Tyler Flowers heating up as Atlanta Braves extend home winning streak

The Atlanta Braves continued a nice home winning streak with another sweep. They are currently 5-0 on their 9-game homestand at SunTrust Park.

As a fan of the Atlanta Braves, you’ve got to be extremely proud of how well this team has played in 2019. They’ve had their share of struggles but have never let it turn into anything major.

When injuries occurred, the next man up mentality supplied a suitable replacement for the team. If there were no replacements to be found, the front office found someone to fill the void.

The depth possessed by the 2019 Atlanta Braves is absolutely impressive and something we all desired heading into the NLDS in 2018. That bench depth has carried this team all year in big spots and I have no doubt that it will continue to flourish.

Atlanta has put together a nice winning streak at SunTrust Park. They’ve won their last 10 games in a row at home and is the second-longest streak since they won 12 in a row at Turner Field.

Needless to say, home-field advantage is definitely something to be desired by the Braves. You have to like our chances every time the team steps foot on Georgia soil.

That advantage was on full display on Tuesday evening as the offense got off to another quick start thanks to a first-pitch leadoff triple from Ronald Acuna Jr.

Ozzie Albies would then have an RBI single and be moved to third on a double off the bat of Freddie Freeman. Josh Donaldson would then drive in Albies with a line drive to center field.

This gave Mike Foltynewicz some early runs to work with. Mike looked very good on Monday evening but only got through 5 innings as he wasn’t feeling too well after 5-innings.

Manager, Brian Snitker, said after the game that Folty “looked like he was going to explode” because he was so red after the 5th inning.

After the game, Folty mentioned that he felt a little dizzy but was able to work through it and that he was feeling much better after the game.

It’s possible he just got a bit overheated after some high pitch counts in the first two innings.

Luckily for Mike, the bullpen was able to pick him up and help him earn his fifth win of the 2019 season.

The Atlanta Braves earned a sweep of the 2-game series with Toronto with a final score of 7-2 on Tuesday evening.

Let’s discuss a couple of highlights from the game.

2. Folty and Bullpen Hold Toronto at Bay

The Atlanta Braves have been pleased to have Mike Foltynewicz back in the rotation since he was sent down to Triple-A to work on his slider.

Mike looked good again for Atlanta has he threw five scoreless innings on Tuesday. He was able to get a lot of groundball outs throughout those five innings.

That’s not something we are used to seeing from Folty but it was nice to see he could get outs without depending on strikeouts. Seeing that tells me that he’s not as concerned about being “perfect” anymore.

His slider looked really good and his fastball had some life to it. However, Mike worked a lot of deep counts as he couldn’t get hitters to chase the high fastball. Folty exited the game after throwing 76 pitches due to him feeling a little overheated. Seems like those first two innings with high pitch counts got to him a little bit.

Mike had decent success on the mound Tuesday finishing with a decent line of work: 5 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 3 BB, 2 K. 

Had he not struggled with feeling dizzy and overheated, I think Mike would have gone at least 7 innings for the Braves. Hopefully, this is something he can build off of and take Atlanta deep in the post-season.

Bullpen Success Continues

The bullpen continued its great work after Folty was pulled from the game. Bryse Wilson was the one guy that struggled out of the bullpen on Tuesday.

He allowed 2 earned runs on 4 hits across 1.1 innings pitched. His line indicates that he pitched much worse than he actually did. 19 of Wilson’s 22 pitches were for strikes.

Unfortunately, the pitches hit were all for extra bases. He allowed 3 doubles and a solo homer.

Wilson was optioned back down to Gwinnett after Tuesday’s game as well. With the Stripers being in the Minor Leauge playoffs, I understand the move.

Fortunately for the Braves, they only needed to use two more arms out of the bullpen to finish the game.

Most impressively, they were scoreless outings as well. Sean Newcomb went 1.2 innings allowing no hits and striking out two batters while Jerry Blevins went 1 inning allowing no hits and striking out one batter.

It was nice to see the success of the bullpen continue to extend to relievers that weren’t new additions at the trade deadline.

Oh, and in case you were wondering the Atlanta Braves bullpen has a 2.16 ERA in their last 15 games which is the best in the National League and a WHIP of 0.94 which is best in all of baseball.

https://twitter.com/FOXSportsBraves/status/1169027579803779073?s=20

Alex Anthopoulos did an amazing job getting 3 veteran relievers that don’t walk a lot of hitters. It has greatly improved the team’s chances of winning games.

Not only has the bullpen been great but the Braves starting rotation has earned a 2.85 ERA the last couple of weeks and that is also the best in all of MLB.

Things are looking extremely bright for the Atlanta Braves headed into the final weeks of the 2019 season. I am very excited to see what happens for this team come October.

1. A Big Series with the Nationals is Next

For the Atlanta Braves, the next two weeks are going to be absolutely critical to securing their hopes at a division title.

They play the Nationals for 7 games and the Phillies for 6. As hot as the Braves and Nationals have been, those 7 games are going to be as intense as you could imagine.

Both teams know exactly what is on the line and both teams know they belong in the post-season. The Nationals are 59-28 since May 24th (which is the best in MLB). However, the Braves aren’t far behind that at 56-31. So, it’s not like the Nationals are light-years ahead of Atlanta.

Atlanta hoped the Nationals would come into town down 7.5 games but the Mets bullpen allowed the Nats to score 7 unanswered runs on Tuesday night to maintain their 6.5 game deficit to the Braves.

You have to think if the Braves are somehow able to sweep the Nationals, the NL East is all but theirs. Do I think we will sweep them in a 4-game series? I don’t believe so but it’s possible with how well Atlanta is playing right now.

In my opinion, we will at least split the upcoming series with Washington. We’ve got to do everything we can to maintain that division lead.

We certainly cannot afford to give them any reason to think they have a shot at the division.

Wednesday is an off day for the Braves as they await the start to their 4-game set with Washington. Couldn’t ask for an off day at a better time.