SEATTLE – On Tuesday night, Matt Olson remarked that it felt like it had been a bit since the Braves jumped out to a nice lead and cruised the rest of the way.
On Wednesday, the Braves built a five-run lead and maintained a comfortable advantage until the final out.
They beat the Mariners, 5-2, to avoid being swept at T-Mobile Park. Atlanta is 20-9, which is the best record in baseball.
Five observations on Atlanta’s win:
1. In the top of the fourth inning, Orlando Arcia lofted a ball to shallow right field. Mitch Haniger sprinted in toward the line and …
Dropped it.
Then the Braves took full advantage of the extra out – a luxury for a struggling offense. They scored four runs: One on Ronald Acuña Jr.’s single, two on Austin Riley’s triple and one more on Olson’s single. Riley’s triple chased Seattle starter Emerson Hancock – a Cairo native – from the game.
The fanbase probably breathed a collective sigh of relief. This was the inning that had eluded the Braves over the last week or so.
“We’ve been kind of struggling to hit on all cylinders, so it looked a little bit closer today,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said.
Before Wednesday, the Braves hadn’t notched a four-run inning since the sixth inning of their April 19 win versus the Rangers. Ten games separated that and this. And over that span, the most Atlanta scored in a game was 10 runs.
And ironically, the Braves’ three struggling heavy lifters – Acuña, Riley and Olson – were the ones who drove in the runs during the outburst.
“It’s huge,” Riley said. “A lot of other guys have been picking us up over the last month, and to finally get together and have a really good inning like that, that’s encouraging. If we can get going and the guys that are doing their thing right now could continue, I like where we’ll be.”
Here’s a not-so-bold prediction: There’ll be many more explosive innings in the Braves’ future.
2. Six starts into his Braves tenure, Chris Sale has a 3.44 ERA. His stuff has been nasty, and he’s gone deep into games.
Sale has experienced many great months in his career. He understands the importance of taking the good, but remaining even-keel.
“Just knowing how humbling this game can be,” he said after Wednesday’s outing. “Knowing (that) the shorter distance your eyes can be, the better off you’re going to be. You start looking at a season, you break it down into months, you break it down into starts, games, innings, strikes, you know what I mean? Just trying to dial it in, and really just taking it a pitch at a time.”
Sale held the Mariners to a run over five innings. He struck out nine and walked none.
His stuff played well: The Mariners whiffed 21 times on 53 swings. They swung through his slider seven times on 21 swings, and missed his four-seam fastball nine times on 21 swings.
He ran into trouble in the fifth inning, but limited the damage to a run.
“It was really good,” Snitker said of Sale. “The fifth inning, when it got a little hairy right there, man, he just kind of reached back.”
3. Credit Marcell Ozuna. He’s a slugger, but on Wednesday he drove in a run another way.
In the third inning versus Hancock, Ozuna quickly fell behind, 0-2, with the bases loaded. Then he took three consecutive balls before fouling off a pitch.
He laid off the seventh pitch, a slider inside, for the bases-loaded walk and the first run of the game.
“No, it is (impressive),” Snitker said. “He was telling me when he was in the hole right there just all the breaking balls he was seeing. And I think he went up there aware of that, and it was a really professional at-bat.”
Ozuna’s 32 RBIs lead all of MLB.
Hancock had walked five batters in 26 2/3 innings across five starts before Wednesday. The Braves drew four walks over 3 2/3 against him.
4. Joe Jiménez entered a three-run game in the bottom of the eighth inning. A few minutes later, he walked off the mound after a clean inning.
This was Jiménez’s 11th scoreless appearance in 13 outings this season.
On March 31, he allowed a run. On April 27, he surrendered two.
That’s it.
“He’s been great,” Snitker said. “It’s been a different Joe than we remembered last year early because he had a normal spring training, normal offseason, and he’s been really, really good. He’s a big, strong kid that has done a great job, whether it’s putting down an inning – (and) he’s been pitching all the high-leverage (situations) too, so it’s been really good.”
Following Sale’s start, four relievers held the Mariners in check over the final four innings. Only Dylan Lee was charged with a run. Raisel Iglesias earned the save.
5. After Thursday’s off day, it’ll be time for the showdown: Braves-Dodgers. Three games. Dodger Stadium.
In order from Friday through Sunday, the Braves will start Charlie Morton, Bryce Elder and Max Fried. Atlatna’s offense is expected to face Gavin Stone, Tyler Glasnow and James Paxton, in that order.
“I love going to Dodger Stadium,” Riley said. “It’s a playoff atmosphere all the time. They’re a really good ballclub, so it’s going to be another battle. We’re all looking forward to it, so enjoy the off day tomorrow and then we’ll get after it.”
In the offseason, the Dodgers acquired Glasnow and signed Shohei Ohtani. The Braves won’t see their other big offseason addition, Yoshinobu Yamamota. But they’ll face Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman, Ohtani and the rest of the cast.
A year ago, the Braves won three of four at Dodger Stadium.
This weekend should be fun.
Stat to know
14 - Ozzie Albies on Wednesday hit a single to extend his hitting streak to 14 games, tied for the longest active streak in baseball. (Philadelphia’s Alec Bohm also has a 14-game hitting streak.)
Quotable
“As a starter, that’s our job. I bring it up a lot, but I haven’t done that a lot in (recent years). I want to get back to doing what I know I can do, what I’m capable of doing – just doing what I need to do for this team. As a starting pitcher, we pride ourselves on posting and getting deep into games, and that’s what we’re here to do.” - Sale on his great results thus far
Up next
The series opener at Dodger Stadium Friday begins at 10:10 p.m.
