Braves shut out Marlins again to complete sweep, advance to NLCS

The Atlanta Braves ended the Miami Marlins' Cinderella run with a 7-0 victory to sweep them in the NLDS on Thursday. It's the fourth shutout in five postseason games for the Braves, and their second straight against the Marlins.

This marks the Braves' first trip to the National League Championship Series since 2001, when Atlanta fell to the Arizona Diamondbacks. It's also the first time the Marlins have ever lost a playoff series.

The Braves broke through with a four-run third inning and never looked back. Freddie Freeman, Marcell Ozuna, and red-hot Travis d'Arnaud each recorded a multi-hit game, and Ronald Acuna Jr. drew two walks and scored a pair of runs.

Freeman, the NL MVP front-runner, sang his teammates' praises after the club secured the win.

Rookie right-hander Kyle Wright was stingy on the mound for Atlanta, allowing three hits while striking out seven batters over six scoreless frames. Wright and Ian Anderson became the first pair of rookies to record consecutive scoreless playoff outings for the same team in MLB history.

After finishing the regular season with a 4.46 ERA (15th in MLB), the Braves have found another gear on the mound. All five runs they've given up came in Game 1 of the NLDS against the Marlins, which ties them for the second-fewest runs allowed through a team's first five games during a postseason run.

Also, only the 1905 Giants have matched the Braves' four shutouts through the first five games this postseason, as MLB.com's Mark Bowman notes. And only the 2016 Cleveland Indians have recorded more shutouts (five) over a single postseason.

The Braves will face the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NLCS beginning Monday.