The Braves are remarkably difficult to finish off. They have been since 2018. One late miscue, a single small slip-up injects this franchise with life.
Their latest victim: The Diamondbacks. The reigning National League champs, up 5-3 in the ninth, botched a ball and let another drop due to miscommunication in left field. The game wound up in extras.
Anyone who’s followed this team recently knows how it ended. Catcher Travis d’Arnaud provided the walk-off hit in the 10th inning. It was the third opening-day walk-off in Truist Park history after Nick Markakis (2018) and Orlando Arcia (2023) produced the others.
“The chemistry here is unlike anywhere I’ve ever seen,” d’Arnaud said. “Even in the ninth inning, I made fun of (first baseman Matt Olson) before he got his big double. So I don’t know if that loosened him up, made him angry. I don’t know what it did. But I know our team chemistry is unlike anything I’ve ever seen before.”
D’Arnaud, asked what he made fun of Olson about, said: “Anything. Just the way he looks.”
Here’s what’s not a joking matter: It takes a herculean effort to protect a narrow lead against the Braves. Recording the 25th, 26th and 27th out against this team has been consistently challenging no matter the opposing club. There’s no greater testament to this team’s six-year run atop the NL East than its constant comebacks.
It’s embedded in the team’s thinking. They don’t just think they’ll do it; they’re always convinced they will. Manager Brian Snitker said it best: “It’s something they’ve been able to do for quite a while now, really.” And an opposing team’s error or missed opportunity is a pint of blood in the water for these sharks.
“I think we have the confidence that we can come back in any scenario against anybody,” Olson said. “When you believe that, it’s going to happen more than if you don’t.”
Rallies don’t happen on their own. They take assistance. Arizona obliged Friday.
Shortstop Blaze Alexander couldn’t make a play on Austin Riley’s grounder in the ninth, allowing him to reach. Olson followed with a double that scored Riley. Olson advanced on Marcell Ozuna’s grounder – that was notable given it was hit to the shortstop, a nice heads-up move by Olson – and the Braves tied the game on Jarred Kelenic’s bloop double that dropped between two defenders.
“Fortunately for us in the ninth, it took a funny hop on the shortstop,” d’Arnaud said. “Then Oly came up with the big hit. Then (Ozuna) moved him over. Oly was quick on his feet there, ground ball to short and he still got over to third. Truthfully, I was surprised by it. That was a great read, great baserunning. Then Jarred, first at-bat in Atlanta as a Brave, he gets the game-tying double. It was pretty big for him, pretty big for us.”
The Diamondbacks are the reigning NL champs, yet the Braves feel more like a measuring stick for other clubs. Teams are striving to achieve the regular-season success this team has accrued since 2018. Yet this model might be impossible to copy. It goes beyond the talent - there have been plenty of mega-talented teams that’ve underachieved recently, including the Padres and Mets in 2023 - and even as names change, the results have not.
The Braves have a good thing going. Everyone knows that. But it was nice of them to remind their home fans in game 1 of 81 that another special summer awaits.