KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The Braves showed a little bit of everything in their sweep of the Royals.
Their offense erupted in two games. They lost a lead in the third game, but recovered and still won. Their starting pitchers fared well. They played good defense.
They will head to San Diego after beating Kansas City, 5-4, on Sunday at Kauffman Stadium. Atlanta is 12-4.
Five observations from the Braves’ win on Sunday:
1. This time, Kyle Wright pitched up to his standards. His stuff looked great. He escaped trouble when he needed to do so.
“That was a big confidence booster for me going forward,” Wright said. “I feel like I could’ve thrown the ball better, but I felt right, I felt like we made pitches when we needed to. Stuff was good. Now we’ll just continue to build and continue to grow outing after outing. But I feel like I’m in a much better position now to go and just continue to be consistent.”
Wright allowed two runs over 5 2/3 innings. He struck out six batters and walked three.
In the third inning, Wright loaded the bases with no outs. Protecting a three-run lead his offense provided in the top half, he rolled a double-play ball. He only allowed a run in the inning.
Wright looked more like himself on Sunday.
“Man, I thought that was really, really good,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said. “That was a big improvement over the last time.”
2. When Vaughn Grissom stepped up to bat with the game tied in the top of the ninth, Ozzie Albies stood on second base after hitting a one-out double.
Grissom soon saw a hanging slider from Royals reliever Scott Barlow.
“That pitch was a hanger,” Grissom said after the game. “It could’ve been easy to pull my shoulder and hit a ground ball to short – that would’ve been the easy route.”
Instead, Grissom shot a single down the right-field line that scored Albies. Grissom said he consciously tried not to do too much.
This was a mature at-bat.
“Could’ve gotten big, just shot it over there,” Matt Olson said.
Albies scored the go-ahead run as Grissom produced in a massive spot.
“The big thing about that kid is he’s got good bat-to-ball skills,” Snitker said. “He puts it in play. He’d be a hard guy to defend because he sprays that thing all over, and he’s up there swinging, he’s aggressive. And he puts the bat on the ball. When you do that, good things can happen. That was big right there.”
3. Albies entered Saturday’s game batting .214 this season. Then, over the final two games, he went 5-for-9 with two home runs and five RBIs.
“I always work hard, no matter what,” Albies said. “I don’t give up on anything. With this game, you’re going to make mistakes, and then when it turns around, it’s going to be good, so you just got to keep going without looking back.”
We’ll see if this gets him going.
4. Olson hit a sinking liner that got under the right fielder and rolled toward the ball.
“I was thinking four,” he said.
He settled for three, as third base coach Ron Washington eventually stopped him.
“I was giving him a little (expletive),” Olson joked. “It was probably the right play, but I was ready to send it there.”
Two runs scored on the play.
5. The Braves have won six games in a row. Times are good in that clubhouse.
“First of all, we got a great group of guys,” Grissom said. “But yeah, when we’re winning and rolling, when we have that momentum, it’s hard to stop. You got to really run into a brick wall (to stop it). It’s fun with these guys. They’re all young veterans. They have both sides of it. They’ve done their time long enough to know what we need and not to get too high and not too low, stuff like that.”
What has Snitker liked most within this winning streak?
“All of it,” he said. “Any time you’re on a winning streak, it’s all good. You’re doing pretty good in all phases. Timely hits, bullpen’s good, starter’s giving you a chance.”
Now, it’s onto San Diego. Yes, it’s April. But multiple Braves on Sunday referenced the Padres taking three of four last weekend.
It’s time for a rematch.
“We just got to go and keep playing our game,” Albies said. “One day at a time, take care of business, and that’s how you’re going to keep winning. You can’t be thinking about tomorrow when we’re here today.”
Stat to know
10 - Of 26 swings taken on Wright’s curveball, the Royals whiffed 10 times.
Quotable
“These guys are relentless. And I’ve said this for a few years now: They play a hard 27 (outs), that’s for sure. And they never feel out (of a game), they don’t panic. …It’s kind of a next-man-up attitude. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t, but they just keep coming at you.”-Snitker on his team
Up next
After spending time on the injured list because of a left hamstring strain, Max Fried will return to the mound to start Monday’s game. The Braves’ lineup will face San Diego left-hander Ryan Weathers. The game begins at 9:40 p.m. ET.
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