The Atlanta Braves defeated the Miami Marlins 5-4 Sunday afternoon to earn a series split in South Beach.
Okay, everyone. Deep breaths in. Now exhale. It was again another stressful ninth inning for the Atlanta Braves.
A day after blowing a four-run lead, then losing in ten innings to Miami, the Braves held on Sunday to defeat the Marlins and go 4-3 on the road trip.
Mike Foltynewicz was okay. Ronald Acuna was Ronald Acuna. And the bullpen held on for dear life.
Another day off the calendar and the Braves still maintain the same 6.5 game lead they did on June 23rd.
The angst and agitation is warranted to some degree, but the Braves have played below .500 for the past few weeks and are still in a great position.
On to the takeaways:
An okay Folty is okay with me
Sure it would be nice to have 2018 Mike Foltynewicz, but that is likely asking for too much at this point.
But I will certainly take Sunday’s Foltynewicz, who went six innings, allowed four runs on eight hits, while striking out seven.
Outside of the first inning, Foltynewicz was solid. He allowed three hits and a walk in the Marlins’ three-run first inning. He then retired 12 of the next 15 Marlins and stranded two runners with one out in the six.
All in all, it was another promising start for Foltynewicz.
Ronnie does it again
Let me give teams a little bit of advice: when you are down in the count 3-0 to one of the game’s best, do not groove one right down the middle.
The result will be similar to what happened to Hector Noesi in the fifth inning Sunday: a Ronald Acuna bomb.
That is now 33 homers on the year for Acuna, who leads the National League in hits and runs.
Here is Acuna’s line since August started: .356/.408/.867, with seven home runs, and 14 RBI.
Insert fire emoji.
Bullpen thoughts
Luke Jackson seemed destined for more bad luck after the Marlins hit three soft singles off him in the bottom of the ninth, but he was able to get out of it.
That would have come off the heels of the bullpen’s epic collapse Saturday night.
What has happened to three solid relievers since being acquired at the trade deadline is nothing short of baffling.
That would be a 2019 All-Star, a former All-Star and a third guy having a career year, who in 11 innings with the Atlanta Braves have a collective ERA of nearly 11.00.
It really is mind-boggling.
Hopefully they will start to feel more comfortable with their new city and new roles, as well as being in a pennant chase.
A big homestand is coming up this week, with the red-hot Mets and the NL-leading Dodgers coming to SunTrust Park.