The Atlanta Braves won the 2021 World Series against the Houston Astros on the back of a Jorge Soler moonshot and a heroic performance in the clincher from starter Max Fried.
But there's another player that, without him, the Braves likely don't make the World Series at all.
Los Angeles Dodgers shortstop Mookie Betts, speaking on his "On Base with Mookie Betts" podcast with former Braves and current Chicago Cubs shortstop Dansby Swanson, said all of the Dodgers knew what Matzek was going to do on the mound.
It just didn't matter.
"I tried, y'all," exclaimed Mookie. Dansby admitted it was impressive, responding "Never seen something like it."
Said Mookie: The 2021 NLCS, when Matzek struck out me, (Albert) Pujols, and (Stephen) Sousa [...] Tyler Matzek was throwing a thousand miles an hour. He was throwing 'riseballs' at a thousand. And he was throwing it right down the middle, and nobody could hit it."
And it wasn't like there was a lot of surprises here from Matzek- while Pujols struck out on a slider in the dirt, it was almost all fastballs.
"You know what's coming - fastball,' said Mookie. "He was letting that thing rip, man. And it was coming in HOT."
In case you forgot, this is the seventh inning of game six. Reliever Luke Jackson, holding a three-run lead, almost gave it away, allowing a double, a walk, and another double.
So Matzek gets the call to come in to clean it up. Runners on second and third, with no outs. And the batter up is Albert Pujols.
Strikeout.
Next, pinch hitter Steven Souza.
Strikeout.
Finally, Mookie Betts, the best hitter on the Dodgers.
Strikeout.
It's the appearance that spawned a nickname ("Nutsack", coined by Jackson), some nice jewelry, and a million stories.
Relieve the outing here:
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