Following the Atlanta Braves 4-2 victory in game 6 of the NLCS last night, the 2021 World Series is officially set. Here’s everything you need to know ahead of this year’s fall classic:
Team Snapshot:
Atlanta finished the regular season with an 88-73 record, good enough to win the NL East by 6.5 games over 2nd place Philadelphia. After starting the season with a rash of injuries, the Braves got healthy after the All-Star break and turned their fortunes around in a big way.
Undoubtedly they were helped by a Mets collapse and a division that nobody seemed to want to win down the stretch, but few teams were hotter than Atlanta in the final months of the season. The Braves would finish with a +134 run differential (good for 7th best in the majors), making them the only members of the NL East who had a positive run total.
Atlanta had a trio of batters eclipse the 30HR plateau this year as Freeman, Riley and Albies swatted 31, 33, and 30 HRs respectively. Despite injuries ravaging their pitching staff, the Braves were led by Max Fried and his 3.04 ERA and got solid contributions from veteran arms such as Charlie Morton (37) who racked up 216Ks for the year.
The Braves defeated the Milwaukee Brewers 3 games to 1 in the divisional round, and put the 106 win Dodgers away last night 4 games to 2.
Houston had a 95-67 regular season record to win a surprisingly competitive AL West division. After losing key pieces of their team in Justin Verlander and George Springer, the Astros didn’t miss a beat this season scoring 863 runs (most in the majors) which averaged out to 5.33 runs per game.
Mirroring Atlanta’s HR totals, Houston also had a trio of 30+ HR hitters in Alvarez, Altuve, and Tucker. The Astros postseason rotation has been a bit of a work in progress as injuries have forced them into extensive bullpen usage, and relying on young arms such as Luis Garcia to shoulder the load.
Regardless, Houston made short work of the White Sox in the ALDS defeating them 3 games to 1, and followed that up by taking care of business against the Red Sox in 6 games. Houston will enjoy home field advantage in the World Series against Atlanta.
Schedule:
Game 1: Tue, Oct 26th 8:09pm in HOU
Game 2: Wed, Oct 27th 8:09pm in HOU
Game 3: Fri, Oct 29th 8:09pm in ATL
Game 4: Sat, Oct 30th 8:09pm in ATL
Game 5: Sun, Oct 31st 8:15pm in ATL *
Game 6: Tue, Nov 2nd 8:09pm in HOU *
Game 7: Wed, Nov 3rd 8:09pm in HOU *
*denotes if necessary
MVPs:
NLCS: Eddie Rosario .560/.670/1.040 slash line, 14 hits, 9RBIs, 6runs, 3HRs
ALCS: Yordan Alvarez .522/.870/1.408 slash line, 12 hits, 6RBIs, 7runs, 1HR
Game 1 Starters:
HOU: TBD
ATL: TBD
Vegas Odds:
Braves +110
Astros -140
