It took 12 innings, but the Atlanta Braves finally took down the Miami Marlins, 7-6, and earned the three-game sweep.
Well, that was a wild one. Down to their final three outs and trailing 5-1, the Atlanta Braves scored four runs, three of which came on a Ronald Acuna three-run bomb and sent the game to extra innings.
The Atlanta Braves scored in the top of the 10th after four straight walks by the Marlins Tyler Kinley, but Luke Jackson blew his fifth save of the season in the bottom of the inning.
In the Top of the 12th, Ozzie Albies tripled with one out and after a Tyler Flowers intentional walk, Matt Joyce delivered the go-ahead RBI single.
Max Fried was just okay, going six innings and allowing three earned runs, while striking out six.
I’ll get to Fried later, but it appears the league has caught up to him a little bit.
Outside of Jackson and Touki Toussaint, who gave up two runs in the seventh, the bullpen was outstanding.
The combination of Jacob Webb, Anthony Swarzak, Jerry Blevins, Daniel Winkler, and Josh Tomlin threw four scoreless innings and allowed just three baserunners.
The Atlanta Braves are 18-9 since moving Acuna to leadoff and that was also their seventh straight win in Miami.
Coupled with the Phillies loss to the Reds, the Braves are now a game back in the NL East and start a 10-game homestand on Monday.
Matt Joyce to the rescue
Nick Markakis has been struggling recently, so Brian Snitker gave him a day off.
In his place was Matt Joyce, who was tremendous.
In six at-bats, Joyce went 3-for-4, with two runs, two walks, and the game-winning RBI.
There have been plenty of questions about what happens to the roster when Ender Inciarte comes back, but there seems to be no way Joyce is the one who goes.
In 54 at-bats this season, Joyce has a slash line of .278/.371/.481. He has two home runs and nine runs batted in.
Johan Camargo, in 118 at-bats, is slashing .216/.260/.336, with two home runs and 14 RBIs.
Marlins killer
Chipper Jones owned the Mets and Freddie Freeman is currently doing so.
Ronald Acuna’s team to destroy is the Miami Marlins.
Not including his homer on Sunday, Acuna has hit nine home runs and driven in 23 runs in 102 at-bats.
At Marlins Park, he has a slash line of .328/.409/.500.
The real Max Fried
Before Fried’s outing Sunday, he had an ERA of 4.73 in his last five starts. Opponents were batting .311 and his BAbip was .385.
What does this mean?
To me, it means we are seeing what Fried really is and that is a nice mid-rotation starting pitcher.
Teams are recognizing his off-speed stuff better, which makes his fastball more vulnerable.
Fried will be a good big-league pitcher for a long time, but he is not on the same level as Mike Soroka.
The Pirates, who took two of three from the Atlanta Braves last week, come to town on Monday for a four-game series.