After spending the past few months battling to win the National League East, the Braves and Marlins will square off in the NL Division Series, which will begin on Tuesday at Houston’s Minute Maid Park.
Having won their third straight division title, the Braves will be the home team in Games 1, 2 and 5 (if necessary) of this best-of-five series. The Marlins extended one of this year’s best storylines when they clinched a spot in the NLDS by sweeping the Cubs in the Wild Card Series.
The Braves are returning to the NLDS for a third straight year after throwing 22 scoreless innings in their sweep of the Reds in their WC Series.
Postseason experiences have been much different for these two organizations. The Marlins have won each of the seven playoff series they have been involved in, including the 1997 NL Championship Series against the Braves. That stands as the only previous time these two teams have met in the postseason.
By sweeping the Reds, the Braves avoided becoming the first team in MLB history to lose 11 consecutive postseason series. Their last playoff series win had occurred in 2001, when they swept the Astros in the NLDS. The first two games of that series were also played at Minute Maid Park.
“They have kicked our butts a few times,” Marlins closer Brandon Kintzler said. “They’ve beaten us six out of 10, but they’ve [mostly been] competitive games. Obviously, their lineup is great. But we’ve got pitching. They’ve got pitching.”
Sandy Alcantara, who went 6 2/3 innings in an NL Wild Card Series win over the Cubs on Wednesday, will start Game 1 against the Braves.
“If Sandy gets everything going, he’s really a lot to handle,” Marlins manager Don Mattingly said.
