PITTSBURGH — After a successful homestand against two contenders, the Braves did not suffer a letdown Monday night at PNC Park against one of baseball’s worst clubs. Atlanta defeated the Pirates, 2-1, to move to 76-48 this season.
Here are five observations:
1. After each of his starts since the Braves acquired him, Jake Odorizzi took responsibility for his poor performance. He broke down his mistakes. Multiple times, he admitted that he might have put too much pressure on himself because he was wearing a new uniform.
On Monday night, the results arrived.
“For me, personally, the mindset was better today,” Odorizzi said. “But the mechanics were the big thing for me.”
We’ll discuss the mechanics soon. But for now, it’s worth applauding Odorizzi.
Odorizzi hurled six innings of one-run baseball, his lone blemish being a fifth-inning solo home run. He allowed four hits, struck out seven and did not walk anyone. In the first inning, with runners on the corners, he ran off the mound and made a nice play on a ball before starting a 1-6-3 double play that got him out of the jam unscathed.
This should be noted: The Pirates are one of baseball’s worst lineups as they are near the bottom in runs per game. We’ll need to see more of this from Odorizzi before making any grand declarations.
But this is something Odorizzi can build on after taking a mechanical change into this start.
“It’s good to see the results after what I thought I found the last start,” he said.
2. “Today definitely surprised me because when I hit it, I thought it was gone, but then I remembered where we were and how deep it is over there,” Michael Harris said of his two-run home run that gave the Braves their only runs.
It’s 379 feet out to left field and 410 feet to the left-center field corner here. Some context: That left-center field marker is 11 feet deeper than straightaway center field.
In the top of the fifth inning, facing Roansy Contreras, Harris launched a 391-foot opposite-field home run that left his bat at 105 mph.
“It’s unbelievable,” manager Brian Snitker said. “For a young guy like that, you think, ‘Man, what happens when he gets strong and matures?’ That power the other way is just crazy.”
3. Just as he did during last week’s rain delay, Odorizzi looked at himself in the mirror in the days leading up to this outing. He dissected everything – how he looked, how he was trying to look and more. He always watches tons of video of himself on his phone.
“I’m a very visual person when it comes to learning,” he said.
He carried over his mechanical tweaks from his last start. They worked, which was satisfying for him after a few rough starts to begin his Braves tenure.
“Just felt way more in control, way more balanced, and effective in the zone, really,” he said.
4. In 197 games in the minors, Harris homered 14 times.
In 77 games in the majors, he has homered 13 times.
“I’m just trying to go out there and make hard contact, and I guess it’s working out for me and is going over the fence,” Harris said.
Snitker had seen Harris hit a few impressive homers in spring training, but that’s spring training. This is different.
“Now, seeing him every day, it’s just – good Lord,” Snitker said.
“He’s such a tremendous talent,” Odorizzi said. “It’s pretty awesome to have a guy like that on your team.”
5. Monday’s win is the latest example of one reason fans should feel confident about this club. The Braves win in different ways.
“If you’re going to win a lot of games, you’re going to have to do it like that,” Snitker said. “It’s never the way you draw it up. There’s always going to be a stumbling block or something in a game and things like that.”
They did not explode offensively in this series opener. They instead pitched their way to victory, with good defense along the way.
Baseball is rather unpredictable. It is a game of bounces and breaks, hot streaks and slumps. One game can drastically differ from the next.
That’s why it’s important that Atlanta doesn’t need to achieve some specific formula to win games.
Stat to know
3 – The Mets lost to the Yankees, trimming the Braves’ National League East deficit to three games.
Quotable
“Tonight’s a good win coming off the week we just had. It was a good week. But with the intensity of all the games and everything, to come in here, a game like this can get away from you before you know what happens.” – Snitker
Up next
Braves ace Max Fried will start Tuesday’s game, which begins at 7:05 p.m. The Pirates will start righty JT Brubaker.
