For the second straight season, the Atlanta Braves will play in the National League Championship Series, and they will await the winner of the Division Series between the Giants and Los Angeles Dodgers, which will be decided in Game 5 on Thursday night.
The Braves beat the Milwaukee Brewers in Game 4 of their NLDS on Tuesday night to advance to the 13th NLCS in franchise history. Atlanta lost to the Dodgers in the 2020 NLCS.
Reigning National League MVP Freddie Freeman hit a go-ahead solo homer in the bottom of the eighth inning off Brewers' closer Josh Hader to give the Braves an eventual 5-4 win at Truist Park.
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Atlanta won the NL East with an 88-73 record (they didn't make up a postponed game) and knocked out the NL Central champion Brewers despite not having home-field advantage in the series. Milwaukee won Game 1, but the Braves won three straight to take the best-of-five series.
The Giants had a chance to punch their ticket to the NLCS on Tuesday night, but they lost Game 4 of the NLDS to the Dodgers, 7-2, forcing a winner-take-all Game 5 in San Francisco on Thursday.
If the Giants were to advance to the NLCS, it would be their third ever meeting with the Braves in the postseason. Both prior matchups came in the NLDS (2002, 2010), with San Francisco winning both series en route to World Series appearances both years. The Giants and Braves split their six meetings during the 2021 regular season.
San Francisco Giants
The Giants first have to take care of business against the Dodgers on Thursday night, but if they do, the NLCS would begin Saturday in San Francisco.