A night after the Braves were held scoreless, their third basemen of the present and future reminded everyone how vicious the lineup can be.
The Braves defeated the Phillies 9-2 behind a pair of three-run bombs from Josh Donaldson and Austin Riley. They did so 24 hours after the offense didn’t plate a run for only the second time this season.
“I feel like at any point throughout the game, we can put up a crooked number,” Donaldson said. “Whether it’s one out, two outs, whatever it may be. Once our lineup gets rolling, it’s hard to stop the ball with momentum going in our favor.”
The Braves scored six times in the sixth – all with two outs. They were clinging to a 3-2 lead before the eruption, which was capped by Riley’s blast.
In the fourth inning, Donaldson’s shot became his 16th of the season and 198th of his career. Freddie Freeman and Dansby Swanson were at the corners before Donaldson took Nick Pivetta’s curveball for a ride.
“He threw me a couple breaking balls my first at-bat and I was able to get one in the strike zone,” said Donaldson, who launched his eighth homer since June 11. “In that situation I was just trying to hit the ball in the air and it worked out.”
Donaldson is earning his money against the Phillies: He’s hit .310 (9-for-29) with four home runs, nine RBIs and seven runs scored in eight contests.
Riley reached the 30-homer plateau in 82 games across Triple-A and the majors (15 each). He’s one homer shy of tying the team’s franchise record for most homers by a rookie before the All-Star break (Ryan Klesko, 1994).
He’s the fastest Braves player to reach 15 homers (45 games) in his career since Wally Berger in 1930. Only nine players have reached 15 homers through 45 games, with Gary Sanchez, Cody Bellinger and Jose Abreu the other active hitters among that company.
Riley’s latest shot came on a slider. He’s seen plenty of breaking balls lately, with opponents knowing how he can demolish fastballs. The most important part of his development is how he picks his pitches and consistently hits, or lays off, the breaking pitches.
“They’re going to throw him so many sliders he’s going to learn how to hit them,” manager Brian Snitker said. “It’s just good on-the-job training. It’s not the first time I’ve seen him do it since he’s been here. You always feel like that next at-bat can be the one with him.”
Donaldson reaped praise on Riley after the game, saying he has the power potential that sluggers like Edwin Encarnacion and Jose Bautista displayed while he was in Toronto. Riley has shown such, with a pace that could put him near 30 major-league homers despite debuting May 15.
Riley was bumped to left field due to Donaldson’s presence at third base. As it’s turning out, it was a fantastic problem for the Braves to have.
Pitching-wise, Bryse Wilson had his best start of the season. The right-hander allowed two runs over six innings in his fourth career start, the damage coming via Bryce Harper’s homer and a J.T. Realmuto RBI-single.
It was an encouraging night for Wilson, who hadn’t impressed to that degree since spring training. He’s now made two starts in the recently vacated rotation spot, and Wednesday likely earned him at least one more.
The Braves will try to win the series Thursday, which would be a boon before hosting the Marlins in their last series before the All-Star break. Mike Soroka, making his last start of the first half, will oppose Zach Eflin (7-7, 3.34).
