Chop cheer to greet Braves

MANILA, Philippines — The Atlanta Braves, unbeaten at home in this year’s Major League Baseball playoffs, will try to reclaim the lead in the 117th World Series on Friday (Saturday in Manila) by defeating the Houston Astros.

With their supporters delivering the controversial “Tomahawk Chop” cheer in what some see as an insult to Native Americans, the Braves will try to bounce back from a 7-2 loss Wednesday at Houston that left the best-of-seven series level 1-1.

“Realistically, you want to win two,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said. “But if you can split and go home, where we’ve been really good, that’s a positive.”

The Braves are 5-0 at home in this year’s playoffs. But they have a five-game home losing streak in World Series contests from 1996 and 1999.

“The atmosphere is awesome,” Snitker said of home games. “Braves Country is real.”

MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred backed the Braves nickname and “Tomahawk Chop” cheer this week, saying Native Americans in the Atlanta area are “fully supportive of the Braves’ program, including the chop. For me, that’s kind of the end of the story.