It was a tightly contested playoff series when the Cincinnati Reds were swept out of the postseason by the Atlanta Braves last October. The Reds failed to score a run across 22 innings, spoiling strong pitching performances.
Twelve months later, Atlanta is in the World Series and the Reds are watching from home after they fell seven games short in the wild-card race.
There wasn’t a major gulf between the two clubs this year. They were separated by five wins during the regular season. Atlanta won the season series, four games to three. The Braves scored 790 runs this year, third-most in the National League, and the Reds scored 786 runs, fourth-most.