Astros, Braves Meet in World Series

Only two teams remain to determine the world champion of baseball: The Houston Astros and the Atlanta Braves. Let’s take a look at how each team got here, and how they match up against each other. 

Houston Astros

The Houston Astros won 95 games in the regular season and won the American League West division. By doing so, they were guaranteed a spot in the divisional series where they defeated the Chicago White Sox in a best of five series (3-1). They then moved on to their fifth straight American League Championship Series to play the Boston Red Sox in an exciting six game series (4-2). Their manager Dusty Baker will appear in his second career World Series, first since 2002 with the San Francisco Giants. 

Atlanta Braves

The Atlanta Braves had a tougher journey than the Astros. In the middle of the season they lost their best star, Ronald Acuna Jr, to an injury for the rest of the season. They didn’t clinch their division until the final week of the season against the Phillies. Yet, they defeated the Milwaukee Brewers in the NLDS three games to one. Then in a rematch of last season’s NL Championship, they defeated the 106-win LA Dodgers in a grueling six game series clinching their first World Series appearance since 1999.

Matchup

If the Divisional Series and Championship Series were any indicator of how these teams will play in the World Series, we should be in for a treat. Expect veterans like Jose Altuve for the Astros and Freddie Freeman on the Braves to make a huge impact in the series. But also rising stars like the NLCS MVP Eddie Rosario and the ALCS MVP Yordan Alvarez to make a name for themselves. Or perhaps pitchers will step up like Charlie Morton for the Braves or Framber Valdez for the Astros. With each lineup loaded with young talent, either way, I expect this to be a close series back and forth. 

My prediction for the series: For what it’s worth I think the Houston Astros will win their second championship in a 6 game series. 

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