Today's Three Things: Jurickson Profar lifts the Braves to series sweep against the Guardians

The Atlanta Braves defeat the Cleveland Guardians behind a big homer from Jurickson Profar and five scoreless innings from the bullpen

The Atlanta Braves beat the Cleveland Guardians 5-4 in Sunday’s series finale to win their fifth straight game, the first time this season they’ve had a win streak of five games. Here are Today’s Three Things!

The Turning Point

The turning point of today’s game was the top of the sixth inning. Atlanta entered the inning trailing 4-3, facing Guardians right-handed reliever Nic Enright.

Braves third baseman Nacho Alvarez started off the inning with a double down the left field line, his fourth hit of the series. Nick Allen, attempting to move him to third, popped up a bunt for an out... but this brought Jurickson Profar to the plate, who hit a 3-2 slider over the right field wall.

Matt Olson followed with a single and a stolen base, but was left stranded. The Braves got the 5-4 lead, however, and it was all they needed to put this one away.

Today’s Player of the Game

Jurickson Profar.

The left fielder delivered the aforementioned go-ahead, two-run home run to right field in the sixth inning, scoring Nacho Alvarez.

The switch-hitter also added a single in the third inning off of starter Logan Allen and a walk in the top of the eighth. He had hits from both sides of the plate. He also continues to lead the MLB in walks since the All-Star break.

Profar didn’t just contribute with the bat, though. After committing a fielding error in the bottom of the third, costing the Braves a run, he made a spectacular diving catch in the bottom of the ninth. This grab saved a potential game-tying double from Gabriel Arias and secured a crucial second out for closer Raisel Iglesias.

What You’ll Be Talking About

The Atlanta Braves bullpen. They have put together their best stretch of the season in the last twenty innings, all scoreless. This goes back to August 13th, when they defeated the Mets 11-6. (It could be 21.2 scoreless if I counted utilityman Luke Williams’ 1.1 scoreless the night before).

This includes 4.1 scoreless innings from Aaron Bummer, 1.2 from Tyler Kinley, 3.2 from Dylan Lee, 2.1 from Pierce Johnson, 1.0 from Daysbel Hernandez, 3.0 from Hunter Stratton (1 save) and 4.0 from closer Raisel Iglesias (4 saves). That scoreless streak is the longest active stretch in MLB.

Just today, the foursome of Aaron Bummer, Dylan Lee, Pierce Johnson, and Raisel Iglesias combined for five innings, five strikeouts, and only four hits. Bummer was credited for the win and Iglesias with the save, his 19th.

Looking for more discussion about this game?

Here’s today’s Postcast from Locked On Sports Atlanta, where Lindsay went live with Locked On Braves host Jake Mastroianni to break this one down.

What’s Next for the Braves?

The Braves will fly back to Atlanta to start a three-game series against the Chicago White Sox. The series will begin Monday at 7:15 ET with the following pitching matchups:

Monday: Spencer Strider (5-10, 4.69 ERA) vs. Yoendrys Gomez (2-1, 5.56 ERA) Tuesday: Bryce Elder (5-9, 5.89 ERA) vs. Shane Smith (3-7, 4.01 ERA) Wednesday: Hurston Waldrep (3-0, 1.02 ERA) vs. Aaron Civale (3-8, 4.88 ERA)