Major League Baseball’s Atlanta Braves posted a dominating 7-0 victory over the host Houston Astros to clinch the best-of-seven 2021 World Series by a 3 games to 2 margin. 

Atlanta pitcher Max Fried pitched six strong innings, giving up only four hits while striking out six Houston batters, with ace relievers Tyler Matzek and Will Smith holding the Astros to just two hits over the last three innings to complete the shutout for the National League champions. 

Atlanta’s sluggers had another huge night at the plate, highlighted by Jorge Soler’s mammoth 135-meter home run in the third inning that gave the Braves a 3-0 lead. Dansby Swanson followed with a home run in the fifth inning that drove in two runs, while Freddy Freeman capped the scoring by driving in a run in the same inning and a solo home run in the seventh inning.    

Soler hit three home runs during the Series’ and was named the Series’ most valuable player. 

This is the Braves’ fourth World Series championship in their 150-year MLB history. They won in 1914 when they were based in Boston and in 1957 as the Milwaukee Braves on a team that featured future Hall-of-Famer sluggers Eddie Matthews and Henry “Hank” Aaron, who would go on to break Babe Ruth’s iconic record of 714 career home runs. Their first win in Atlanta came in 1995.   

This was the third World Series appearance in four years for the Astros, who represent the American League, winning it in 2017. But that title has been marred by a scandal involving coaches using technology to steal hand signs from opposing teams during that championship season. The team was fined $5 million and some of its former coaches and executives were suspended for the violation.   

Some information for this report came from the Associated Press and Reuters.  
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