Atlanta Braves reach first World Series in 22 years

The Atlanta Braves have advanced to the World Series for the first time since 1999, booking a match-up with the Houston Astros.

Eddie Rosario capped a remarkable National League Championship Series (NLCS) with a three-run homer in Game Six, as the Braves recorded a 4-2 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers in Atlanta.

The Braves won the best-of-seven series four games to two, exorcising the demons of last year’s NLCS, when they squandered 2-0 and 3-1 leads against the Dodgers, who went on to win the World Series.

The opening game of the World Series is on Wednesday (AEDT) in Houston.

The Braves will be going for their first World Series title since 1995, when they beat Cleveland

Rosario — acquired in a flush of deals just before the July 30 trade deadline that rebuilt the Braves’ depleted outfield — set an Atlanta franchise record and became only the fifth player in baseball history to record 14 hits in a postseason series.

The Puerto Rican was an easy choice as MVP of the series.

“Since I was a little kid, I’ve dreamed of this moment,” Rosario said through an interpreter.

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Rosario finished 14 of 25 (.560) against the Dodgers, with three homers and nine RBIs.

“We just couldn’t figure him out,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said.

The Braves will be looking to bury their city’s reputation for playoff misery.

From four World Series losses in the 1990s to the NFL Falcons blowing a 28-3 lead in the 2017 Super Bowl, Atlanta again finds itself on cusp of an extremely rare feat — a major US sporting championship.

The 1995 Braves remain the city’s lone team in the four major sports — baseball, American football, basketball and ice hockey — to capture a title.

AP/ABC