Today's Three Things: Eli White does laps around the bases as Braves win Speedway Classic

The Atlanta Braves are the only team to ever win a regulation MLB game in the state of Tennessee

The Atlanta Braves, after a Saturday postponement, won the MLB Speedway Classic 4-2 over the Cincinnati Reds from Bristol Motor Speedway on Sunday afternoon.

Here’s Today’s Three Things from the contest.

The Turning Point

The bottom of the 8th.

Atlanta entered the frame with a 4-2 lead, but things got hairy quick against the Braves’ bullpen. Dylan Lee, carried over from the 7th, got two quick outs before Noelvi Marte singled to left. That prompted the Braves to go to newly acquired reliever Tyler Kinley to finish the inning.

About that. Marte stole second base, although it was rendered moot when Spencer Steer (who was the tying run) walked. Both runners then advanced 90 feet on a balk charged to Kinley…although that was rendered moot when he walked catcher Tyler Stephenson to load the bases.

However, backup infielder Luke Williams, in the game for Austin Riley (more on that in a minute), made a fantastic diving snag of a grounder and threw ahead of the catcher Stephenson to make the final out of the inning and preserve Atlanta’s lead.

Credit goes to Ozzie Albies, as well, for the fantastic pick at second base. Very first baseman-esque by Ozzie.

Today’s Player of the Game

We’re going with two names here - Eli White and Hurston Waldrep.

White made his fourth consecutive start in right field to replace the injured Ronald Acuña Jr. and continued his strong play from early in the season. White hit two homers in the game, the first being a three-run shot down the left field line in the 2nd inning to stake Atlanta to a 3-1 lead and the second being an insurance run in the 7th, a solo shot to left-center.

White’s currently the only player to ever homer in an MLB game in the state of Tennessee, and he did it twice.

UPDATE: The National Baseball Hall of Fame has requested and is receiving White’s helmet from the game.

The other MVP of the game goes to Hurston Waldrep. Added to the roster on Sunday morning after both teams petitioned the commissioner to allow a pitcher to be designated as the 27th man instead of the required position player, he was on the mound as the game resumed.

I don’t understand why MLB would either (1) require a 27th man to be designated for the game, something that’s typically reserved for doubleheaders, or (2) require that the additional player be a hitter instead of a pitcher. Ken Rosenthal reported during the broadcast that after both teams lobbied MLB for the change, the commissioner’s private plane flew to Cincinnati to pick up their pitcher while Hurston Waldrep was picked up via car at 5AM and driven from Gwinnett to Bristol in time for the game.

With runners on 1st and 2nd and only one out when he took the ball, he survived a first-pitch double steal to get out of the inning with no runs allowed, thanks to a rundown at third base and a lineout to center.

Waldrep ended up going 5.2 innings with only one run allowed on three hits, walking two and striking out four. As we discussed in a May newsletter, his new mechanics allowed him to be more more reliably around the zone and then playing the splitter off of it, finishing with seven whiffs (five on the splitter) and 14 more called strikes.

Although Waldrep, as the 27th man, has to be returned to the minors after the game, there’s no restriction on how long until he can be called up again. With the Braves facing a doubleheader this Saturday against the Marlins, they’ll need an additional starter and it feels like Waldrep will get first shot at that spot start.

What You’ll Be Talking About

Austin Riley’s injury.

Riley returned from the injured list only a week and a half ago after missing two weeks with a lower abdominal strain. He may have aggravated the injury today.

In that first inning rundown, Riley curiously chose to continue chasing Elly De La Cruz to home plate instead of throwing ahead to the waiting Sean Murphy, lunging to (successfully) tag De La Cruz before landing heavily on his chest. He initially stayed in the game before being replaced for his next at-bat by Luke Williams.

Manager Brian Snitker said during the game that Riley was “feeling it a little bit”, updating after the game that the team was going to get him evaluated over the next day or two before determining if an IL stint was warranted.

Looking for more discussion about this game?

Here’s today’s Postcast, with me and Locked On Braves host Jake Mastroianni, as we went live to break down the win.

What’s Next for the Braves?

The Braves are kicking off a home series on Monday against one of the best teams in baseball by win/loss record, the Milwaukee Brewers. After an adjustment today to the rotation, here’s the pitching plan for the series:

Mon: Erick Fedde (3-11, 5.33) vs Quinn Priester (10-2, 3.27)
Tue: Spencer Strider (5-8, 3.71) vs Freddy Peralta (12-5, 3.08)
Wed: Joey Wentz (2-2, 5.02) vs Jose Quintana (8-4, 3.50)