A first since 2001 for the Braves!

Quebecer Alex Anthopoulos, general manager of the team, has much to be proud of: the Atlanta Braves are in the Grand Final of the National for the first time since 2001.

At the time, Anthopoulos was still hoping to make his place in the organization of the Montreal Expos. The Braves, who relied on pitchers Greg Maddux and Tom Glavine, for their part suffered the loss to Randy Johnson and the Arizona Diamondbacks, potential World Series champions.

All in all, the Braves brought a brighter past to life on Thursday by completing the three-game Divisional Series sweep against the Miami Marlins with a 7-0 win. Only starting pitcher Kyle Wright, aged only 25 years old, guided his team by not giving up any points in six innings at the mound. He allowed only three hits for the Marlins hitters, in addition to allowing two walks. Braves relievers AJ Minter, Jacob Webb and Shane Greene completed the job.

Travis d’Arnaud on fire

On offense, receiver Travis d’Arnaud continued his formidable work in this series against the Marlins by producing two points. He set the tone by pushing teammates Freddie Freeman and Marcell Ozuna to home plate, using a double, in the third set. In three games against the Marlins, d’Arnaud had six hits in 10 official home games. He hit two doubles, two homers and produced a total of seven runs. The veteran also netted three walks in the series for a .692 trail attendance rate.

Despite their elimination, the Marlins can boast of having beaten the odds by qualifying for the playoffs, despite an outbreak of COVID-19 on the team during the regular season. The Miami team posted a record of 31-29, then surprising the Chicago Cubs, champions of the Central section in the National, in the first round of the playoffs.

Carlos Correa sends the A’s on vacation

At Dodger Stadium, the Houston Astros were propelled by five points from Carlos Correa, en route to an 11-6 win and a place in the American final at the expense of the Oakland Athletics.

Houston responded well to its only loss in the playoffs, conceded the day before, to finally win this series 3 to 1.
Correa gave it his all in the game, hitting a three-run homer in the fourth inning before adding two productive singles. He was supported in attack by two long balls from Michael Brantley and another from Jose Altuve.

Unlike Wednesday night’s game, where the A’s struggled to come back and win, Oakland started off with a three-point lead this time around. Ramon Laureano gave that priority to the losers with the first of his balls that crossed the fence.

This is the fourth consecutive appearance in the American final for the Astros. They didn’t fail to qualify for the World Series until 2018.