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Braves win the World Series
The 2021 season is officially in the books, as the Braves did not allow this series to go seven games with Houston holding all the momentum, leaning on a great pitching performance along with some timely hits to run away with Game Six and win their first championship since 1995.
The big story from this game was the performance of Max Fried for the Braves. In a series, and really postseason, with a narrative dominated by short outings from starting pitchers, Atlanta’s final win came in large part because of a conventionally great outing from their starter. Facing a killer Houston lineup, Fried did not allow a run over six innings of work, striking out six without issuing a walk.
And on the other side, the Braves took a lead fairly early and never looked back. This game was scoreless through the first two innings before Atlanta put their foot on the gas in the third. Jorge Soler, who started this series off with a home run in its very first at bat, came through with a mammoth two-out, three-run shot in the third to give Atlanta the early 3-0 lead. That was still the score in the fifth when Dansby Swanson hit a two-run shot to make it 5-0, and Freddie Freeman put the cherry on top with a solo homer in the seventh. Soler would be named World Series MVP.
With a 7-0 victory, the Braves ended the 2021 season and sent Houston into a big offseason without another ring for their core. Atlanta, meanwhile, looked dead in the water about midway in the season, especially after losing their best player in Ronald Acuña Jr., but some low-key deadline additions stepped up in huge ways and gave this team and their fanbase a championship.
Arizona Fall League Update
The Red Sox had three starters in the Scorpions starting lineup on Tuesday, but the two big names were overshadowed by Kole Cottam. The catching prospect was at DH in this game and led the way in an extra-innings win, hitting two homers in addition to a pair of singles, scoring twice and knocking in four runs while striking out once. That lifted his OPS all the way up to .934. Triston Casas, meanwhile, started at first base and went 1-4 with a double and a walk, scoring a run and knocking in two. Jeter Downs started at second base, going 0-4 with a walk, a run, and a strikeout. Over on the pitching side, Brendan Cellucci and Andrew Politi pitched. The former came through with a scoreless inning on a single and a walk. The latter had a tougher time, allowing four runs over 1 1⁄3 innings on two singles, a double, and two walks. The silver lining is that all four of his outs were strikeouts.