The World Series starts Tuesday, and while the Houston Astros and Atlanta Braves were both in the opening top six at a lot of sportsbooks to win the title, their roads have been different.
The Braves have been quite similar to another team from the National League East that won the World Series, the 2019 Washington Nationals, in that this team was not above .500 for a single day until Aug. 6 and had to rebuild its outfield at the trade deadline when Ronald Acuna Jr. was lost for the season with an injury.
The Astros have used raw horsepower to get to this spot, leading the league in runs per game both in the regular and postseason and despite the starting pitching having struggles. Manager Dusty Baker has not fallen into the trap that many managers of eliminated teams did in using normal starting pitchers in positions they are not used to.
The Astros have scored at least five runs in 12 of the 13 games they have played dating back to the end of the regular season, and the Braves are 19-5 in their last 24 games.
In a matchup that many saw coming entering the season, but not necessarily in this fashion, the loss of Acuna coupled with not having another top-line starter in Mike Soroka to try to tame the Astros bats will be Atlanta’s demise.
THE PLAY: Astros to win World Series, -140.