Braves, Dodgers complete sweeps, earn NLCS berths
Kyle Wright dazzled for six innings in his postseason debut, and the Braves beat the Marlins 70 on Thursday for a threegame sweep in the NL Division Series in Houston and Atlanta’s first trip to the NL Championship Series since 2001.
The Braves had lost eight straight Division Series, including in each of the previous two seasons, before outscoring the Miami 185, including 110 in the final two games. Atlanta is 50 with an 0.92 ERA in the postseason, allowing five runs in 49 innings.
The Braves will play the Dodgers in the NLCS starting Monday in Arlington, Texas.
Wright was sharp despite not pitching since Sept. 25, allowing three hits and walking two with seven strikeouts. A. J. Minter, Jacob Webb and Shane Greene finished the fivehitter to give the Braves four shutouts in five playoff games.
They’re the second team in history to throw four shutouts in the first five playoff games, joining the 1905 New York Giants.
“It’s pretty cool to have that many shutouts,” Wright said. “And it points to how good we’ve been as a staff.”
Travis d’Arnaud doubled twice, with the first one driving in two runs in Atlanta’s big third inning. The catcher, who bounced around three teams in a tough 2019, helped steady Atlanta’s young starters and was 6for10 with three doubles, two home runs and seven RBIs in the sweep.
D’Arnaud earned praise from manager Brian Snitker for helping Atlanta’s starters.
“I can’t say enough about that guy,” Snitker said of d’Arnaud. “He’s just been unbelievable for us with the big hits, and the hits overshadow the big job he did for us with those pitchers.”
The Marlins, who lost 105 games last season before their 2020 turnaround, lost a playoff series for the first time after entering 70 with World Series titles in 1997 and 2003.
“At the end of the day, we have to be happy but not satisfied with what happened,” Miami shortstop Miguel Rojas said of the season.
Dodgers 12, Padres 3:
Catcher Will Smith had five hits to lead a 14hit attack as Los Angeles beat San Diego in Arlington to complete a threegame sweep.
The Dodgers will play in the NLCS for the fourth time in five years.
San Diego used a postseasonrecord 11 pitchers; the Dodgers used six.
The Padres led 21 after two innings, but Los Angeles took control with a fiverun third. A. J. Pollock and Joc Pederson had twoout RBI hits in the inning.