Wright, d’Arnaud lead Braves to sweep Marlins, reach NLCS
HOUSTON » Not since the days of John Smoltz, Greg Maddux and Tom Glavine had the Atlanta Braves pitched like this in the playoffs.
And even those future Hall of Famers didn’t throw the way these Braves have this postseason.
“What those guys did on the mound is almost mind- blowing,” manager Brian Snitker said.
Rookie Kyle Wright dazzled for six innings in his postseason debut, and the Braves rode their superb pitching to beat the Miami Marlins 7- 0 Thursday for a three- game sweep and their first trip to the NL Championship Series since 2001.
Wright ( 1- 0) was sharp despite not pitching since Sept. 25, allowing three hits and walking two with a career- high seven strikeouts. A. J. Minter, Jacob Webb and Shane Greene finished the five- hitter.
Atlanta became the second team in history to throw four shutouts in the first five playoff games, joining the 1905 New York Giants behind Hall of Famers Christy Mathewson and Joe McGinnity.
After two rounds the Braves have already pitched the most postseason shutouts in franchise history, besting the 1996 and 1991 teams that threw three each as both lost in the World Series.
They are one shutout shy of tying the MLB record for most in a postseason set by the 2016 Indians over 15 games.
“It’s pretty cool to have that many shutouts, and it points to how good we’ve been as a staff,” the 25- year- old Wright said, perhaps not fully grasping the team’s place in history.
Atlanta had lost eight straight Division Series, including in each of the previous two seasons, before outscoring the Marlins 18- 5, including 11- 0 in the final two games. The Braves are 5- 0 with a 0.92 ERA in the postseason, allowing five runs in 49 innings after ranking 15th in the majors in the regular season with a 4.41 ERA.
The staff has fanned 59 batters and walked nine with just 30 hits in the postseason.
“It’s been fun,” catcher Travis d’Arnaud said. “They’ve just been executing.”
There were only a few scattered cheers as the Braves wrapped up the series in an almost empty Minute Maid Park, where the only fans allowed were players’ friends and families.
They will play the Los Angeles Dodgers or San Diego in the NLCS starting Monday in Arlington, Texas.
They had not advanced to the NLCS since they were led by Chipper Jones and the Big Three pitchers, a team managed by Bobby Cox.
First baseman Freddie Freeman, who has spent his entire 11- year career with the Braves, understands more than most what finally returning to the Championship Series means.
“A lot of these guys don’t know much of the history in that clubhouse but now we get to start our own and hopefully it’s a good run for us,” Freeman said.