Braves Clinch 3rd Straight NL East Title with Win over Marlins

The Atlanta Braves are heading to the playoffs for the third consecutive year, where they will try to actually win a series for the first time in nearly two decades.

Atlanta clinched a spot in the expanded 2020 postseason with a win over the Miami Marlins on Tuesday. It has attempted to hold off the Marlins and Philadelphia Phillies for much of the season in the National League East, although finishing in second place or even one of the two wild-card spots was enough to make the playoffs this year.

The Braves didn't need the fall-back option, as they are NL East champions for the third straight season.

The biggest question is whether the Braves will win in the postseason considering they have lost all nine of the series they have played since reaching the 2001 National League Championship Series.

During that span, Atlanta has lost eight National League Division Series and the NL Wild Card Game while consistently falling short against the best teams in the league during the biggest moments.

It has the pieces to find more success this time around.

Freddie Freeman provides veteran leadership while anchoring the lineup, and players such as Ronald Acuna Jr., Dansby Swanson, Marcell Ozuna and Travis d'Arnaud provide plenty of pop around him.

On the pitching side, Max Fried has been excellent this season at 7-0 with a 1.96 ERA, 1.05 WHIP and 50 strikeouts in 55 innings. The southpaw has helped make up for the absence of ace Mike Soroka, who suffered a torn Achilles in August and is out for the season.

One-time ace Mike Foltynewicz also hasn't been much of a factor this season, making Fried's presence all the more important for Atlanta as it worked its way toward this playoff-clinching performance.

The Braves will now look to parlay their regular-season success into a sustained playoff run, which is something they've been unable to do of late.