The Braves blanked the Marlins 3-0 Monday in the opener of a three-game series at Truist Park. The win was the seventh win in their last eight games.
Here are five observations from the win:
1. History arrived in the first inning: outfielder Ronald Acuña stole the 190th base of his career, setting the new Atlanta Braves franchise record. Former shortstop Rafael Furcal previously held the record.
“I didn’t know I was on the brink, to be honest,” Acuña said via team interpreter Franco Garcia. “Usually whenever I’m approaching a record, I feel like someone tells me or I see it online or whatever. This time I didn’t see it. But I think it’s better this way. It’s great. I broke it and I didn’t even know what happened.”
Herman Long (1890-1902) holds the all-time Braves steals record with 434 stolen bases. Hank Aaron holds the modern record at 240.
2. Bryce Elder, summoned from Triple-A, held the Marlins scoreless over 6-2/3 innings. He surrendered eight hits but didn’t issue a walk. Elder benefited from a Marlins baserunning error in the first inning which prevented the team from scoring despite beginning the game with consecutive singles and a double.
“I was happy with it,” Elder said. “I thought I made some pretty good pitches when I needed to. For the most part, got ahead pretty well. I was pleased with the way I attacked. Made them put swings on stuff and it worked out for me.”
3. Elder started the season in the minors. Unfortunately for him, that’s a familiar experience. But he did the same last year and wound up an All-Star. Now, he has the chance to remain in the Braves’ rotation moving forward.
“It says a lot about him,” manager Brian Snitker said. “The dedication he has, makeup, everything. He said when we sent him down, ‘I’ll be ready when you need me.’ And he was.”
Elder described his thought process when the team opted to start him in the minors.
“I was upset at first,” he said. “I think that’s kind of always going to be my reaction. I also kind of figured out that if I sat down and realized I’m 24 and I plan on playing this game for a pretty long time. So if you look up, hopefully in about 12 or 15 years, nobody is ever going to remember this. I’ll hardly remember it.
“So I took it as however long I’m going to be down, I’ll figure out how – whether it’s one week or one season – I can make myself better and get back to the form I was in in parts of ‘22, ‘21 in the minor leagues and the beginning of last year. I took it on and said I’m going to show up every day and commit to this plan. And whenever I get called up, I’m just going to work that into it. And if I don’t, then I’ll be ready for when they do need me.”
4. Braves catcher Travis d’Arnaud is on quite the tear. He smacked a ball off Ryan Weathers that hit off the left foul pole for a two-run homer in the fourth. It was his fifth homer over his past eight at-bats. He has 10 RBIs across his past four games.
“It’s wild,” d’Arnaud said. “I don’t know how to explain it except I’m just going to keep riding this wave and not try to do too much. The main thing is that we won today and we’re up 1-0 in the series.”
d’Arnaud is the first Brave since the franchise’s relocation to Milwaukee (1953) with at least five homers over an eight at-bat span, per the Braves.
5. The Braves are 3-1 against the Marlins in 2024. They’ve generally dominated the Fish: Since 2004, the Braves have earned a winning record against the Marlins in 18 of 20 seasons. Since 2018, when the Braves won their first division title of this six-year run, they’re 74-32 Miami.
Stat to know
108 (There was more history Monday: reliever A.J. Minter notched his 108th hold, making him the franchise leader in that category since it became an official stat in 1986. He was previously tied with Mike Remlinger.)
Quotable
“I’m not going to ask him about it. Just let him keep riding it out, man. It’s pretty special.” – Snitker on d’Arnaud’s surge
Up next
Max Fried (1-0, 7.71) tries to get his season on track Tuesday when he’ll oppose Trevor Rogers (0-2, 3.92) and the Marlins.
