The Atlanta Braves looked to avoid a 4-game sweep Thursday afternoon and get back to their winning ways.
The first three games of this series did not go how the Atlanta Braves would have liked them to.
Miami is one of the teams that Atlanta is expected to beat up on in the NL East. Credit to the Marlins though, they hit with runners on base and worked the count often against Atlanta’s pitching staff.
It’s definitely not fun to watch your favorite team drop three games in a row to a team they are supposed to beat.
Thursday’s game featured many emotions that a sport’s fan can experience during a game. Happiness, heartbreak, hatred, and hope are the few that come to mind.
#Braves avoided what would've been their first five-game skid since 2017 and being swept in a four-game series for the first time since 2017. Also, avoided being swept in a four-game series by the Marlins for what would've been the first time.
— David O'Brien (@DOBrienATL) April 15, 2021
Things started off more of the same as Ian Anderson wasn’t sharp on the mound early on as Miami scored 2 runs in the second inning.
However, he eventually settled in and found some command of his fastball, which allowed him to get through 5 innings of work allowing just 3 runs. He kept the game close and we desperately needed that with the bullpen struggles as of late.
Anderson finished his day with a line of:
- 5 IP
- 6 H
- 3 ER
- 4 BB
- 6 K
Ian struggled to find the strike zone a bit but he steadily improved as his start went along. We’re going to need him to settle into form soon because the pitching woes for Atlanta were plentiful on this homestand.
Anderson is young and was bound to find some struggles at some point in the season. Let’s hope he can learn from this start and he can begin to find the success he had in 2020.
The Atlanta offense was silent early on as Trevor Rogers kept them at bay with his mid 90’s fastball and a sharp slider. Rogers struck out 7 and walked 3 in 5 innings of work.
The fifth inning saw the Braves offense jump-start thanks to none other than the human cheat code that is Ronald Acuña Jr.
Ehrie Adrianza reached base with a single to left-field and Ronald drove him in with a 2-run homer into the Marlins bullpen.
The offense wasn’t ready to go quiet once the sixth inning rolled around. Dansby Swanson reached base with a single over the head of Jazz Chisholm Jr.
Guillermo Heredia, who replaced Pache on the roster, would also reach base via being hit by a pitch.
With two runners on and two outs, the pinch-hit home run machine known as Pablo Sandoval came to the plate looking to do some serious damage.
As fate would have it, Sandoval launched a 3-run home run on the first pitch he saw from Marlins pitcher, Zach Pop.
https://twitter.com/BravesOnBally/status/1382763315651350534?s=20
This put Atlanta ahead 5-3 and added some much-needed momentum to the Braves dugout.
Unfortunately, that lead wouldn’t last as A.J. Minter allowed Adam Duvall to hit a game-tying double in the top of the 9th inning and that was followed by a go-ahead single off the bat of Garrett Cooper.
Things did not look good for the Atlanta Braves as they headed to the bottom of the 9th down 6-5. They have not had any luck scoring in one-run games this year.
Braves fans were treated to an exciting bottom of the ninth inning as Ender Inciarte and Ronald Acuña Jr each singled to lead off the inning and Freddie Freeman put up one of the best at-bats I’ve ever seen to load the bases against Dylan Floro.
"I think the biggest thing in those moments no matter who you are facing is just be able to slow the game down, breathe a little bit more, and let everything come to you." @LieutenantDans7 speaks to @Kelly_Crull after his walkoff hit against the Marlins pic.twitter.com/1zWuYtm8r4
— Bally Sports: Braves (@BravesOnBally) April 15, 2021
Travis d’Arnaud struck out on a questionable pitch but he was followed by a game-tying walk thanks to Ozzie Albies.
Dansby Swanson, who went 3-4 on Thursday, followed Albies by saying “I’ve got game” and lining a walk-off single to left-field. This ended a rough 4-game losing streak for the Atlanta Braves.
It will be a “happy flight” for Atlanta as they head to Chicago to play the Cubs in very cold conditions.
Let’s hope that Atlanta can use this win to propel them to a nice winning streak.
We will need our pitching staff to start getting things together if that’s going to happen though.
One thing we can all depend on is Ronald Acuña Jr putting on a show each and every night.