ABSTRACT:
If the Mets squeezed enough runs against John Smoltz last night, they’ll have to do it again against Greg Maddux this afternoon. If they somehow, some way, get this NLCS back to Atlanta, they have to beat Kevin Millwood and then still face Tom Glavine, who only had the best of the Braves’ three superlative starts of this series on Friday night.
How do you beat that? Better question: How did anybody ever beat that? How is it possible that the Braves have won only one World Series in seven post-season appearances since 1991?
Three Cy Young Award winners have been in the rotation since 1993. Millwood has only been a Brave two years, but he replaced Denny Neagle, who went 20-5 in 1997; Neagle replaced Steve Avery, who didn’t allow a run in two starts against the Pirates in the 1991 NLCS, when the Braves began their run.
Why is it, then, that Atlanta has not rolled year after year like it has against the Mets in this series? If a few championships got away, well, that’s baseball, but six years out of seven the Braves didn’t get it done, which is mindboggling.