With a 3-0 win over the Cardinals on Wednesday, the Braves have taken the series versus St. Louis. Atlanta is 49-34.
Here are five observations from the Braves’ latest win:
1. “Eddie! Eddie! Eddie! Eddie!”
The chants rained down at Truist Park after Eddie Rosario launched a home run – the second of back-to-back blasts – in the bottom of the fifth inning.
“I’m super happy for lots of reasons, to be honest,” Rosario said through interpreter Franco García. “One big one (was) just because the past month and a half, I was nervous to be honest, I was scared. I wasn’t sure if I was going to be able to go out there and be myself and play the way I know that I can play. I’m glad that I was able to go out there and get that first home run.”
This was a special moment: Before undergoing a laser eye procedure, Rosario had a tough time in the batter’s box and on the field because he could not see properly. He didn’t look like himself.
This was more like it.
Rosario saw Miles Mikolas’ 87-mph changeup hover over the middle of the plate and blasted it 408 feet toward the Chop House beyond the brick wall in right field. His first homer of the season gave the Braves a two-run lead after Marcell Ozuna homered right before him.
Credit: Curtis Compton / Curtis.Compton@
Credit: Curtis Compton / Curtis.Compton@
2. When Max Fried is on the mound, the Braves expect to win. They’ve done so most times this season.
Atlanta has won nine straight games that Fried has started, and 13 of the last 15.
This probably is not a coincidence, right?
“No,” manager Brian Snitker said. “He gives us a very, very good chance to win, with everything that he can do with the pitching, the fielding, holding runners, all that kind of stuff. He’s a winning pitcher because he can incorporate all that.”
Fried shut out the Cardinals over six innings on Wednesday. He left the game at 82 pitches because his right glute tightened up and the Braves wanted to be careful. His felt glute tightness at the end of the fifth. The training staff stretched him out, but as he came off the mound after the sixth, he felt it a little.
“I think we just wanted to not go out there and jeopardize anything,” Fried said. “Wanted to make sure that I was going to be OK and ready to go for my next start.”
3. Fried issued a walk and allowed a single to begin the sixth inning. It appeared as if the Braves’ two-run lead might be in jeopardy.
Or not – because Fried has been masterful with traffic on the bases this season. Perhaps more than anything else, his overall stinginess is what has made him look like an ace.
This time, he got Nolan Arenado to hit a grounder to Austin Riley, who stepped on third base before firing to first for a double play. Fried then struck out Juan Yepez, who immediately dropped his bat and threw his helmet to the ground after whiffing on Fried’s 91-mph changeup.
“Going through it and realizing that freaking out in those moments or trying to do too much doesn’t really get the job done,” Fried said of the key to escaping jams. “Getting out of those situations, it’s all about making the right pitch and a lot of the times, if you get that heart rate up and try to do too much, you’re not making the right pitch, you’re not getting out of it.”
Credit: Curtis Compton / Curtis.Compton@
Credit: Curtis Compton / Curtis.Compton@
4. Upon entering the game in the eighth, Jesse Chavez quickly struck out two batters before loading the bases. The game hung in the balance.
On his second pitch to pinch-hitter Nolan Gorman, Chavez induced a weak groundout to second base to end the inning.
The Braves appear to have made out well in acquiring Chavez for Sean Newcomb. In his last 17 1/3 innings, Chavez has allowed two runs. And before surrendering both of those on Monday, he hadn’t given up a run since May 26.
5. Fried has surrendered two or fewer runs in 13 of 17 starts this season. Since opening day, he hasn’t given up more than four runs in a start.
“He’s one of the top-tier guys in our league,” Snitker said.
Stat to know
8 - The Braves have hit back-to-back homers eight times this season.
Quotable
“I feel like that’s almost what happens to me every time I get any type of injury. It gives you sort of a deeper appreciation for the game. I love this game. It definitely inspires me to kind of get back to it and play the level I can play in. On top of that, when the guys are playing well, it just really kind of motivates me and really gives me the energy to come back and bring back good vibes to the clubhouse.” - Rosario on if the time away from baseball made him appreciate it more
Up next
Spencer Strider faces the Cardinals’ Matthew Liberatore in Thursday’s series finale, which begins at 7:20 p.m.
