Braves go deep to break World Series drought

The Atlanta Braves have captured their first World Series since 1995 with a 7-0 rout of the Houston Astros.

Guillermo Heredia leads the Atlanta Braves celebrations. Picture: Getty Images.

Max Fried hurled six shutout innings and Jorge Soler smashed a towering home run as the Atlanta Braves captured their first World Series since 1995 with a 7-0 rout of the Houston Astros.

Starting pitcher Fried put on a clinic in game six, striking out six batters for the Braves, who wrapped up the best-of-seven ­series four games to two in front of a crowd of 42,060 at Minute Maid Park in Texas.

“I had to dig deep,” the left-hander said. “I knew how much they believed in me and I just had to go out there and give it one more outing. ”

Fried got plenty of support from the Braves’ batters, who scored most of their runs on Wednesday via the long ball.

Cuba’s Soler was the biggest contributor on offence and was named MVP of the 2021 World Series. The veteran outfielder, whom the Braves acquired at the Major League Baseball trade deadline, hit his third go-ahead home run of the series.

The designated hitter clobbered a three-run homer out of the ballpark in the third, Dansby Swanson belted a two-run shot two innings later to give the Braves a commanding 5-0 lead and Freddie Freeman had a solo shot in the seventh.

Closer Will Smith got Astros batter Yuli Gurriel to ground out to shortstop Swanson for the final out, sparking a wild celebration on the field.

While Fried, 27, rebounded from a pair of subpar starts, the Astros couldn’t overcome their pitching woes, starting with an early exit by rookie Luis Garcia.

The Braves jumped out to a big lead early for the second straight game. They hit a grand slam in the first inning of game five but couldn’t hold onto the lead in front of their home fans.

This time there was no let-down as Fried and his two relievers, Tyler Matzek and Smith, held the Houston batters in check and the Braves won their second championship since the franchise moved to Atlanta in 1966.

AFP