ATLANTA–The Battery at SunTrust Park was made for days like this.
On Saturday, the Atlanta Braves made history by clinching their 19th division crown since 1969. It also marked the first NL East title since the franchise moved its home address from downtown Atlanta to the suburban sprawl of Cobb County.
The Braves' last division title only dates back five years (96-66 in 2013); but this gap seems doubly longer, considering how Freddie Freeman and Julio Teheran remain the only holdovers from that one-and-done run at NL East glory.
Instead, the current group of champions features a slew of burgeoning stars, 27 years or younger.
In many ways, the people of Atlanta had this core pegged for multiple NL East crowns (and beyond). The lone distinction: Very few people believed the Braves (87-68, on pace for the 2-seed in the NL playoffs), who clipped the Phillies 5-3 to clinch the postseason berth, would become so prolific, so quickly.
Saturday's close-shave win was an homage to the club's risky rebuilding job, which essentially launched immediately after the disappointing 2014 campaign came to a sooner-than-expected end.
**Rookie Ronald Acuna Jr. tallied one hit and two runs. For history sake, he also became the fourth rookie in baseball history to record 25 homers/15 steals in the same campaign.
**Third baseman Johan Camargo, who was also Friday's hero in Atlanta's comeback victory, got the ball rolling again Saturday, smashing a two-run single off Jake Arietta during the opening inning.
**Hard to believe that Freddie Freeman (crucial two-run single on Saturday) remains on the plus side of 30 years old. Back in 2014, the Braves were willing to shell out mega-dollars to Freeman (eight years, $130 million), with the tacit understanding the affable slugger would lead the franchise through a presumably painful reconstruction.
**And starter Mike Foltynewicz (two runs allowed over 7 1/3 innings) took a no-hitter into the 6th, before pinning the club's division-title hopes on a bullpen that brings new meaning to the word shaky.
But alas, everything worked out in the end; and now, the Braves can begin to rest up and restock their starting rotation for the National League Divisional Series.
For that round, if the playoffs started today ... Atlanta would own home-field advantage versus the Los Angeles Dodgers for Games 1, 2 and 5.
