Braves make quick work of Astros, sweep series

ATLANTA -- The NL championship series just didn't seem right without the Atlanta Braves.

Well, they're back.

After struggling just to make the playoffs, the Braves cruised into the NLCS for the ninth time in 10 years, beating the Houston Astros 6-2 Friday to complete a sweep of their first-round series.

"It all came together at the right time," Brian Jordan said. "We're very confident right now."

The Braves made eight straight appearances in the league championship series from 1991-99. St. Louis brought a shocking end to the streak last year by sweeping the best-of-five first round.

"What happened last year was disappointing and embarrassing," Tom Glavine said. "All you can do is come back and try to do something about it. We've done that."

For much of this season, the Braves didn't even appear to be playoff material. They won just 88 games -- fewest among playoff teams -- and struggled down the stretch to put away the youthful Philadelphia Phillies.

That didn't matter a bit when Atlanta was paired with Houston, a team that has never won a postseason series in seven appearances.

Light-hitting Paul Bako homered and drove in three runs, John Burkett pitched six shutout innings and Chipper Jones put the Astros put of their misery with a two-run homer in the eighth.

As Jones touched the plate with his second homer of the series, the crowd chanted, "Sweep! Sweep! Sweep!"

"We wanted to come out and make a statement that we deserved to be here as much as anyone," he said.

Atlanta will meet either the Cardinals or Arizona Diamondbacks starting Tuesday for a spot in the World Series.

Houston lost to the Braves in the division series for the third time since 1997. Most distressing for the Astros -- they have never even managed to win a game when facing elimination.

"Honestly, I thought we had a better team than the Braves," manager Larry Dierker.

On paper, maybe. The Astros lost to a team that had Bako filling in at catcher for the injured Javy Lopez and 40-something Julio Franco, plucked from the Mexican League, starting at first base.

Burkette extended Houston's scoreless streak to 15 innings before pinch-hitter Daryle Ward's two-run homer in the seventh.

Steve Reed, Mike Remlinger and John Smoltz came out of the bullpen to finish off the Astros.