This Ole Miss offense is electric, and the speed and tempo they attack defenses with are extremely tough to stop. Plus, Corral is one of the most dynamic players in the country, and he's the type of player I want to have the ball with the game on the line.
"There are also rumors about a bunch of defensive suspensions at Auburn for Saturday's showdown. So I'll gladly take the points in a game where I made Ole Miss a 3-point road favorite. |
| | “Love is the most important thing in the world, but baseball is pretty good too.” — Yogi Berra |
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