Today's Three Things: Braves bats blast Boston in best offensive game of the year
The Atlanta Braves conclude a great series at the plate with a comeback win on Sunday
The Atlanta Braves used sixteen hits and seven walks to take down the Boston Red Sox 10-4 in Fenway Park on Sunday to take the weekend series two games to one.
Here’s Today’s Three Things from the contest.
The Turning Point
Atlanta’s fifth inning on offense.
Having just tied the game up at four after their early lead was erased by a Rafael Devers grand slam, Atlanta went into the fifth inning looking to take the lead for good.
Marcell Ozuna opened the inning with a walk, partially making up for a strikeout looking with bases loaded and none out in the first inning. After Drake Baldwin singled, Ozzie Albies walked to load the bases for the bottom of the order.
Just like in Saturday’s ninth inning, Boston felt like giving the Braves free runs.
Michael Harris walked, bringing Ozuna in to score, followed by an Eli White RBI single and a Nick Allen sac fly to score a third run. While the Braves weren’t able to continue the scoring against old friend Sean Newcomb, who entered in relief of Brayan Bello, it wasn’t for lack of trying. Alex Verdugo drew a walk to load the bases, but Austin Riley scalded a ball at 106.2 mph to Alex Bregman, who picked it and got the inning-ending double play to end the Atlanta threat.
Fun fact: Harris would go on to walk again in the 7th inning, only the 9th time in 406 career starts that he’s walked twice in a game.
Today’s Player of the Game
Believe it or not, I’m going with Spencer Schwellenbach.
Yeah, he gave up four runs in his seven innings, but it’s the way that he did it and the way he rebounded that cemented this for me.
The Devers grand slam came after a frustrating series of at-bats in the third - Ceddanne Rafaela got down on a slider on the black, Jarren Duran walked after a blown call by home plate umpire Tom Hanahan on a back door cutter that flipped the at-bat from 1-2 to 2-1, and then Devers ambushed the first strike he saw for the grand slam.
But after that, Schwellenbach faced just two over the minimum to complete seven innings, including two consecutive three-up, three-down innings. While he had only five whiffs, he also got 19 called strikes and had a 30% CSW. His pitch count was just 81 after the seven innings, so he could have gone back out for the 8th inning and gone batter-by-batter had the Braves needed to steal a few more outs.
What You’ll Be Talking About
The offensive surge from the weekend.
Atlanta’s offense picked up 36 hits and walked 17 times over the weekend series, scoring 20 runs. The heart of the order was particularly effective today, with Austin Riley, Matt Olson, and Marcell Ozuna finishing with seven hits (including two doubles and a homer) while scoring five times and driving in five.
And they’re going to add Ronald Acuña Jr. to this lineup sometime this week?
This feels like the top ten offense we were promised is right around the corner.
What’s Next for the Braves?
Atlanta is flying to Washington to take an off day on Monday before starting a three-game rematch series against the Nationals. Here is the matchups for the series:
Tuesday: ‘TBD’ (but Spencer Strider) versus Mitchell Parker (3-3, 4.32)
Wednesday: AJ Smith-Shawver (3-2, 2.33) versus Trevor Williams (2-5, 5.91)
Thursday: Chris Sale (2-3, 3.62) vs MacKenzie Gore (2-4, 3.67)
All three games have start times of 6:45 PM ET and will be carried on the normal broadcast outlets.
Lindsey, great comments as usual. What we saw from the Braves today, is what everyone in the league anticipated would come from this team on a daily basis. Was a great day, especially going into the ninth inning with a substantial lead. I have to add I thought the player of the game was Schwellenbach. After throwing an 11 pitch first, and then a 10 pitch second, he kind of let the wheels come off in the 3rd when Boston loaded the bases with no outs and Devers hit a Grand Slam giving Boston a 4-3 lead. Really impressed with this young pitcher as he shook it off and pushed on. The offense took the lead back quickly and he continued to pitch well. With his pitch count at 82, he could have easily came back for the eighth, and why he didn't is unknown. In any event a 10-4 win is a good thing. Verdugo, Riley, Olson, Ozuna, Baldwin, and White all had multiple hits. Albies and Allen had a hit apiece, and the only player who didn't get a hit was Harris, and he walked twice. This was day 17 and tomorrow is an off day in the nation's capital! Take care!