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Frederick. The Atlanta Braves advanced to their second straight NLCS on a late HR from Freddie Freeman in Game 4 of the NLCS vs. the Milwaukee Brewers on Tuesday night. With the score tied 4-4 in the bottom of the 8th, Freeman came up and belted and opposite field homer off Josh Hader to give the Braves the lead. ATL would go on to close out Milwaukee in the 9th to move on.
FREDERICKpic.twitter.com/bhmFlA9psc
— DraftKings (@DraftKings) October 13, 2021
The Braves struggled at times in Game 4, allowing the Brewers to take a 2-0 lead and then a 4-2 lead in the 4th and 5th innings. Atlanta was able to rally back on both instances before Freeman put the game away late. The Braves will await the winner of the San Francisco Giants-Los Angeles Dodgers series, which is in Game 4 with the Giants leading 2-1 in the series.
The Braves are +425 to win the World Series on DraftKings Sportsbook. Atlanta advanced to the NLCS last season and lost to the eventual champion Dodgers. There’s a chance we get a rematch, but the Giants have the edge up 2-1 with a potential Game 5 (if necessary) at home. Atlanta was +125 as underdogs to win this NLDS series against the Brewers, who had a better record after winning the NL Central.
What’s even more incredible is the Braves getting back to the NLCS without their best player. NL MVP candidate Ronald Acuna Jr. went down early in the season with a torn ACL. Normally, when a team loses its best player, the odds of advancing to the championship series decrease tremendously. It also helped the Braves played in one of the weaker divisions in the baseball. Still, we’ve got to give credit to Freeman, Ozzie Albies, Austin Riley and the pitching staff.