Freddie Freeman Comments on Hearing Narrative of NLCS Being a Repeat of 2020 Series

The Braves held a 3-1 lead going into Game 5 last season before the Dodgers won the rest of the 2020 NLCS and eventually the World Series.

Freddie Freeman commented on hearing the narrative of this year's National League Championship Series being a repeat of last season's. 

Heading into Game 5 in 2020, Atlanta held a 3-1 lead over the Dodgers, coming off of a strong 10-2 win at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas. The Braves took an early 2-0 in two innings before making a costly mistake that resulted in Mookie Betts catching the ball before it hit the turf. Los Angeles won that game, 7-3, and went on to snag the rest of the series to head to the World Series, which they later won. 

"That's going to be the narrative it seems because every day, it's brought up, the last couple days," the Braves player said. "I don't think we have a choice until we kill that narrative."

Freddie Freeman and Max Fried react to their team's NLCS Game 5 performance ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/ngzSXDjZqG

— Bally Sports: Braves (@BravesOnBally) October 22, 2021

This season, the Braves took an early 2-0 lead, but when the series headed to Dodger Stadium, Los Angeles won a narrow Game 3. The Braves bounced back with an emphatic 9-2 victory on Wednesday, but the Dodgers responded with a statement on their own in the potential elimination game on Thursday—a 11-2 victory that sends the series back to Atlanta. 

"We're up 3-2," Freeman said, "and we're going home. It's a great position to be in."

When asked how they would respond to the crowd following this Game 5 performance, Freeman said, in part, with a smile, "I think we're going to be just fine."