[SloppyThirstin]

Round 1: #12 1957 Braves beat the #5 2018 Red Sox in 6 games, keeping in the spirit of the reliable 12-seed upset in March Madness.

Game 1: Braves 11, Red Sox 7 (W: Warren Spahn, L: Chris Sale)
- Early intrigue in this series would be how a 1957 Braves lineup featuring Hank Aaron, Eddie Mathews, Joe Adcock, and Wes Covington would fare in a more power-friendly 2018 environment, and the first game was not disappointing. The game opened with a Red Schoendist single, a Johnny Logan single, a Hank Aaron walk, following by a Bob Hazle grand slam! The Braves hang 4 on Chris Sale before he even records an out.
- Mitch Moreland made things interesting with a 3-run home run in the 6th inning to bring the Red Sox within two runs, at 6-4.
- The Braves bullpen issues in the modern game became an issue. Ernie Johnson gave up the Moreland home run and Taylor Phillips gave up 3 more, but the Braves had stocked enough insurance runs off to hold the Red Sox off.
- The Braves hit four home runs: the Hazle grand slam in the 1st, a Covington homer off Sale in the 4th, and Hank Aaron hit home runs in the 5th and the 7th. Eddie Mathews, however, opens what will turn out to be a pretty disastrous series for him with an 0-4 performance, striking out 3 times.
- Christian Vazquez, the defensive catcher, is the surprising offensive star for the Red Sox, going 3-4 with 2 doubles and an RBI.

Game 2: Braves 1, Red Sox 7 (W: Eduardo Rodriguez, L: Bob Towbridge)
- Braves offensive onslaught doesn't carry into game 2. Eduardo Rodriguez allows just 3 hits and strikes out 9 batters in his 5 IP. The Red Sox then turn it over to their bullpen, who only allow one more baserunner over the next 4 innings.
- The Red Sox somehow only score 7 runs. It could've been way worse, as the Red Sox had 17 hits on the day. Benintendi, Betts, Martinez, Moreland, Kinsley, and Devers all had multi-hit games. Moreland adds 2 more home runs to his game 1 homer. Betts and Devers add on 2 more.
- Bob Towbridge somehow gives up 11 hits over 4.1 IP and only allows 4 runs, for a 8.31 ERA that could've been way worse. A dismal day for the Braves all around.

Game 3: Red Sox 2, Braves 9 (W: Bob Buhl, L: Nathan Eovaldi)
- As the series moves to County Stadium, the Braves bats come alive again. Hank Aaron has yet another 2 HR game, including a grand slam in the 7th that put it out of reach. Through the first 3 games, Aaron is batting .455 with 4 home runs and 8 RBI. and is clearly the series MVP so far.
- Red Schoendeinst is the other offensive star for the Braves, hitting a home run and a bases-loaded single for his 3 RBI.
- Bob Buhl pitches a masterful game, only allowing 3 hits over 7 innings. The Braves bullpen continues to be a worry, as Phil Paine gives up 2 runs in the 8th, but this one is out of reach. Hopefully the 2018 settings won't come back to bite them due to pitching depth.

Game 4: Red Sox 1, Braves 3 (W: Gene Conley, L: David Price, S: Don McMahon)
- Another unsung Braves pitcher comes through, as Conley holds the Red Sox to just 1 run on 2 hits in his 5.1 IP. And the Braves bullpen comes through when it counts! Lew Burdette and and Don McMahon combine for 3.1 scoreless innings (although McMahon made it interesting in the 9th, as the Sox got the bases loaded with 2 outs before Xander Bogaerts strikes out swinging).
- The mighty Braves lineup plays smallball, collecting 9 runs but only one extra-base hit, a Red Schoendienst double in the 5th. Each of their 3 runs come off station-to-station RBI singles.

Game 5: Red Sox 7, Braves 1 (W: Sale, L: Spahn)
- Sale redeems himself after his disappointing game 1 performance in the rematch of the aces. He strikes out 7 and gives up just 1 run in his 7.1 IP,
- Spahn only allows 3 earned in his 5.2 IP, but is lucky to do so. He scatters 8 hits and 2 walks and got out of some situations that could've been worse. The Braves bullpen allows this one to get out of hand, as Taylor Phillips once again has a disastrous outing, giving up 3 earned runs in the 7th and putting it squarely out of reach for even this Braves offense.
- Moreland, Betts, Bogaerts, and Kinsley all have multi-hit games once again and keep the Braves from clinching the series in Milwaukee. Back to Boston!

Game 6: Braves 4, Red Sox 2 (W: Towbridge, L: Rodriguez, S: McMahon)
- A tense game with no one able to break it open. Both teams take turns posting 1-run innings in the 5th and 6th, but the Braves are able to score in the 7th and 8th to finally put the series away.
- Eddie Mathews finally hits a home run, which gives the Braves the lead in the 5th. It's been an otherwise poor series for him, as he finishes the series just 4-20 with 1 HR and 1 RBI, despite batting 6th in a stacked lineup.
- Towbridge redeems himself after his game 2 debacle, allowing 5 hits and just 1 earned run over the first 6 innings, although disaster almost strikes in the 7th. The Braves leave Towbridge into start the 7th. He gives up a walk and line drive single to right that advances Christian Vazquez to third with no outs.
- Up just one run in the 7th, the Braves go to their shaky bullpen and call in Red Murff, who has not made a single appearance all series. Murff gets Benintendi to fly out to shallow right, strikes out Bogaerts, and then gets Betts to ground out to 3rd to get out of the inning! The Braves bullpen comes through when they need them most and manage to keep the runner on third from tying the game. (Admittedly, Betts grounder to 3rd had a 113 mph exit velo, so kudos to Mathews for showing up with the glove to keep the lead intact.)
- Ernie Johnson and Don McMahon manage to make it boring in the 8th and 9th. The Braves advance in 6 games in the first "upset" of the tournament so far. And a pre-modern bullpen team gets their first win in the modern era, no less!

Series MVP: Hank Aaron finishes the series 10-23 with 4 home runs, 9 RBI, and a 1.437 OPS. Lew Burdette and Ernie Johnson get honorable mentions for being respectable bullpen contributors for a team playing in an entirely different er, as well as Red Murff for the most clutch inning of the series.

Series LVP: Chris Sale, maybe? He won game 5 but his game 1 was rough and put the Red Sox on the backfoot from the jump. Rafael Devers had a pretty rough series, too, going just 5-25. Eddie Mathews would've been LVP on a winning team if it weren't for his game 5 home run and game-saving glovework on a 113 mph scorcher from Betts to keep a run from scoring.