[Big Six]

Even without Tom Haley and new catcher Edward Shaw, who broke a bone in his elbow in early September, the Braves held off a fierce charge from the Mets and recaptured the NL East championship with a 94-68 record.

The Braves swept the Chicago Cubs 3-0 in the NLDS. Arodys Vizcaino threw a six-hit shutout in Game One, and Brian Nolan and Kris Medlen allowed only four runs between them as the Braves' arms shut down the Cubs' bats and denied the defending World Series champions a chance to defend their title.

Next up were the NL West champion Arizona Diamondbacks. Nolan kept his remarkable run going with two victories, and more solid pitching from Medlen and Brett Oberholtzer paved the way for the Braves to take the NLCS, 4-1.

The new National League champion faced the Detroit Tigers in the World Series. The Tigers roughed up Medlen in Game One, beating him 9-2. Nolan was sharp once again in Game Two, however, and a Jeff Collins two-run homer was the margin of victory as the Braves won, 4-2. Steven Butler got the save in Tom's absence.

In Games Three and Four, the Tigers' pitching staff crafted shutouts to give their team a 3-1 series lead. Jacob Turner and Christian Friedrich were the victorious Tiger starters.

The Tigers took an early 5-0 lead in Game Five, and it looked like they'd win the Series that night without much trouble. However, the Braves, led by Mat Gamel (4-4, HR) and Jeff Collins, who belted his fifth HR of the postseason, fought back gamely. The Tigers needed to call on THEIR fireballing closer, Greg Beltran, to preserve their narrow lead, and Greg was up to the task. Detroit's 5-4 victory brought the Series title back to the Motor City for the first time since 1984.