The Braves sprinkled in some drama, which only allowed them to make this extra crushing for the Marlins.
They had handled the Marlins all series. With a two-run lead in the ninth inning in the finale, Raisel Iglesias blew the save as Miami tied the game. But he rebounded to keep it tied, then his teammates did the rest.
On Wednesday, Atlanta swept the Marlins with a 4-3 win in 10 innings at Truist Park. The Braves have won five of six games in a nine-game homestand that continues Friday versus Cleveland.
Five observations:
1. In the bottom of the 10th inning, Michael Harris II lifted a double to left-center field. Ronald Acuña Jr. scored.
The Braves celebrated.
This win once seemed secure – until it was not. The Braves had to grab it again, and they did. It became another exciting victory. There have been a lot of them in the first month of the season.
At 17-6, the Braves own baseball’s best record.
“It’s been super fun, man,” catcher Chadwick Tromp said. “This is the best clubhouse I’ve ever had. These guys make you want to come to the field every day, and I think it speaks a lot when we go out there and play together as a team. We all love each other. Every day, it’s like somebody else is picking somebody else up, and I think that’s very important for a good team to have success long-term.”
As he stepped up to the plate, Harris recalled his previous meetings with Miami lefty Tanner Scott. Those battles helped this one.
On the first pitch, he fouled off a 95-mph four-seam fastball.
He didn’t miss the second pitch: A 95-mph four-seamer near the middle of the zone.
“I’ve noticed a lot of the times, their guys tend to go with what I guess they feel works,” Harris said. “I know he loves his fastball. In the past, I’ve kind of ambushed him on his fastball. I just missed that first one, and I’m glad I was able to connect on the second one. Kind of got an idea of what he likes to do.”
The hit took Iglesias, who blew his first save in eight opportunities, off the hook. It also made Matt Olson’s ninth-inning error – which allowed the tying run to score – rather meaningless.
This is the special part about the Braves: Regardless of what happens, they’re ready to pick up one another.
2. In this sweep, Atlanta’s starting pitchers set the tone. Bryce Elder, Max Fried and Reynaldo López all dominated.
They combined to allow only one run over 22 2/3 innings. Three wonderful performances.
On Monday, Elder held the Marlins scoreless over 6 2/3 frames. On Tuesday, Fried spun a three-hit shutout – the third nine-inning shutout of his career. And on Wednesday, López followed by keeping Miami off the board for seven innings.
“It’s the greatest thing you can have in this sport is really strong starts, and we’ve had a bunch of them here recently,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said. “Tonight was no exception. (López) was really good again. It was good that he kind of took it one step further in getting through the seventh. … Stuff was really good. He’s got the ability to reach back and get a little more when he gets in trouble, which is a really good trait. He’s pitching.”
The Braves have gotten quality starts – when a pitcher allows three or fewer earned runs in at least six innings – in five of their last six games. This has given the Braves some stability in games, and with their bullpen.
Miami’s only run in the series before Wednesday’s ninth inning: Jesús Sánchez’s second-inning homer off López that went to the top of the Chop House.
“It’s a tremendous rotation to be a part of,” López said. “Being a part of this rotation motivates me to want to pitch even better or do well. Obviously, Max has that shutout yesterday, and the competitive side of me said, ‘I gotta go at least seven or eight innings today.’ So, being a part of this rotation, it definitely is a motivator factor, for sure. It incentivizes you and pushes you to want to perform and do well, and keep doing well with everybody else.”
3. To save this game from becoming a loss, the Braves made a few incredible defensive plays in the late innings.
In the 10th inning, Austin Riley slid to stop a grounder and, in one motion, spun around toward home and fired from his knees to nail the runner at the plate.
“It’s why he should have gold on the top of his glove, because that’s the kind of player he is,” Snitker said.
In the ninth inning, Orlando Arcia fielded a ball and nabbed a runner at home. And before that, Iglesias ran off the mound to field a bunt, and with a runner at third, slung a perfect strike to Olson at first.
4. Four years ago, Miami right-hander Sixto Sánchez pitched in this same ballpark. And he hadn’t appeared in the majors since then.
Until Wednesday, when he started for the Marlins at this same place. His return to the majors provided one of the stranger moments.
In the first inning, with Ronald Acuña Jr. at third base and Harris at first base, Sánchez spun back around toward second base … but there was no one there. He was called for a balk because he attempted to throw to an unoccupied base, and that allowed Acuña to score.
This was the first time Harris had seen this.
“I was even confused,” Harris said. “Diving back, I saw him not looking at me as I’m diving back. It was one of those weird situations I’ve never been in before.”
Of the play, Sánchez told reporters: “The game sped up on me there in the first inning. It was one where I was going to pick off to first base and I made a mistake. I just turned toward second.”
The Braves scored three runs off Sánchez across 2 2/3 innings in his return to a major-league mound.
5. In the third inning, Olson snapped a career-worst 0-for-25 skid with a double. The hitless streak dated to April 15 in Houston.
Stat to know
20 - Atlanta’s pitchers combined to hurl 20 scoreless innings from the ninth inning of Sunday’s game versus the Rangers through the first inning of Wednesday’s contest. This was the longest streak by the staff this season and had been the longest active run of its kind in the majors. Last year, the Braves had only one such streak that was longer (27 innings).
Quotable
“It still feels good. We came out with the win. Obviously, every game isn’t going to be pretty, but I’m just glad our defense gave us a chance to (only) just need one run at the end.” - Harris on a win that became a bit tougher than expected after the Marlins rallied
Up next
The Braves on Friday welcome the Guardians to Truist Park for three games. Chris Sale, Charlie Morton and Elder – in that order – will start for Atlanta. Friday’s game begins at 7:20 p.m.
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