A platoon pairing with a homer apiece, Austin Riley ending the night a triple short of the cycle, a reminder not to run on Ronald Acuña Jr., and much more.
It was an eventful 6-3 Braves win. I’ve got your AA apology forms right here.
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Mets starter Zac Thornton had only given up three home runs coming into tonight’s series finale, and the fourth came rocketing off the bat of Lane Thomas in the second inning to get the scoring started. Thomas belatedly acknowledged the bullpen as he rounded the bases, but hey, it was his first homer as a Brave. He gets a pass this once.
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The Braves tacked on another run in the bottom of the third courtesy of Ronald Acuña Jr. After his leadoff walk, he advanced to third on a Drake Baldwin single and came home to score after Matt Olson hit into a double play. Ronald drove in another in the fifth after an Austin Riley double and a Sean Murphy single, but was thrown out at second. It was a little payback from the Mets after Jared Young, in the top of the same inning, forgot the golden rule: don’t run on Ronald.
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All in all, this was three (3) more runs of support for Tyler Mahle than he received in his Braves debut versus the Yankees last Friday.
Mahle’s home debut started inauspiciously – a nine-pitch at-bat led to a leadoff single in the first for A.J. Ewing. But he rebounded to set down the next three Mets in order.
He built upon his impressive debut with yet another six strong innings of work. He likely could have gone deeper if he didn’t have so many full counts to various Metropolitans. The lone blemish on his final line was a leadoff homer to catcher Luis Torrens in the sixth, but otherwise he scattered four total hits and struck out seven on 93 pitches.
Mahle departed with the Braves leading 3-1. Dylan Dodd took over for the Braves in the seventh and gave up a solo homer to Luis Robert Jr. to make it 3-2.
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But the Braves would get those two runs back and then some.
Platoon perfection was achieved with Mike Yastrzemski coming off the bench to lead off the bottom of the seventh to face Dedniel Núñez. Yaz saw a ball high before sending the second pitch 102 mph to right center.
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Austin Riley, already with a single and a double on the evening, wanted in on the action and crushed a slider a whopping 438 feet to left center field. Back-to-back dingers are the most fun way to get two runs back, change my mind.
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Núñez struck out Murphy but allowed a double to Ronald before being lifted. Jefry Yan of the exuberant strikeout celly immediately allowed an RBI single to Baldwin to make it 6-2 Braves. Yan got Olson swinging, but kept it demure on the mound given the score. Ozzie Albies’ lineout ended the frame.
Dodd turned the ball over to his fellow Dylan, and Lee worked a scoreless eighth inning with nothing of note besides the two-out walk to Ewing.
Once again, we find ourselves with a comfortable four-run lead. Once again, we see Raisel Iglesias enter in the top of the ninth in a non-save situation. Once again, we are all a little more clenched than we thought we’d be.
The drama began with a Bo Bichette homer to lead off the inning. Then followed a Carson Benge double and a Luis Robert Jr. walk. The tying run, Jared Young, came to the plate with no outs. Somewhere in the dugout, Mahle began to wonder if the price for every good start of his was a meltdown for Iggy. It had only happened once, but it sure looked like it might be happening again.
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But our closer, dear reader, remembered who he was: an All-Star. And he needed all of seven (7) pitches to get Jared Young to ground out, Francisco Alvarez to pop out, and Marcus Semien to ground out to end it. Deep breaths!
The Braves take the rubber match and the series with tonight’s final score of 6-3. But almost more importantly: the Braves ABS score vs. (soon-t0-be retiring) umpire Andy Fletcher was 4-1 (Ronald winning one in the first, and Sean getting three correct before a failed Hail Mary in the ninth). There’s a lot to like about how the Braves are playing lately: clutch hitting, good pitching, contributions from our new guys, and if we can finally get good at ABS? Watch out, league.
The Braves are back in action on Friday with the Arizona Diamondbacks coming to town. Chris Sale will get the ball starting at 7:15 pm ET.
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