Raleigh Rings Twice as Giants Power Past Braves in Game 3

Sammy Linedriv - TABL Beat Writer

There are nights when everything feels loud, the crowd, the swings, the contact, and then there are nights when one bat rises above the rest. For the New York Giants, Game 3 belonged to Cal Raleigh, whose two home runs and four RBIs carried the club to a 9–5 win over the Buffalo Braves, giving New York a 2–1 lead in the American Conference Championship.

The first blow came early. In the second inning, with two outs and a runner aboard, Raleigh stepped in against Garrett Crochet, who had been sharp to that point. One hanging slider later, the right-field seats were in motion and the scoreboard read 3–0. The big catcher wasn’t finished.

Four innings later, with the Braves clawing back, he struck again, a solo shot that restored order and reminded everyone why the Giants have trusted him in big moments.

Between Raleigh’s thunder and Blake Snell’s calm, the Giants looked every bit the team that led wire to wire.

Snell retired the first ten batters he faced, mowing through the Buffalo lineup with the precision of a craftsman. For five innings, the Braves had one infield hit, nothing more. But baseball never stays simple for long.

Down 5–0, the Braves finally stirred. Josh Naylor launched a two-run homer in the sixth, his second of the postseason, and one inning later Christian Yelich cut it to one with a no-doubt drive to right. Suddenly, it was 6–5, and the energy inside the Park turned uneasy.

That’s when New York did what championship teams do, they responded. Jose Altuve led off the bottom of the seventh with a single, Luis Arraez followed with a hit-and-run double to bring him home, and Lourdes Gurriel Jr. delivered the knockout with a two-run double that split the outfielders and rolled to the wall. The Giants’ dugout roared; the Braves’ bullpen sagged. The game that had felt in reach was suddenly gone.

“I thought our offense answered every question tonight,” said New York's skipper . “That’s what you have to do in October, keep punching back.”

From there, it was the bullpen’s show. Jhoan Duran threw gas in the eighth, Robert Suarez closed it in the ninth, and the Giants walked off the field with control of the series and a chance to put a stranglehold on it tomorrow.

Raleigh finished 3-for-4 with two homers and a double. Snell earned the win with five strikeouts and just three hits allowed over five innings. For Buffalo, Naylor and Yelich accounted for all the scoring, but their bullpen couldn’t provide the shutdown frames they desperately needed.

Game 4 now looms large. Sonny Gray will try to keep Buffalo alive, while New York counters with Clarke Schmidt, the young right-hander looking to push his team to the brink of another pennant.

The Giants’ clubhouse was loud after this one, music, laughter, the faint smell of champagne that someone probably opened too soon. But out in the night air, beyond the lights of the Park, the feeling was simpler: the Giants have the momentum, and they can almost see the finish line.

FINAL:New York Giants 9, Buffalo Braves 5 Series: NYG leads 2–1

W – SnellL – Crochet HR – Raleigh 2 (NY), Naylor, Yelich (BUF)