On a night when the Atlanta Braves’ organization honored the late Hank Aaron, game three of the 2021 World Series had statisticians instead invoking the names of Don Larsen and Roy Halladay. Braves starting pitcher Ian Anderson, a 23-year old rookie, pitched five hitless frames and carried his team to a 2-0 win over the Houston Astros giving the Braves a 2-1 Series lead at Truist Field.

Anderson was excellent throughout, allowing four strikeouts and three walks. He threw 76 pitches, 39 of them strikes. The no-hitter was spoiled in the eighth inning by Houston pinch hitter Aledmys Diaz. The seven combined no-hit frames was the longest such streak in a World Series game since the Boston Red Sox star Jim Lonborg pitched 7 2/3 inning of no-hit ball in the 1967 Series.

Anderson becomes just the second rookie to pitch five innings of no-hit ball in the World Series, the other was Jeff Tesreau in 1912. And finally he is tied for second in Braves’ history for most no-hit innings in a Series game, behind only Bill James in 1914.

Don Larsen, of course, pitched the only perfect game in World Series history in 1956. The late Roy Halladay pitched a no-hitter in a division series game against the Reds on October 6, 2010.

When all was said and done, the final was 2-0 for the home team while the Astros managed only two hits for the game. This sets up a pivotal game three, especially for Houston as there’s been 96 World Series tied at one game a piece as this one was. The game three winner has won 66 or nearly 69% of the titles.

Luis Garcia started for the Astros and pitched a respectable 3 2/3 innings giving up one run on three hits, The run was driven in off the bat of Austin Riley in the bottom of the  third to give the Braves the early lead. The Astros, known for their hitting with a powerful lineup, flailed weakly against Anderson for the most part. They had two runners on base just once in the game. The Braves wasted a few opportunities to pad their lead and only led 1-0 for the majority of the game.

A little breathing room for the Braves happened in the eighth inning as ex-Met Travis d’Arnaud hit a 437 foot bomb to straight away center to up the lead to 2-0. Travis is now 5-12 in the Series with two homers as he makes an early bid for MVP.

After Anderson left, the Braves used four pitchers to secure the win. They Were: A.J. Minter, Luke Jackson, Tyler Matzek,  and Will Smith. For history sake, the two Astros’ singles were given up by Matzek and Smith. Alex Bregman got the second hit for Houston.

Anderson now has a 1.26 ERA in his first eight playoff starts. Only Orlando Hernandez has a lower ERA at 1.22.

This was the first home victory in a World Series game for Atlanta since game six of the 1995 Fall Classic.

Game four is Saturday night and it’s setting up to be a bullpen game possibly for both squads. The game begins shortly past 8:00 PM and can be seen on Fox.