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ATLANTA – The Atlanta Braves have done it all before – many times before – but this one was a little different.
More satisfying, that’s for sure.
After all, the Braves have failed under .500 much of the season. They suffered devastating injuries and serious legal problems. They basically had to rebuild their outfield by the trade deadline.
And yet, they were there Thursday night, drinking champagne, smoking cigars and celebrating an Eastern NL championship.
Ian Anderson put in another dominant pitcher’s performance, Jorge Soler and Austin Riley scored to fuel the offense, and the Braves won their fourth straight division title by completing a sweep of the Philadelphia Phillies with a 5-3 victory. .
“We were just trying to hang in there and be successful,” manager Brian Snitker said. “It’s amazing what these guys have accomplished with everything we’ve been through.”
The Braves didn’t go over 0.500 until August 6, but they won their 21st division title – more than any other team – since moving from Milwaukee to Atlanta in 1966.
They will face their old city in the playoffs when they open the best-of-five divisional series against the National League center champions Brewers on October 8.
“It’s a great feeling,” said first baseman Freddie Freeman. “We’ve had a lot of ups and downs, so many things that could have derailed us.”
Atlanta’s first-ever hitter got the ball rolling in the division’s triumph. Soler hit the first homer of his career, going deep for the 26th time this season on a 3-2 pitch from Kyle Gibson (4-6).
Riley, bolstering his unlikely MVP candidacy, added to the lead with his 33rd homer in the fourth. He had another run with a single with a broken bat in the fifth to extend the lead to 5-0.
Ozzie Albies, who also features in the MVP race, has lent his support to Riley.
“He carried this team,” Albies said. “He did a great job. He had a great season.”
That was more than enough race support for Anderson (9-5), who appears to be in the kind of form he showed in the 2020 playoffs as a rookie.
Anderson pitched six innings with a hit before ceding a two-run homerun to Andrew McCutchen in the seventh. AJ Minter, Luke Jackson and Will Smith worked the last three innings, Smith passing the ninth to win his 37th save.
In a way, the finish was a bit irrelevant, considering all the obstacles that stood in the way of Atlanta.
Star outfielder Ronald Acuna Jr. was lost to a season-ending knee injury, while former ace Mike Soroka did not make an expected comeback after tearing his sinew. ‘Achilles for the second time.
Additionally, outfielder Marcell Ozuna – the Braves’ runner-up in last year’s NL Championship Series Game 7 – was arrested after an altercation with his wife in late May and did not return to the squad. .
GM Alex Anthopoulos managed a flurry of moves on the trade deadline, assembling an all-new outfield including Soler, Adam Duvall and Eddie Rosario.
The Braves went 126 days without a winning record – the most divisional champions since the Toronto Blue Jays in 1989 and the fourth since the divisional era began in 1969, according to Elias Sports Bureau.
The Braves finally got hot to take control of one of the majors’ weaker divisions. They took exclusive possession of the NL East lead for the first time on August 15 when they were in the middle of a perfect 9-0 road trip and never gave up on top spot.
Philadelphia made a late comeback, coming within a game and a half of the lead last weekend.
But Atlanta dashed the Phillies’ hopes with a stifling run of starting pitchers from Charlie Morton, Max Fried and Anderson. In the series, they combined to allow just 10 hits and three earned runs in 20 innings.
“It’s a really empty feeling,” Phillies manager Joe Girardi said. “It stinks. It hurts.”
When Smith struck out Ronald Torreyes for the final elimination, it was time for another celebration in front of a near-full crowd of 38,235.
The Phillies, meanwhile, have now gone a full decade without a playoff appearance. They haven’t returned since winning the last of five straight NL East titles in 2011.
“We have to improve,” Girardi said. “That’s the main thing. We have to break this.”
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