The Braves are living in extra innings these days, and their third such game of the homestand ended in successful fashion: They overcame a two-run deficit in the eighth and defeated the Guardians 4-3 in 10 innings. The Braves won the series and built upon their MLB-best 19-7 record.
Here are five observations from Sunday:
1. Braves third baseman Austin Riley had been crushing the ball lately, yet he had little to show for it. Saturday night, he had a 383-foot out that left the bat at 106.3 mph in the ninth inning. Sunday, with the chance to put the Braves ahead in the eighth, Riley produced a 379-foot out (with a 101.4 mph exit velocity).
It turns out an 80.7-mph grounder was what he needed. Riley’s single scored ghost runner Ronald Acuña to secure the Braves’ extra-innings victory.
“I’ve been through it before, so I know what it feels like,” Riley said. “Especially when things aren’t going your way, then you start barreling up some balls and you’re not getting those results. It’s all part of the mental game. You just have to continue to work and know that the work you are doing is good. Just have to keep riding that wave to hopefully, eventually get some results.”
It was Riley’s third career walk-off RBI and first since July 31, 2022 against Arizona.
2. Bryce Elder found immediate success in his first start largely because he avoided the walks that have sometimes plagued him. He issued four walks Sunday, including three in the third inning, but still pitched well enough to keep the Braves in contention.
Elder allowed two runs on four hits in 5-1/3 innings. He overcame four walks, a hit batter and two wild pitches in his uneven outing.
“It got erratic there for a second,” Elder said. “I get a little erratic sometimes, but you just have to make the adjustment quicker. Today, I made the same miss four or five times in a row. I need to make the adjustment quicker, but I didn’t today. … We made pitches when we needed to, kept it close and gave us a chance.”
Guardians infielder Andres Gimenez hit a ball off Elder’s foot in the third frame, but he remained in the game. He said his foot is sore but will be fine.
3. Acuña scuffled throughout the homestand. He snapped an 0-for-17 skid with an eighth-inning single Sunday, but he also struck out three times. In the past nine games, Acuña is 6-for-34 with 10 strikeouts.
“I just think he’s having a hard time, going through a streak like all hitters do,” manager Brian Snitker said. “He squared that one up really nice (in the eighth) and you hope maybe that’s one that’ll get him going. He’ll figure it out. It’s a timing issue and all. He’s going to keep getting a lot of chances, that’s for sure. He’s going to get four of them every night. So he’ll figure it out.”
Acuña also had a blunder to start the bottom of the 10th. He was late getting to second base to take his spot as the ghost runner, which led to a strike getting charged to second baseman Ozzie Albies.
Snitker: “I don’t think (Acuña forgot he was running). The other day (April 24) he couldn’t find his helmet (so he was later getting out there). We just have to be more aware of that. We never addressed it with the guys, that’s my fault. We always just went out there to start the inning, and most of the time, you go out there and guys are stopping the clock.
“So it’s a learning experience. This (Cleveland) bullpen is tough enough without going into a hole against one of these guys. But our team will learn from that, be more aware of that situation. It happened the other night and they didn’t do anything so maybe it’s not a thing, since we’re pulling a guy out of the dugout to run, but we’ll figure it out.”
4. The Braves entered the bottom of the 10th tied because of nifty defensive work. Reliever A.J. Minter and Riley nabbed ghost runner Steven Kwan trying to steal third. Infielder Jose Ramirez then reached on a bloop hit that would’ve scored Kwan. Catcher Travis d’Arnaud threw out Ramirez trying to swipe second to end the inning.
“That’s a great job by Minter with the pickoff,” Snitker said. He also credited the infielders’ work with bench coach Walt Weiss and third-base coach Matt Tuiasosopo for the team’s improved ability to catch baserunners.
5. The Braves completed a nine-game homestand 7-2, taking two of three from Texas and sweeping Miami before winning this weekend’s series. They’re 11-4 at Truist Park and have won four of five home series thus far.
Stat to know
3-1; 12-4 (The Braves improved to 3-1 in extra innings. They’re 12-4 in that area dating back to the start of last season, the best such record in MLB.)
Quotable
“That was a tough series. I knew it was going to be fun. I knew it was going to be tough coming in. And it didn’t disappoint.” – Snitker
Up next
The Braves travel west for a six-game road trip in Seattle and Los Angeles. They’ll open their series against the Mariners on Monday with Max Fried (2-0, 4.97) facing up-and-comer Bryce Miller (3-2, 2.22)
