Lucky lumber: Rosario’s hot bat leads Braves to Series

ATLANTA» Eddie Rosario talked the other day about his lucky lumber, which started to heat up with a four-hit night in mid-september.

“I’ve been using that bat that I hit for the cycle with and it has not disappointed,” he said after his second four-hit game of the NL Championship Series. “Man, this bat has not let me down yet.”

Well, he topped that on Saturday night, becoming MVP of the NL Championship Series.

As the crowd chanted his name, Rosario hoisted the award.

“Truly incredible,” he said through a translator.

Rosario hit a tiebreaking, three-run homer off Dodgers ace Walker Buehler in the fourth inning, lifting the Atlanta Braves over Los Angeles 4-2 for their first NL pennant since 1999 and a World Series matchup with the Houston Astros.

Less than three months after he was traded by Cleveland, which sent the Braves money to take him away, the 30-year-old outfielder had six multi-hit games against the Dodgers. He hit .560 (14 for 25) with three homers and nine RBIS, giving him a 1.040 slugging percentage and 1.647 OPS.

He has hit safely in all 10 postseason games, batting .474 with 11 RBIS.

No hit was bigger than his home run in the fourth inning, with the score 1-1, he fouled off three pitches around a ball that left the count at 1-2, then sent a cutter down the right-field line at 105 mph, the ball carrying 361 feet.

With 14 hits, he tied the record for a postseason series, a mark he shares with Albert Pujols and Hideki Matsui (2004), Kevin Youkilis (2007) and Marco Scutaro (2012).