For most of the night, the Atlanta offense was kept off balance by Houston's Zack Greinke and a trio of relievers, with just one hit through six innings. Then came Dansby Swanson's at bat in the seventh.
Swanson and pinch-hitter Jorge Soler hit back-to-back solo homers off of Cristian Javier as the Braves won Game 4, 3-2, to take a 3-1 lead in the World Series.
The Braves were forced to use an opener thanks to a debilitated starting rotation. Left-hander Dylan Lee, who had just four major league appearances to his name coming into Saturday's game, started on the mound for Atlanta and recorded only one out. Right-hander Kyle Wright came in and allowed just one run in 4 2/3 innings to bridge the gap to the rest of the team's bullpen.
Houston took a 1-0 lead in the first on an RBI ground out from Carlos Correa, then extended the lead to 2-0 on a solo homer by Jose Altuve. The blast was the 23rd of Altuve's postseason career, second-most all-time.
Luke Jackson pitched a perfect eighth inning, followed by Will Smith in the ninth, who picked up his sixth save of the postseason. Smith hasn't allowed a run in 10 appearances during this playoff run.
The Braves haven't won a World Series since 1995, when they beat Cleveland in six games. Game 5 is scheduled for Sunday in Atlanta.
