Ozzie Albies a hero through two games for the Atlanta Braves
Freeman and Albies: Freddie Freeman and Ozzie Albies each homered tonight after both doing so in Game 1…They became just the sixth and seventh players in franchise history to homer in back-to-back games in the NLCS, and the first since Eddie Pérez in Games 1 & 2 of the 1999 series versus New York…Only one Brave, Hall-of-Famer Hank Aaron in 1969, has homered in three straight games of an NLCS…Freeman and Albies are the first players to homer in the first two games of the LCS since the Mets’ Daniel Murphy went deep in each of the first four games of the 2015 NLCS vs. Chicago.
Dansby Swanson: Went 2-for-5 on the night and drove in a seventh-inning run, giving him six RBI this postseason…His six RBI are the most by a Braves shortstop in a single postseason in franchise history…Rafael Belliard drove in five during the 1991 playoffs to set the record, which Jeff Blauser later matched in 1997.
Cristian Pache I: Doubled home a run in the fifth inning for his first career postseason hit and RBI…He did so at 21 years, 329 days old, becoming the youngest Brave with an RBI in the NLCS since Andruw Jones in 1998…Pache is just the eighth centerfielder his age or younger to drive in a run in the playoffs, joining Amos Strunk, Joe DiMaggio, Willie Mays, Mickey Mantle, Andruw Jones, Bryce Harper and Ronald Acuña Jr.
Cristian Pache II: Pache’s RBI in the fifth inning was the first of his career, regardless of game…Pache is the first player in the majors to record a postseason RBI before a regular season RBI since Houston’s Lance McCullers Jr. in Game 7 of the 2017 World Series, and the first position player since Colorado’s Seth Smith in Game 4 of the 2007 NLCS…Since RBI were officially recorded in 1920, no Braves position had ever logged an RBI in the postseason before doing so in the regular season prior to Pache tonight…Pitcher Jorge Sosa did so for Atlanta in Game 3 of the 2005 NLDS…Thanks to Elias for the research.
Scoring Early: Freeman’s home run gave Atlanta a 2-0 lead, and the Braves have now scored first in each of their seven games this postseason…Atlanta went 24-6 (.800) when scoring first during the regular season, the best mark in the National League and second best in the majors (Tampa Bay, 25-6, .806).
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