As the great Omar Little once said, "you come at the king, you best not miss.” Luckily for the Atlanta Braves, they didn’t miss, making quick work of the Marlins in their National League Division Series at Minute Maid Park in Houston.
For most of their existence, the Marlins have been among the league’s least successful and worst-run franchises, but there’s one thing they’ve always done well. When the Marlins do make the playoffs, something they’ve done just three times in their history, they usually finish what they started. In fact, prior to Atlanta’s three-game sweep, Miami had never experienced the bitter taste of playoff defeat. Thursday’s clincher, aided by Kyle Wright’s six-inning gem, dropped the Marlins to 7-1 all-time in postseason series. Miami’s previous playoff appearances in 1997 and 2003 (with an enormous assist from Steve Bartman) both ended with victory parades in South Beach.
After erasing Chicago in the inaugural NL Wild Card series last week, it looked like the Marlins (who, as evidenced by cigar-toting first baseman Jesus Aguilar, were feeling pretty good about themselves) might be on their way to another miracle run. But the Braves weren’t having it, steamrolling the Fish in a lopsided three-game affair.
Ironically enough, this was only Atlanta’s second series win in the past 20 years. Atlanta’s triumph over the Reds in last week’s Wild Card round secured their first series victory since conquering Houston (Hall of Famers Jeff Bagwell and Craig Biggio were running the show back then) in the 2001 NLDS.
Though the Marlins had certainly hoped for a better ending—they finished the year on a 19-inning scoreless drought—Miami’s 2020 campaign would have to be considered a success, particularly after the Derek Jeter-led outfit struggled to an NL-worst 57-105 record the previous season. Not only did Miami post its first winning season since 2009, but the Marlins did it while working with one of the league’s smallest budgets. Only the Orioles, Pirates and Rays boasted lower payrolls than Miami’s prorated $31.3 million. Don Mattingly’s bunch showed impressive resiliency in 2020, reaching the playoffs despite a COVID outbreak that nearly derailed their season.
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