The Braves completed a sweep of the Pirates because Freddie Freeman and Ronald Acuna are, more often than not, the best players on the field.
Wednesday’s 2-1 win topped off a successful series in Pittsburgh, where the Braves had lost 12 of 16 coming in. The Pirates’ offense couldn’t muster anything against whoever the Braves used, be it 20-year-old Bryce Wilson or the veterans in the bullpen.
After being swept by Colorado at home, the last three nights have been a godsend. The Braves looked like a playoff team. They might’ve delivered the final blow to the Pirates’ waning playoff aspirations.
“That’s a great job by the guys rebounding after a tough weekend,” manager Brian Snitker said. “Really tough weekend. It was good to regroup and have a really good series.”
It began in familiar fashion: Acuna blasted a leadoff homer to left for an early lead. He hadn’t done so since achieving three consecutive Aug. 13-14. The swing loomed large on a night starved for offense.
The Braves took advantage of starter Trevor Williams’ exit. After being stonewalled by Williams and unable to breakthrough on Keone Kela, the Braves received a gift from Kyle Crick. The righty imploded in the eighth: Crick allowed a hit, walked two, threw a wild pitch and recorded no outs.
Freddie Freeman, with the bases loaded and one out, hit the ball to left fielder Corey Dickerson, allowing the previously walked pinch-hitter Adam Duvall to score from third.
“As much as you want to score five or six runs a game, you’re not going to do it,” Freeman said. “These are the games you have to win if you’re going to make the playoffs. ... It was just a well-pitched ballgame by both teams.”
Julio Teheran was perfect through four. His walk to Adam Frazier came back to haunt him when Colin Moran’s two-out singled tied the game at one. Teheran threw 44 pitches across the first four innings but required half that amount to steer through the fifth.
He finished seven innings having allowed two hits and that lone run, courtesy of his only walk. Since getting shelled for seven runs in Miami on July 24, Teheran’s produced a 2.98 ERA in his past five starts.
“I’m feeling better lately, my last three starts have felt really good,” Teheran said. “Today was different. Today was the best command that I’ve had in a while. That’s why I went deep. I feel good overall. We scored early, and when you score early you just want to go out there and do your job, hold the other team.”
Working in Teheran and the Braves’ favor was Pittsburgh’s feeble offense. The Pirates managed two runs in three games against Braves pitching - not hard to see how they were swept and dropped two games under .500.
Williams matched Teheran pitch by pitch. The 26-year-old stifled hitters after Acuna’s homer. He completed six innings, allowing one run on two hits, his seventh consecutive start allowing two or fewer runs.
Jonny Venters came on for the save. Gregory Polanco hit a two-out double that was just shy of a homer over the right-field wall. Venters retired Francisco Cervelli with a grounder to end it.
Venters recorded his first save back with the Braves seven years to the day of his last save with the team, a 3-0 win over the Cubs.
“I’m just thankful to be here and be part of this group of guys,” Venters said. “It’s an exciting team and we’re playing good baseball right now. Hopefully it’ll carry into Miami and we’ll get some wins down there.”
Meanwhile, the only man to punish Williams has nine home runs and 16 RBIs across his last 16 games. The spotlight centers on Acuna’s move to leadoff, but manager Brian Snitker, among others, believe his surge was inevitable. It might’ve happened sooner had he not missed a month injured.
There are stats to exemplify how unique Acuna is. He’s the 14th player in history to hit 20 homers before his 21st birthday. Nine of the 14 are Hall of Famers, excluding Alex Rodriguez, while two are still active (Bryce Harper, Giancarlo Stanton).
It required 75 games for Acuna to reach the 20-homer mark, the fewest amount in history for a player under 21, according to stat wiz Ryan Spaeder (@theaceofspaeder). In other words, through roughly four months of his career, one could say Acuna is on a Hall-of-Fame projection.
The Braves have a sweep. They have first place. And they have baseball’s next superstar to boot. Up next, they travel to Florida for four games with the last-place Marlins.
