Say it’s not so Braves fans, but you can’t, because it is…The Braves (96-50) defeated the Phillies (79-67) last night in Philadelphia 4-1 to win their six straight division title. This feels like the 1990s all over again when the Braves won 14 straight division titles and one World Series title. Hoping this stretch of winning brings more World Series campaigns, and not just the 2021 crown.
Each player in this lineup can put the team on their shoulders and win the ballgame. But each game it seems like multiple players produce. Right fielder Ronald Acuna, Jr is flirting with 40-70 club, which is 40 homeruns and 70 stolen bases that has never been done in the history of Major League Baseball. Acuna currently has 37 homeruns, 66 stolen bases, and he is batting .335. Go ahead and name him NL MVP over Dodgers Mookie Betts (.312 average, 39 homeruns, 13 stolen bases).
First baseman Matt Olson has surpassed what I thought he would be, here in Atlanta. The home town kid struggled last year at the plate batting .240 but produced 34 homeruns. This year he has put trying to replace Freddie Freeman behind him just to be himself. He currently has 51 homeruns, tying CF Andruw Jones season mark with the Braves. Olson was actually skeptical about tying Jones mark, in the same week Jones had his number (25) retired by the Braves. Jones had this to say:
Could Manager Brian Snitker start resting players…yes he could? But there is another goal that the team would like to reach, and that’s homefield advantage throughout the playoffs. It use to be the team that represented the league that won the All-Star game had homefield advantage throughout the playoffs, but not this year. The team that has the overall best record at the end of the regular season will hold that honor. Currently, it is the Braves at 96-50 with a 4.5 game lead over the Baltimore Orioles 91-54.
The last out last night was recorded by reliever Tyler Yates. The celebration wasn’t the best part of the celebration, it was the wonderful fans of the city of Philadelphia giving the Braves a warm ending of boos.
There are 16 games left in the regular season to decide the playoff bracket. It will be an exciting 2 and a half weeks of the season.
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