The Braves held the Reds scoreless for all 22.0 innings of the Wild Card round, the second-longest single postseason scoreless streak in franchise history… The 1991 Braves compiled a 24.0-inning scoreless streak, dating from the sixth inning of Game 5 of the NLCS to the second inning of the World Series opener. • The longest scoreless streak for a single postseason is 33.0 innings by the 1966 Baltimore Orioles…That pitching staff did not allow a run after the third inning of Game 1 of the World Series, and swept the Dodgers in four games.
The Braves have not allowed a postseason run since the fourth inning of Game 5 of last year’s NLDS (they allowed 14 in the four innings preceding that inning)…The 28.0-inning postseason scoreless streak is the fourth longest in history…The Orioles compiled a 37.0-inning streak from 1966 until 1969, while the 1974 Athletics had a 30-inning run…The Giants went 29.0 scoreless innings from 1905 until 1911. GAME 1: The Braves beat Cincinnati, 1-0, in 13 innings in the opener of the Wild Card Series, snapping a string of nine consecutive losses in Game 1 of a postseason series, dating to the 2001 NLDS vs. Houston (that streak does not include a wild card game loss in 2012).
The Braves are now 16-20 in postseason series openers…They are 12-4 in a series when they win Game 1 and 3-17 when they drop the opener. • They last won a series when dropping Game 1 in 1999, when they lost 6-1 vs. Houston in the NLDS before going on to win the next three games…They last lost a series when winning the opener in 1996, when they won the first two games of the World Series at Yankee Stadium, before dropping the next four.
THE BULLPEN: The Braves bullpen tossed 9.0 scoreless innings in the Wild Card Series, striking out 14, and allowing five hits and three walks…Last season in the NLDS, the Braves bullpen allowed 14 runs and nine walks in 23.1 innings. • In the regular season, the Braves bullpen compiled a 3.40 ERA (103 ER/272.2 IP), while throwing the most innings in the National League…The relievers’ 3.40 ERA was the fourth best in baseball. • The Braves went 27-0 in the regular season when leading after six innings and are 1-0 in the postseason when taking a lead to the seventh. • From the sixth inning on, the Braves bullpen had a 2.71 ERA (62 ER/205.2 IP) in the regular season, best in the National League and trailing only Oakland’s 2.65 mark for the major league lead.
ROSTER: The Braves made just two changes to their roster for the NLDS from the Wild Card Series, adding RHPs Bryse Wilson and Huascar Ynoa. • Wilson and Ynoa replaced C William Contreras and INF Johan Camargo.
Read More: Braves Game One Notes – Part Two