Today's Three Things: Phillies fans fill Citizens Bank Park with boos as Braves blowout Phils
The Braves got six strong innings on the mound and
The Atlanta Braves blew out the Philadelphia Phillies 9-0 in Citizens Bank Park on Friday night.
Here is Today’s Three Things from the contest.
The Turning Point
Not one specific moment, but I’m going to go with the first few innings of Martín Pérez’s start.
Atlanta put up two runs in the top half of the first inning, but Philly was threatening to get it all back in the bottom half. After Kyle Schwarber was “hit” by a pitch, Bryce Harper singled and Adolis García drew a walk to load the bases with only one out. But Pérez buckled down, preserving the lead with a strikeout of Edmundo Sosa on six pitches where all but one of them looked to be enter-cut and ran away from Sosa. Other than one spiked curveball, Pérez located several sinkers and changeups on the black or just off the plate, eventually elevating a sinker after Sosa started looking away. J.T. Realmuto then flew out on an inside sinker to end the threat.
Philly threatened again in the 3rd, this time down 7-0. With only one out, they got runners on the corners thanks to a Bryce Harper triple and an Adolis García walk. Once again, though, Pérez buckled down against the same two batters, getting Sosa to pop out foul on a cutter that broke in on his hands before Realmuto again lined out to left fielder Mike Yastrzemski.
Today’s Player of the Game
On a night where the Braves put up twelve hits, including four home runs, the people voted for Austin Riley as player of the game.
It’s a very “boom or bust” statline, with Riley striking out three times but also hitting two homers in this one. With the caveat that two of the three strikeouts could have been overturned on ABS challenges, the home runs are worth discussing.
The first came in the 2nd inning off of embattled starter Taijuan Walker, with Riley identifying a hanging 2-1 cutter on the outer third and popping it out to right-center at 103 mph. That was the dagger, with Atlanta’s lead doubling from three runs to six.
But Riley got back after it against reliever Chase Shugart to lead off the 9th inning. It was another right-center shot, this one off a 2-2 fastball thigh high on the black outside.
My friend Jake Mastroianni of Locked On Braves talked about this last week, but you can tell when Riley is getting locked in at the plate by how often he’s hitting balls the other way and wearing out that right-center gap. The third baseman has three homers in the last two games and all of them have been to the opposite field, a sign that he’s about to go on an absolute heater.
What You’ll Be Talking About
As much as the offense was the catalyst to tonight’s win, a lot of the conversation in the Postcast live chat was about Martín Pérez.
He really struggled to command his sinker early, but switched to his cutter as the primary fastball and stabilized. Pérez used it just 5% the first time through the order, bur ramped it up to 29% the second time through and 38% the third time. While he ran out of gas late, with his sinker velocity dropping below 90 mph, it was more than enough on a night where Atlanta’s offense was humming. The veteran lefty went six scoreless innings, allowing just four hits and two walks while striking out four.
Pérez finished with just seven whiffs on his entire arsenal, but also picked up twenty called strikes, including eight on the cutter alone, to finish with a 29% CSW. Given the success this season, which has improved Pérez’s ERA to 2.21, it’s unlikely the Braves will designate him for assignment again.
Which might be good, given Perez’s comments about the maneuver from after the game. Talking to friend of the program Chad Bishop of the AJC, Pérez admitted that he was not that fond of how the series happened. “It was tough for me because I was not happy with the decision. But I’m a professional and talked to my agent and ... the best option was Atlanta. I don’t even know I’m gonna start tonight. They told me Wednesday. I clicked my mind and went, ‘OK time to go again.’”
Even with his $3.5M contract, two straight winning starts might mean that other teams would be willing to take on his money if he were put on waivers again.
Speaking of the pitching, it’s worth pointing out that José Suarez finished the game with three scoreless innings, securing the save. Of Atlanta’s seven saves, three of them have come after a bulk reliever has finished the final three innings of a contest.
Looking for more discussion about this game?
Here’s tonight’s Postcast, with me and Locked On Braves host Jake Mastroianni, as we went live to break down the win/loss.
What’s Next for the Braves?
The Atlanta Braves are looking to win the series on Saturday in what might be the best pitching matchup of Atlanta’s season so far. Chris Sale (3-1, 3.27) squares off with Christopher Sánchez (2-1, 2.01) at 7:15 PM ET on Fox.