BRAVES BLITZ FRIARS AGAIN, TAKE COMMANDING 2–0 SERIES LEAD

By Sammy Linedriv – TABL Beat Writer If Game 1 was a statement, Game 2 was a punch in the jaw.

The Buffalo Braves stormed their way to a 6–2 win over the San Diego Friars on Sunday night, seizing a 2–0 lead in the TABL World Series and sending a clear message across the league: this club isn’t just hot, they’re scorching.

And behind an early offensive avalanche and a bullpen that slammed the door with authority, the Braves put themselves just two wins away from a championship parade on the shores of Lake Erie.

BUFFALO STRIKES, THEN STRIKES AGAIN

For two innings, it looked like a chess match. Luis Castillo and Bryce Miller traded zeroes, both dealing, both working the edges. Then came the bottom of the third, and a thunderclap.

Willy Adames led off with a double that shot into the left-center gap like it had somewhere to be. Bryson Stott followed by punching a single into right to plate the opening run, and the crowd began to feel that unmistakable Buffalo rumble.

Two batters later, Randy Arozarena stepped in and hammered a towering drive inside the left-field foul pole. A two-run blast. A roar from the crowd. A 3–0 lead. Momentum had officially arrived in the building wearing a Braves cap.

Castillo never recovered. In the fourth, Julio Rodríguez slapped a single into center and later scored on another Adames RBI shot, a crisp single that made it 4–0 and chased the Friars’ ace from the game.

San Diego looked rattled. Buffalo looked like they were just getting started.

MILLER STEADY, BRAVES KEEP PRESSING

Bryce Miller wasn’t flashy, he was surgical. 5⅓ innings, four hits, one earned run, five K’s. That’s workmanlike dominance. His only mistake was a throwing error in the fifth that allowed Mike Yastrzemski to score. And even then, Miller walked off the mound angry and sharper.

In the sixth, Bryce Harper, doing Bryce Harper things, smashed a solo shot to center to briefly make it 5–2. But the Braves punched right back in the seventh.

Christian Yelich reached. William Contreras singled. Julio Rodríguez delivered again, a lining single to left to push the lead back to 6–2, restoring order and restoring the noise inside the stadium.

THE BUFFALO BULLPEN: RELENTLESS

After Miller handed off, the Braves bullpen started dealing like a Vegas card table on payday:

Jason Adam → Aaron Bummer → Joe Jiménez → Orion Kerkering → Yennier Cano

They combined for 3⅔ innings of one-hit baseball, striking out seven.

Kerkering was electric in the ninth, two strikeouts, both vicious, before leaving with a shoulder tweak. The club expects him to miss only Game 4 thanks to the built-in off day and a manageable playoff injury clock. Cano calmly finished the job moments later.

The last out was routine. The message was not. SAN DIEGO SEARCHING FOR ANSWERS

The Friars mustered only five hits and struck out 13 times. Ohtani, the superstar who often bends gravity, went 0-for-4 with three strikeouts. Aside from Harper’s homer and two knocks, the Friars found no rhythm, no spark, and no timely hits.

Their best chance came in the third: Fermín singled. Correa followed with a single. But Fermín was thrown out trying to take third, a full computer call, no managerial override and the rally died on the runway. In the postseason, you only get so many openings. San Diego hasn’t taken theirs. BRAVES BATTERING RAMS OF THE NIGHT

• Randy Arozarena: 2-for-4, HR, 2 RBI

• Willy Adames: 2-for-4, RBI, tone-setter

• Julio Rodríguez: 2-for-4, RBI, swagger machine

• William Contreras: 2-for-3, RBI + rock behind the plate

Buffalo finished with 11 hits, and every one of them felt loud. A CITY ON THE EDGE OF A TITLE

Buffalo hasn’t led a World Series 2–0 since… well, ever.

This crowd felt it. This team feels it. This series now travels into territory the Friars didn’t expect, desperation.

Only one question remains:

Can anyone slow down the Buffalo Braves?

Tomorrow night, the Friars get their first chance.

The Braves? They’re playing like they wouldn’t mind finishing this thing early.