ATL
By Vincent DiGeronimo
After six long, hard games, the Atlanta Braves have finally won the World Series. It is their first title since 1995 and their fourth title overall. While the Astros continue to cruise to the later rounds of the playoffs, their struggles to win in the ALCS and the World Series persist.
While there are a multitude of factors that go into winning it all, the Astros success came down to two rather obvious, but timely factors: good pitching and effective hitting.
In game one, the Braves were able to dominate the Astros. Between five pitchers, the Braves were able to hold the Astros to only two runs, while compiling eleven strikeouts and limiting the Astros to only two runs and three walks. On the other side, they were able to get an astounding twelve hits and score six runs. It is virtually impossible to defend against a team when every spot in their lineup has at least one hit. Atlanta took this game rather easily.
Even though Houston came out and made sure to get game 2, the Braves were so clearly ready for game three. Ian Anderson threw a gem, and the Braves bullpen took a combined no hitter deep into the game, leaving tons of room for their offense to work with. This tense game gave the Braves a commanding 2-1 series lead.
While the Braves continued to pich well in game four, it was the three runs that came past the seventh inning while shutting out the Astros which gave them the lead. Even though the Braves lost game five, they were able to continue with what works best for them in game six. Max Fried helped the Braves take a shutout deep into the game, while the offense poured in runs from everywhere, including several moonshots and a couple other timely hits, giving the Braves the championship.
Even though the Braves weren’t the prettiest team in the playoffs, they are yet another example of what happens when a team believes in each other and supports one another, including a lot of support from the front office. I don’t think they will be half as good next year, but they will be a playoff team for several years to come.