MIAMI – Tuesday night ended with the Braves partying in the visitors’ clubhouse after winning their fifth consecutive National League East division title by beating the Marlins, 2-1, at loanDepot Park.
The Braves will begin their postseason run in the National League Division Series Oct. 11 at Truist Park.
Here are five observations:
1. The celebration signified the hard work and dedication that goes into succeeding in a grueling sport.
The Braves have big goals and they do not want this to be the final party they host. But they took a couple hours to recognize their accomplishment.
“I’m just so thankful and blessed that I have been a part of this,” A.J. Minter said. “I can tell you what: I don’t take it for granted because I know how hard it is to win a division. What we did this year, words can’t describe it. One day, we’ll look back and we’ll realize that what we did was truly special.”
The Braves’ run of five straight division titles is the longest active streak in baseball. The organization also holds the record for most division titles in a row, with 14, done from 1991-2005.
This title marks Atlanta’s 22nd division crown, the most in MLB history.
“We never lost hope, we stayed focused and we were able to get the result that we wanted,” Ronald Acuña said through interpreter Franco García.
2. Brian Snitker, who guides this bunch, put it best.
“There are no collapses there,” he said of the NL East. “It’s two really good teams that battled it out until the end.”
This was simply a fantastic race. After play on June 1, the Mets led by 10 1/2 games. The Braves won 14 in a row in June. They put together two separate eight-game winning streaks. They caught the Mets, then passed them.
And the Braves made history: This marks the largest deficit they have overcome to win a division title in franchise history.
“It’s awesome,” Snitker said. “I’m so happy for (the players). I don’t know if I got everybody out there, but I wanted to hug each and every one of them, and just tell them how proud I was of them and just congratulate them. Like I told them, you’re never guaranteed this. You’re never guaranteed this. This is special. Each and every one of them are very special.”
3. Jake Odorizzi knew he had not pitched well. He has taken accountability for it after every rough outing.
On Tuesday, as he celebrated with his teammates, it seemed like a weight had fallen off his shoulders after he allowed a run on two hits over five innings.
“Fantastic,” he said of how it feels. “Personally, I think I’ve been through a lot since being here, not pitching well. It’s nice to be able to pitch like myself in a game that we needed. I just treated it as a playoff start for me, and wanted to be the one to go out and kind of redeem myself.”
He struck out seven batters. He walked one. The only run he gave up came on a home run.
When the Braves needed him most, Odorizzi delivered. At one point, according to Snitker, pitching coach Rick Kranitz told Odorizzi: “You can still pitch. You’re a good pitcher.”
“The confidence from that group has been phenomenal,” Odorizzi said. “It’s been tough sledding for me, honestly. The games I felt like I’ve had good stuff, I get tons of hits. It’s been very frustrating, to be quite honest, since I’ve been here. It’s a lot of morale testing from myself.”
4. All year, the Braves have found ways to win. Their victories come in different shapes and sizes.
You might have expected them to slug their way past the Marlins after Miami shut them out on Monday.
Nope. Instead, the Braves scored two runs – one on Acuña’s run-scoring single in the second inning, the other on William Contreras’ chopper that scored the go-ahead run in the fifth.
A.J. Minter pitched himself into trouble and escaped a bases-loaded jam in the eighth. Kenley Jansen earned his 41st save in the ninth.
5. The Braves sprayed champagne and smoked cigars on Tuesday night.
Starting Wednesday, they will refocus. They know they have a difficult road ahead.
“It’s just joy,” Dansby Swanson said of the emotions. “But I think everyone also knows that this is just one step in the direction. Times in the past, I felt like we lost that perspective, and I feel like last year taught us one thing: You have to continue pressing on, you have to continue going forward, because this isn’t the end goal.”
Stat to know
Six - Only six teams in history have finished first in their division or league after leading for fewer than 10 days of the season, according to research from the Elias Sports Bureau.
Quotable
“It’s hard to win one, and to do it five (times) in a row is pretty special. That’s a credit to our organization. …It takes that whole building to make something like this happen.”-Snitker on the streak of division titles
Up next
The Braves conclude the regular season with Wednesday’s game against the Marlins, which begins at 4:10 p.m.
