Braves Bats Breakout in Big Road Win vs. Arizona

The Atlanta Braves started a four games series Monday in Arizona against a bad D-Backs team, looking to increase their lead in the divisional standings. 

The Atlanta Braves entered Arizona with a 2 game lead in the divisional standings over the Philadelphia Phillies. Both clubs would be facing less than stellar teams, to say the least…

The Braves need to take advantage of this four games series, being that the D-Backs have over 100 losses on the season.

So, how did the Braves fare in the first game of this four games series?

Pitching

Huascar Ynoa would take the mound in the first game of this series. Ynoa would enter this game with a record of 4-5, having been pretty steady with his performances.

His previous two starts against the Rockies and Nationals would result in 4.2 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 8 SO, and 5.0 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 7 SO respectively.

On Monday, Ynoa would face the D-Backs, and through the first couple innings, he would look pretty solid.

It would be the 3rd inning after Ynoa would gain a 2-0 lead in the game, that things would get a little rocky for the pitcher.

A double by Ketel Marte would tie the game at 2… thankfully, William Contreras would throw Marte out on his way to third base on the play.

I say thankfully because shortly afterward, Daulton Varsho would triple, later scoring on a wild pitch, making it a 3-2 game.

Ynoa had been relatively solid before this, but it seemed like it was all lost in such a short span of time. Ynoa would go on to stay in for one more inning, ending his line with 4.0 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, and 2 SO.

The pitchers that would enter after Ynoa would be very solid:

Jacob Webb would enter in the 5th, not allowing a hit, a run, or walk, but collecting 2 strikeouts.

Sean Newcomb would enter in the 6th, allowing no hits but allowing 2 walks. No runs though… So, progress?

Richard Rodriguez would enter in the 7th and would allow a pinch-hit home run to Jake McCarthy. He’d allow one more hit and tally one strikeout.

Chris Martin in the 8th, not allowing a hit, run or walk. He’d collect one strikeout.

Finally, Edgar Santana in the 9th, who’d allow one hit, but would close off the game to secure the win.

Overall, a solid performance from a majority of the pitchers considering the runs scored by the Braves offense.

Offense

Tonight was really big for the Braves offense. But it did not seem that way at first.

The at-bats in the first couple innings were less than stellar, but in the 3rd, an Austin Riley double would break the deadlock, making it 2-0.

It would not be until the 5th that the Braves would gain the lead back from the D-Backs. This was definitely a fun inning for the Braves!

Freddie Freeman would double Jorge Soler home, then Ozzie Albies would single Freeman home, which led to Riley doubling Albies home, which would eventually lead to Adam Duvall hitting a two-run shot to DEEP left-center field. This would make the game 7-3.

But the Braves were not done… They’d eventually bat around and add another 2 runs on a Soler fielder’s choice ground out and a Freeman infield single, making it 9-3.

Not much would happen until the 9th, when Eddie Rosario, who has been on a hot streak lately, would homer, making it 10-4.

Contreras would score the last Braves run of the night on a wild pitch later that same inning, making it 11-4.

The 2 through 6 guys in the lineup really destroyed the ball Monday night and while they were facing D-Backs pitching, it is still promising to see this occurring.

Overall, the Braves’ performance Monday turned out to be really good. Considering that I felt this would be a disappointing night after that disheartening bottom half of the 3rd.

The Braves need to keep this up the next three games against the D-Backs, taking advantage of how bad that team really is, but especially because the Phillies are playing the Orioles, whose record reflects the same as the D-Backs.