SAN DIEGO — The Braves left San Diego having taken three of four games ― and officially sweeping a three-game series, since the one loss was a continuation of a suspended contest — with Sunday’s 4-3 victory.
Coming off an emotional win Saturday night, the Braves grinded through Sunday’s bullpen game and hung on in the ninth to further strengthen their hold atop the National League East. The Braves increased their lead to 2-1/2 games over the Phillies, who lost to the Pirates. Their magic number dropped to five.
It finished a 7-4 road trip, including the finished suspended game. It counts as a 7-3 trip, which featured a 6-1 finish after dropping two of three in San Francisco. The Braves began the road trip leading the Phillies by 2-1/2 games and held serve 11 decisions later.
“We knew coming into these 10 days it was going to be rough, really rough coming out here with who we played,” manager Brian Snitker said. “These last two games, my God. I’m proud of the guys. This could’ve been real easy to use this (slate) as an excuse, quite honestly. These guys fought their ass off for the last 10 days. It’s been rough. It’s unbelievable how they keep piecing it together and competing. It was huge.”
The Braves finished 46-35 on the road this season. Their most memorable road run came in mid-August, when they had a 9-0 road trip by sweeping the Nationals, Marlins and Orioles (they won 13 consecutive road contests overall). The Braves took over first place in the National League East during that trip and haven’t relinquished it since.
Braves outfielder Joc Pederson opened the scoring Sunday with a second-inning solo homer off Padres starter Joe Musgrove. Pederson, a former Dodger, was booed loudly while rounding the bases. It was Pederson’s 17th career home run against the Padres, his second most against any team (18, Rockies).
Catcher Travis d’Arnaud and pinch-hitter Ehire Adrianza collected RBIs in the fourth that pushed the lead to 3-0. D’Arnaud’s RBI double was his fourth extra-base hit during the road trip (eight games). Adrianza’s RBI was his since August began (38 plate appearances).
The Braves used a bullpen game started by Jesse Chavez, who recorded the first four outs. Lefty Drew Smyly pitched the next 1-2/3 innings, stranding the bases loaded in the third.
The Braves’ three-run lead was erased quickly in the fifth, reliever Jacob Webb’s second inning. Wil Myers and Adam Frazier singled before Jake Cronenworth scored both with a triple. Manny Machado’s single up the middle tied the game.
Braves pinch-hitter Orlando Arcia, who drew an important walk in Saturday’s win, put his team back ahead with a double off Pierce Johnson in the sixth.
With an off-day Monday, the Braves used eight relievers in their bullpen game. Webb was the only one who allowed any runs. Chavez, Smyly, A.J. Minter, Richard Rodriguez, Tyler Matzek, Luke Jackson and Will Smith also pitched.
Jackson, who’s been the Braves’ most reliable reliever throughout the year, entered at a critical point, replacing Matzek with runners at the corners and two out. Jackson struck out Ha-Seong Kim on four pitches, finishing him with a low slider. Jackson remained in the game and pitched a scoreless eighth.
Smith issued the dreaded lead-off walk to Cronenworth to open the ninth. He followed with a walk to Machado, giving the Padres two baserunners for pinch-hitter Fernando Tatis Jr., who struck out on four pitches. But Smith walked Tommy Pham on four pitches in the next at-bat, loading the bases. Smith battled back to strike out Trent Grisham and Kim on six pitches each to end it.
“Any win is a good win, but to be able to take the series from a good team like that and head home on a happy flight, we’ll take that any day of the week,” Smith said.
The Braves begin their biggest series of the season Tuesday. They’ll host the second-place Phillies for three games at Truist Park. Charlie Morton (13-6, 3.53) will face Phillies ace Zack Wheeler (14-9, 2.79) in the series opener.
“I’m looking forward to it,” d’Arnaud said. “It’s one of the coolest situations to be in, an opportunity to clinch at home in front of our hometown fans. But we have to take it game by game and go out and try to win the series against the Phillies. They’re a good team and they’ve been playing good baseball. So we have to study up and stay focused.”
