No Ronald Acuña. No Austin Riley. No Adam Duvall.
And yet, no problem.
Even without three key contributors, the Braves handled the Giants, winning 7-6 on Thursday afternoon at Truist Park. The Braves took three of four from San Francisco, which is expected to contend for the postseason, to begin a crucial homestand and a critical stretch of games versus top competition.
With Acuña, Riley and Duvall all given days off, the Braves had Orlando Arcia, Guillermo Heredia and Phil Gosselin in the same lineup. But as is the case with good teams, the Braves continued their successful month.
“It was good,” manager Brian Snitker said. “Knew coming in it was going to be a rough series, rough week. Kind of lived up to the billing so far. All of them games could’ve went either way for either team, really.”
The Braves (41-30) on Thursday scored six runs off Alex Wood, a former Brave, and chased him in the second inning. Dansby Swanson homered twice in the win, and the second marked his third home run in his past four plate appearances – he was hit by a pitch in the other – dating to Wednesday’s ninth inning. And with a large lead, Kyle Wright allowed four runs over 5 ⅓ innings, and the bullpen survived San Francisco’s late push that included Joc Pederson’s two-out home run off Kenley Jansen to make it a one-run game in the ninth.
In the second inning, with the bases loaded versus Wood, Michael Harris scored one run with a single. Wood then hit Swanson with a pitch to score another run. And after that, Travis d’Arnaud hit a ball that found its way past the opposing shortstop for a two-run single.
In a five-run second inning, the Braves sent all nine men to the plate. Wood departed during the inning, which meant he had logged the shortest start of his career – just one inning – if you don’t include a 2015 game when the Braves pulled Wood right when his start began because of a rain delay.
Swanson, who entered the game with the most hits in baseball since May 23, continued his incredible season with the seventh multi-homer game of his career. In the bottom of the first, Swanson hit his first career leadoff home run, a 436-foot blast. Then he started the bottom of the fourth by launching another homer.
“He’s been awesome,” Wright said. “He’s doing it all: hitting, playing defense, running the bases. He’s a big leader for us right in the middle of the field. He has great relationships with everyone, I feel like. What he’s doing on the field has been awesome. But just his leadership off the field as well has been big for, I think, a lot of us.”
This lead allowed Wright, who has had a fantastic season, some grace. He was not his sharpest. He allowed 10 hits, walked a batter and hit two more, but limited the damage by rolling four – yes, four – double plays over the first four innings.
Jesse Chavez followed Wright with 1 ⅔ scoreless innings. Will Smith allowed a run in the eighth but worked out of trouble. Jansen allowed the home run but earned the save.
The Braves began an important seven-game homestand with an impressive series victory over a team that should compete for a postseason spot this year. And this series had it all, from pitchers’ duels to offense to walk-off wins.
“There’s a lot of confidence flowing,” Swanson said. “I feel like we’ve done a really good job of staying true to ourselves and helping kind of find our identity as a team. Guys show up and work every day. We’ve got a group of professionals that just want to win. We’re starting to kind of find our groove.”
The Braves, whose naysayers lamented their recent soft schedule, are hitting a more difficult stretch in their campaign. They are off to a good start.
An important series looms: three games versus Freddie Freeman and the Dodgers, who come to town Friday. Two of the National League’s top teams – and two of the sport’s best clubs – will battle one another, with many storylines surrounding the series. The Braves are playing their best baseball of the season.
In this series victory, the Braves won games that the Giants’ top starting pitchers, Logan Webb and Carlos Rodőn, started. The Braves walked off San Francisco twice.
And now, it’s time to face the Dodgers and a player who will always mean a lot to the organization.
“That’s going to be crazy,” Snitker said of Freeman’s return. “I think the whole weekend is going to be nuts. The Dodgers are here, it’s a weekend, summer. It’ll probably be like playoff baseball.”
