After beating the Houston Astros 7-0 in Game 6 at Minute Maid Park on Tuesday night, the Atlanta Braves have won their first World Series victory since 1995.
With solid pitching and three massive home runs, the Braves won the Series four games to two. Thousands of fans gathered to Atlanta’s stadium, Truist Park, on Tuesday to witness the game on a chilly but starry night, despite the Braves’ inability to shut off the Astros at home in Game 5.
“I’m still in a daze. I’m not a very emotional person. I’m trying to tell you guys about how I’m feeling since I haven’t felt anything yet “Freddie Freeman, the Braves’ first baseman, stated. “It’ll hit hard very soon. I’m not sure when it will happen. Perhaps it will be when we get to visit everyone in Atlanta.”
The Braves homered their way to an early lead once again. After Ozzie Albies doubled and Eddie Rosario walked around two flyouts in the top of the third, Braves Jorge Soler hit a three-run home run off Astros starter Luis Garcia’s eighth pitch. Soler’s third home run of the Series went an estimated 446 feet, and it came on Garcia’s last pitch of the game, who was pitching on short rest.
Soler, a Cuban native, was awarded MVP of the Series.
Dansby Swanson, an Atlanta native, hit a two-run homer off Astros reliever Cristian Javier in the top of the fifth inning, extending the Braves’ lead to 5-0. Albies scored ahead of Swanson after walking to start the inning.
“I just continued battling it out,” Soler said via an interpreter. “I’d seen his stuff or whatever, so I was sitting on the off-speed thinking to myself, if he gives me an off-speed pitch, I can connect and drive the ball.” “I’m simply going to attempt to remain alive throughout this at-bat if he throws me a fastball. I was up 3-2, and I didn’t want to make the same mistake I did in the first inning when I struck out on an off-speed fastball. So I was just preparing myself ready for it.”
According to the Houston Chronicle, the pitch came in at 83 mph and departed considerably faster, landing on a pavement outside the stadium.
“I knew I hit it good,” Soler said, “but to be honest, I turned around right after I hit it simply to look at our dugout and start celebrating.”
Freeman doubled home Soler, who had walked, with one out and two hitters remaining, making the score 6-0.
Freeman, who may be a free agent after the season, made it 7-0 with a single home run off Houston’s Ryne Stanek in the top of the seventh inning.
Max Fried, Atlanta’s starting pitcher, was outstanding, striking out six batters in six innings while allowing only four hits. Two of the baserunners were stranded on double plays, one of which was started by Fried.
“His fastball and slider were both pretty outstanding,” Astros leadoff batter Jose Altuve said. “He was miles ahead of where he was in the first game. He threw an excellent pitch. He didn’t throw his curveball much tonight, but his fastball, slider, and changeup were all excellent. He was nearly impenetrable.”
Relievers The remaining three innings were thrown by Tyler Matzek and Will Smith. The three Braves pitchers combined to strike out ten batters while throwing 121 pitches, with two-thirds of them being strikes.
“You can’t say enough about our pitching this whole World Series, world championship,” Atlanta manager Brian Snitker said. Snitker, who has spent 44 years with the Braves, also credited the analytics team and their game planning.
The Astros recorded only six hits, all of which were singles, and only three at-bats with runners on base.
“They performed admirably. We weren’t able to keep them in the stadium “Dusty Baker, the Astros’ manager, said. “After we walked someone, the crooked-number innings began. We were shut down by the pitching.”
Atlanta and Houston were both National League franchises when the Braves won their previous World Series twenty-six years ago, and maverick media billionaire Ted Turner controlled the team. They also had outstanding pitching, with three future Hall of Famers in the starting rotation: Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine, and John Smoltz.
The Braves’ success this season hasn’t kept them out of hot water. Native American organizations and activists have asked that the team remove the “Tomahawk Chop” emblem and gesture from its branding and game-day traditions, claiming that it promotes racial stereotypes.
The Braves said this summer that they were revisiting the decision in response to Native American protests.
In 2017, the squad won just 72 games, but with 90 victories in 2018, they began a four-year streak of entering the playoffs.
From 1991 until 2005, the Braves won 14 straight division titles and one World Series title, setting a new MLB record. Last year, the Braves led the National League Championship Series 3-1, but were defeated when the Los Angeles Dodgers won the remaining three games and the World Series.
Since Atlanta United won the MLS Cup in 2018, this is the city’s first major professional sports league championship.
