Swanson, d'Arnaud Go Deep, Braves Blank Marlins in Game 2

The Atlanta Braves overcame the Miami Marlins by the score of 2-0 on Wednesday to take a 2-0 series lead in the NLDS (best-of-5).

For Atlanta, it's been relatively smooth sailing thus far in the 2020 MLB Postseason.

Following a Freddie Freeman walk-off in Game 1 of the National League Wild Card Series, the Braves dropped the hammer in Game 2 to sweep the Cincinnati Reds, winning their first postseason series in 19 years.

Atlanta followed up their Wild Card Series success with an explosive 7th inning to propel them to victory in NLDS Game 1 against the Marlins.

However, Wednesday's victory seemed to carry additional weight, as the Braves now stand only one win away from their first NLCS appearance since 2001.

Though the scoreboard reflects a close contest, Game 2 was never truly in doubt.

Dansby Swanson homered in the second inning, Travis d'Arnaud homered in the fourth, and the Braves carried their 2-0 lead throughout the remainder of the afternoon.

However, perhaps the most notable moments of Wednesday's contest came in the sixth and eighth innings, respectively.

In the sixth, Braves' reliever Darren O'Day worked out of a bases loaded jam to preserve Atlanta's 2-0 advantage.

In the eighth, Braves' outfielder Nick Markakis made an alert play -- throwing out Corey Dickerson at second base and erasing an opportunity for the Marlins to hit with two runners aboard and nobody out.

And in the ninth, Atlanta brought in closer Mark Melancon to shut the door, improving their perfect 2020 MLB Postseason record to 4-0.

Despite the Marlins boasting a playoff series record of 7-0 in their franchise history, Miami must now win three consecutive games to avoid being eliminated by a confident Braves squad.

This will be no easy task, as Atlanta's victory on Wednesday made them only the third team in MLB history with three shutouts in their first four postseason games.

Game 3 will be played on Thursday at 2:08 PM EDT.

Kyle Wright and Sixto Sanchez are scheduled to take the mound for Atlanta and Miami respectively.


What are your thoughts on the Braves' postseason odds?

Feel free to let me know in the comments section below and don't forget to "Subscribe" for future post notifications :)

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Ranking Every Song From Paramore's "After Laughter"

Following the relative success of my rankings of Taylor Swift's " folklore " and Maroon 5's " Red Pill Blues ", I've decided to make these posts a semi-regular occurrence.  As I've followed Paramore religiously for over a decade, this one seemed like the next logical choice. Without further adieu, let's dive into Paramore's 2017 release entitled "After Laughter", an album that saw the band adopt an entirely new sound. 12. No Friend Three years have passed and I still don't fully understand what "No Friend" is, but I'm not convinced it's a rankable song. It sounds more like a dramatic reading of a poem drowned out by one of Paramore's jam sessions. Congrats, Aaron Weiss? In any case, please let me know if there's more I can give you. 11. Idle Worship Perhaps suffering from being linked to "No Friend" in such an inseparable way, something about this track is just a tad unsettling. From its ...
Read more

A's Win First Postseason Series Since 2006, Will Face Astros in ALDS

Image
Despite falling to the Chicago White Sox in Game 1 of the AL Wild Card Series, the Oakland Athletics rebounded with consecutive wins in Games 2 and 3 to snag their first postseason series victory in 14 years, advancing to the ALDS for the first time since 2013. After digging a 3-0 hole in Thursday's decisive Game 3, Oakland rallied with four runs in the fourth inning to take the lead. However, their biggest hit of the afternoon came in the bottom of the fifth, with the score tied 4-4. In perhaps the most crucial plate appearance of his life, Chad Pinder stepped to the plate with an opportunity to defy history. Prior to this at-bat, Pinder had posted a 2-for-35 career mark with the bases loaded. However, on Thursday, he came up with a massive two-run single to propel the A's to a 6-4 advantage. And they didn't look back. Oakland now looks forward to a best-of-5 series with the Houston Astros to be played on neutral ground at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. Needless to say, th...
Read more

Why Quidditch Is Totally Ridiculous (Yet We Still Love It)

Image
On June 26, 1997,  Harry Potter creator J.K. Rowling introduced the world to a remarkable new sport called Quidditch. In theory, Rowling's invention is fairly simple. For those who are unfamiliar with the game, I will provide a brief description of its rules.  Quidditch is played in a 7-on-7 format on flying broomsticks. Each team features three "Chasers" who attempt to throw a large ball (called the Quaffle) past the opposing team's "Keeper" into one of three circular hoops.  Every time the Chasers succeed in beating the Keeper, their team is awarded 10 points. Meanwhile, there are a pair of bat-wielding "Beaters" on each team who add to the chaos by clubbing two smaller balls (called Bludgers) at their opposition. However, the most important position on the field is that of the "Seeker", which is Harry Potter's position on Gryffindor's Quidditch team during his time at Hogwarts.  Each team has one Seeker who scours t...
Read more