The Atlanta Braves in elimination games: bad things happen

A Braves Win?  It’s Been a While

2002

Back to the Giants.  The Braves held a 2-1 series lead, but notorious starter Livan Hernandez (from the years’ earlier “Eric Gregg game”) out-dueld Tom Glavine to force the 5th game.

In that one, Atlanta never led; but entering the 7th, they were only down 2-1.  Alas, a double led to a sacrifice fly that inning, which provided enough insurance to salt away a 3-1 win.

2001

We’ve heard that this was the last year — before this one — in which the Braves had won a single playoff series.  That was a 3-0 sweep of the Houston Astros.

However, the Diamondbacks proved a lot tougher, winning 4 games to 1 in the NLCS.

That 5th game started with an Arizona lead in the 4th that was quickly equaled by the Braves, but likewise answered by Arizona in the 5th as they took a 3-1 lead.

Atlanta finally got a second tally off of Randy Johnson in the 7th, but they went quietly in the 8th and 9th against the AZ bullpen… and were eliminated.

2000

Wasn’t pretty:  a 3-0 series sweep by the Cardinals.

1999

Better overall, but the Yankees swept Atlanta in the World Series.

The Last Time

Let’s skip a couple and spin this back to 1996… the last Atlanta won a series while facing an elimination game.

In the 1996 NLCS, the Braves themselves had their backs to the wall by being in the same position that the Dodgers were 2 days ago:  down 3 games to 1 in a best-of-seven.

The Braves then jumped all over the Cardinals.  14-0 in Game 5, 3-1 in Game 6, and then the clincher:  15-0 in Game 7.

In that last contest… well, it really wasn’t a contest… Atlanta put six runs on the board in the first inning against starter Donovan Osborne and later added crooked numbers in four other innings to win this one going away.  Tom Glavine was fabulous and the bats were thundering.

So now, our 2020 Atlanta Braves need to jump out early with their bats as well.

• The bottom of their order hasn’t been producing… and often, even the plate appearances have been weak.
• The pitching is clearly at risk — having rookie Ian Anderson start is clearly risky, given that LA has now seen him; then again, there are no secrets held by either side at this point… and he’s the best hope Atlanta has.
• The Braves are still the underdog:  they need to embrace that and come out fighting as a result.
• Defense has been good on both sides, but as we’ve seen over the years, even a single play could make a huge difference.

“Anything could happen”  — and it’s about time that this team make something good happen for these Atlanta Braves.