ATLANTA — Tyler Matzek stood alone on the infield grass late Saturday night, listening to the sellout crowd still roaring, Braves teammates and family members hugging one another, trying to understand what just happened.
Matzek was out of baseball four years ago. He was living in an RV three years ago, pitching for the Texas AirHogs of the independent American Association, and he was begging two years ago for some team to bring him to their major-league spring training camp.
Now, here he was putting on a spectacular relief performance and leading Atlanta to the World Series for the first time since 1999 with a 4-2 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers.