The Braves knew their series with the Mets was a big one, so they brought out their top pitchers. The club meticulously lined up its starting rotation so that Spencer Schwellenbach, Chris Sale and Spencer Strider were waiting on the mound when their division-leading rival rolled into Truist Park this week.
And the move worked to perfection.
After a solid outing from Schwellenbach on Tuesday and a season-best start from Sale on Wednesday, Strider shut down the Mets with six innings of one-run baseball Thursday night. He struck out eight batters and walked only one, as a 7-1 victory completed the Braves’ three-game sweep.
“Really good, how he’s pitching,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said. “Velocity was really good tonight. The secondary stuff was really good. And I think he feels good about where he’s at right now, so that’s really encouraging.”
Strider is not completely back to the pitcher he was before his internal brace surgery, but the 26-year-old is getting there. His average fastball velocity against the Mets was 96 mph — a tick up from the 95.3 mph for the season entering the game — and he utilized his secondary pitches to put hitters away.
None of the pitches were more effective than his slider, which produced 14 whiffs against the Mets, including seven that completed a strikeout.
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
“The shape of the slider has been pretty good,” Strider said. “It’s just attacking and making hitters swing. Talking to any pitcher, that’s kind of the goal. Step one is making guys swing, and then everything plays off that.”
Strider’s slider provides comfort as he continues to regain his fastball command postsurgery. The pitch is responsible for 29 of his 45 strikeouts this season, which is 14 more than the next closest pitch.
Against the Mets, Strider relied on his slider early with runners in scoring position — such as the third inning, when he struck out the team’s leading hitter Pete Alonso on three consecutive sliders with the go-ahead run at third base.
He also used it as his put-away pitch against Brandon Nimmo a few innings later, when he threw three consecutive sliders to end the at-bat with a runner on first base.
“They kind of play it together,” Strider said of utilizing his fastball with his slider. “If guys aren’t swinging, then the slider’s, no matter how good it is, it’s not really gonna play. So I’ve got to, with whatever my fastball looks like, it’s gotta be in the zone, and it’s gotta put guys on their heels.”
Strider’s performance — combined with seven runs from the offense — brought the team within five games of the National League’s final wild-card spot and ensured a happy flight of Braves were headed to Miami for a three-game series set to begin Friday night.
“It’s reassuring to go out and have some justification for the work you’ve been doing and that belief that we’ve had this whole time that we can play better baseball,” Strider said. “Now the challenge is to continue to do it.”
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