This time, another pitcher stepped up.
The Braves swept the Twins with Wednesday’s 3-0 victory and have won five in a row.
Five observations:
1. On Tuesday evening, Kolby Allard landed in Minneapolis with the rest of the Triple-A Gwinnett Stripers, who are playing in St. Paul this week. Soon after they touched down, Gwinnett manager Matt Tuiasosopo told Allard that he would instead start in Atlanta on Wednesday.
So Allard hopped on a flight back to Atlanta. He landed around midnight, which would’ve been about 12 hours before he took the mound.
“I guess a little bit surprised,” he said of his reaction to getting a start. “It was a little late notice, I think. But we’re always prepared for that, we kind of always are shooting for that. So I wouldn’t say I was overly, overly shocked.”
Allard, a former first-round pick of the Braves, pitched for the Braves for the first time since Aug. 17, 2018, and made his first start for the club since July 31 of that year.
On Wednesday, Allard did not allow a run over 4-2/3 innings pitched.
In spring training this year, Allard suffered a grade 2 oblique strain while warming up in the bullpen before a game. “One of my last few pitches before I went out there, it just kind of ripped on me on one pitch,” he said. He tried to throw another warm-up pitch, but could not.
He found himself on the Truist Park mound again months later.
“It was a little bit of a quick turnaround,” Allard said. “But we’re here, you’re on the mound, and then it just comes down to executing pitches.”
2. In part, the Braves started Allard over Michael Soroka because they preferred a left-hander over a righty to face the Twins.
Before Wednesday, Minnesota had a .216 team batting average and a .666 team OPS versus left-handed pitching. Both ranked 29th of the 30 MLB teams.
On Wednesday, Allard held the Twins to three hits. Facing a lineup with the highest strikeout rate in baseball, Allard struck out eight batters.
“Who knew what really to expect?” catcher Travis d’Arnaud said. “For him to come out and execute all four of his pitches in any count, and dig deep if he lost a couple and be able to readjust and fix it real quick, it was real special, and it was cool.”
3. In 2017, MLB Pipeline listed Allard as the fourth-best Braves prospect. He came with hype and expectations because the club drafted him in the first round.
The Braves eventually traded him to Texas. And before Wednesday, Allard had a 6.07 ERA over 232-2/3 innings in the majors.
“Everyone, when you get drafted, has their thought process of how everything’s gonna play out,” Allard said. “I’d be lying if I said that was the way I thought it was gonna play out. But I think all we can do in this game is keep our head down, keep getting better. That’s kind of the mentality I’ve taken, and I’m going to continue to take just moving forward here.”
He’s continued grinding.
“I love guys like that,” d’Arnaud said. “They just keep fighting. It just shows they still have the drive and the dream to be great. A lot of normal people would just give up when things don’t go their way, and he just kept going and kept plugging away.”
4. In the eighth inning, Matt Olson homered to give the Braves a three-run lead.
It gave the Braves 55 homers in the month of June. The team record for a single month is 56, done in June 2019.
The Braves have one June game remaining to tie or break the record.
5. The Braves on Wednesday improved to 20-4 in June, the best record in baseball this month. Their Atlanta-era record for wins in a month is 21, done four times previously.
The most recent time: June of last season, when the Braves went on a heater to kick-start an incredible run to another division title.
The 2023 Braves have been just as hot in June – without the early-season struggles.
Stat to know
.663 – At the time of their win, the Braves’ .663 winning percentage was the best in baseball. They are 53-27. The Rays were 54-28, which is a .659 winning percentage, but they hadn’t yet played when the Braves’ game ended.
Quotable
“Truthfully, since the start of the year, I mean, I know I missed that month with a concussion, but while I was watching the games, everybody seemed to still be doing well, not trying to do too much, not trying to be the hero all the time. Everybody knows that everyone behind them can always pick them up if they don’t get the job done, so I think it takes a lot of stress out. All the pitchers pull on the same side of the rope instead of wishing poorly against each other.” – d’Arnaud on when the Braves began to click
Up next
The Braves on Friday open a three-game series versus the Marlins. First pitch is at 7:20 p.m. Snitker said the Braves likely will announce their starting pitcher Friday morning. It seems that Soroka is an option.
