Atlanta’s improbable season now has a division title attached to it. The Braves completed a three-game sweep of the Astros with a 4-2 victory Sunday at Daikin Park, clinching the National League East with six regular-season games still to play. It was Atlanta’s seventh division crown in nine years—and one built more on endurance than expectation.
Martin Pérez gave the Braves the kind of start this season has demanded from them: steady, durable and quietly important. The left-hander, once designated for assignment in April, worked through Houston’s lineup and helped hand Atlanta a chance to finish the job. His 3.04 ERA across 30 starts has become one of the season’s most unlikely foundations.
Mike Yastrzemski supplied the swing that broke the game open, launching a three-run homer in the sixth inning after Mauricio Dubón doubled. Yastrzemski homered three times during Atlanta’s 4-2 road trip, and his latest blast turned a tense afternoon into a celebration. In the fifth, Victor Mederos preserved the lead by escaping a bases-loaded jam with a strikeout of Jose Altuve and an inning-ending groundout.
The champagne arrived, but the Braves did not sound satisfied. Tyler Mahle, acquired from San Francisco at the Trade Deadline, has posted a 1.28 ERA in eight starts since joining Atlanta, while AJ Smith-Shawver touched 100.5 mph during two scoreless relief innings Sunday. The Braves may enter October as the National League’s No. 3 seed, but this sweep offered a warning to the rest of the field: a team dismissed in March is arriving with momentum, depth and very little interest in slowing down.