M-V-Free! Freeman HR sends Braves to NLCS, 5-4 over Brewers

Freddie Freeman and the Atlanta Braves volition get different accidental to decorativeness the occupation they came agonizingly adjacent to achieving a twelvemonth ago.

It doesn’t substance astatine each that they had less wins than immoderate different playoff team.

Freeman deed an improbable, tiebreaking homer disconnected Milwaukee person Josh Hader with 2 outs successful the eighth inning and the Braves precocious to the NL Championship Series for the 2nd twelvemonth successful a row, finishing disconnected the Brewers 5-4 connected Tuesday night.

The Braves won the best-of-five Division Series 3 games to one, advancing to look either the 107-win San Francisco Giants oregon the 106-win Los Angeles Dodgers with a travel to the World Series connected the line.

“I’ve had a batch of chill moments successful my career,” Freeman said. ‘I deliberation that’s gonna apical ’em all. Hopefully it’s not the past 1 and I’ve got a mates much successful these playoffs.”

The crippled was tied astatine 4 erstwhile the Brewers brought connected Hader to marque definite it stayed that way. The hard-throwing lefty struck retired Eddie Rosario and Dansby Swanson, but helium couldn’t get past the 2020 NL MVP.

Freeman caught up with an 84-mph slider, launching a 428-foot drive into the seats successful left-center — lone the 4th homer each play disconnected Hader, and archetypal since July 28.

Freeman became the archetypal left-hander to homer disconnected Hader since Jason Heyward successful 2020.

“The archetypal 2 guys went down, truthful I conscionable tried to get a transportation up and helium hung a slider and I enactment a bully plaything connected it,” Freeman said. “There was nary rhyme oregon crushed to it.”

Freeman celebrated wildly connected his mode astir the bases, and popped backmost retired of the dugout for a curtain telephone arsenic the assemblage of 40,195 roared. He became the archetypal subordinate successful franchise past to deed a go-ahead location tally successful the eighth inning oregon aboriginal successful a series-clinching win, ESPN Stats & Info said.

“When Freddie deed that ball, I mean, I mislaid my poise. Everybody successful the dugout was going crazy,” teammate Ozzie Albies said.

Will Smith pitched a scoreless ninth for his 3rd consecutive prevention successful the series, getting Christian Yelich to look astatine onslaught 3 with a runner connected archetypal for the last out. Tyler Matzek claimed the triumph with a cleanable eighth.

“Freddie! Freddie! Freddie!” the assemblage chanted arsenic the Braves celebrated successful the halfway of the field.

Despite having less wins (88) than immoderate different playoff squad — and adjacent 2 teams that didn’t marque the postseason — the NL East champion Braves are headed backmost to the NLCS for the 2nd play successful a row.

A twelvemonth ago, manager Brian Snitker’s squad had a 3-1 bid lead, lone to suffer 3 consecutive games to the eventual World Series champion Dodgers.

Atlanta hasn’t been to the World Series since 1999, and hasn’t won it each since 1995.

But this team, which floundered nether .500 until Aug. 6, overcame truthful overmuch adversity to clinch its 4th consecutive part rubric successful the last week.

A season-ending wounded to prima Ronald Acuña Jr. and ineligible issues that sidelined Marcell Ozuna forced the Braves to get a full caller outfield earlier the commercialized deadline.

It paid off.

“We’ve been feeling truly bully astir ourselves successful the 2nd half, playing truly bully baseball,” Freeman said. ”We carried it implicit to the postseason.”

After the Braves and the Brewers combined for conscionable 9 runs done the archetypal 30 innings of the series, the offenses abruptly came to beingness successful the fourth.

The NL Central champ Brewers touched location for the archetypal clip since Game 1, getting RBI singles from Omar Narváez and Lorenzo Cain to drawback a 22-inning scoreless streak. Narváez’s deed besides broke an 0-for-20 show by 95-win Milwaukee with runners successful scoring presumption successful the series.

But the Braves bounced backmost successful the bottommost half, adjacent though Milwaukee whitethorn person caught a immense interruption connected a deflected foul popup that was ruled a drawback adjacent done it appeared to deed the dirt. Pinch-hitter Eddie Rosario came through with a two-out, two-run azygous to center.

Milwaukee surged up again successful the fifth, this clip connected Rowdy Tellez’s 2nd two-run homer of the series. His first, mode backmost successful the seventh inning of Game 1, had produced the Brewers’ lone runs of the bid until Tuesday. This 2nd 1 disconnected Huascar Ynoa was a monolithic shot, plopping into the fountain beyond the center-field wall.

Back came the Braves, who enactment up different two-spot successful their half. Joc Pederson drove successful 1 with a forceout and Travis d’Arnaud delivered a two-out single to close to bring location another.

Pitching connected 3 days’ rest, Charlie Morton lasted conscionable 3 1/3 innings for the Braves. He surrendered 4 hits and was charged with Milwaukee’s archetypal 2 runs.

The Brewers decided not to usage ace Corbin Burnes, who had gotten the triumph implicit Morton successful Game 1. He was each acceptable to spell successful Game 5 successful Milwaukee.

Unfortunately for the Brewers, they don’t play again until 2022.

“We’re each truly disappointed,” manager Craig Counsell said. “In the end, we had large goals. We didn’t rather get there. But we did triumph 95 games. It’s a peculiar group. They did execute immoderate peculiar things.”

Milwaukee starter Eric Lauer made his archetypal quality of the series, but didn’t get overmuch farther than Morton. He went 3 2/3 innings, besides charged with 2 runs connected 4 hits.

FOLLOW THE BOUNCING BALL

The Braves whitethorn person had a bigger inning successful the 4th if not for what appeared to beryllium a blown telephone connected Adam Duvall’s popup.

Snitker tried to challenge, but the umpires told him that lone alert balls and enactment drives to an outfielder are taxable to a video review.

Things truly got confusing erstwhile the scoreboard proclaimed the telephone was “Overturned,” but that was an mistake connected the operator.

The telephone stood, adjacent done a replay appeared to amusement the shot bouncing disconnected Narváez’s catcher’s mitt and hardly striking the ungraded conscionable earlier 3rd baseman Luis Urias grabbed the deflection.

SOLER PULLED

Braves close fielder and leadoff hitter Jorge Soler was removed from the lineup soon earlier the crippled aft investigating affirmative for COVID-19.

Outfielder Cristian Pache took Soler’s spot connected the 26-man roster.

Soler was replaced astatine the apical of the bid by Swanson. Pederson, slated to commencement successful near field, shifted to right. Guillermo Heredia was inserted successful halfway field, batting eighth, and Duvall switched from halfway to left.

Soler was among the players acquired earlier the commercialized deadline arsenic the Braves wholly rebuilt their starting outfield. He deed a combined .223 with 27 homers and 70 RBIs with Kansas City and Atlanta during the regular season.

Soler had conscionable 1 deed successful 11 at-bats done the archetypal 3 games against the Brewers.

UP NEXT

Brewers: Begin the 2022 play astatine location against the Arizona Diamondbacks connected March 31.

Braves: Open the NLCS connected Saturday, with Max Fried acceptable to marque the start. If the Giants bushed the Dodgers, the bid would unfastened successful San Francisco. If Los Angeles prevails, the archetypal 2 games would beryllium successful Atlanta.