Game Recap: Consistent Hitting and Timely Pitching Gives the Braves their Fourth Consecutive Win

The Braves went out behind Max Fried, looking for a bounce back after his last start against the Giants. Atlanta came into the weekend winning three straight and with a win Saturday, officially taking the season series from the Giants. Hitters Marcell Ozuna and Eddie Rosario have kept an incredible pace, allowing Atlanta to generate offense throughout the entire lineup this month.

Game Summary

The first inning looked like it was going to be a quick one. Ronald Acuña Jr. and Michael Harris II struck out back-to-back to lead off, on a mix of sweeping sliders and high fastballs. Yet Ryan Walker started losing control, walking Austin Riley and hanging one for Matt Olson.

The first baseman drilled the slider to right field, bringing Riley home and giving Matt his MLB-leading 111th RBI. The run put Atlanta up 1-0 in the first and has now accumulated 125 runs in the first inning over the season.

Max Fried looked to bounce back after a tough outing last time vs. the Giants. In his previous game, San Francisco loaded the bases in the first, yet Fried came out and looked to be back in his comfort zone. Going 1-2-3, Max threw a strikeout, pounding the zone and causing two groundouts.

The second started with Eddie Rosario, who has had a great month, leading off with a walk to put a runner on first. After a Sean Murphy flyout, you could see how Walker deals with righties, throwing some nasty pitches to Orlando Arcia.

On the strikeout to Arcia, Rosario got a good hop and stole second. Rosario was now in scoring position and lefty batter Nicky Lopez was at the plate, the Giants went to Sean Manaea to end the inning on a ground out.

J.D. Davis would start the bottom of the second with a double off Fried. The fly ball had a hang time that would rival an NFL punt, but still found the lawn in left field. Rosario would hurl it to second, almost beating Davis on the throw.

Fried would bounce back, striking out Patrick Bailey on high heat and then getting Paul DeJong to ground out to Riley. Max would show a little frustration after a walk to Heliot Ramos but would keep the game 1-0 after Casey Schmitt flew out to first base.

Acuña led off the bottom of the third, doing what he has done all year. Shooting a ball down the right field line, Ronald hit a single that was inches from turning into a double. Two batters later, Riley would walk again, bringing up Olson.

On the first pitch, Acuña stole third, and Olson shot a ball into shallow right to make the score 2-0 Braves. After an Ozuna strikeout, Rosario would walk again, loading the bases. The damage would stop there as Murphy struck out on three pitches against his former teammate, Manaea.

The lead did not last for long, however. In the bottom of the third, the Austin Slater walked with one out. A quick strike out to Estrada, before Wilmer Flores drilled a 434-ft shot to dead center, tying the game 2-2. Fried has pitched well but has been susceptible to the long ball, with San Francisco hitting three home runs over the last two games. Max, unfazed, got the third out on a strike out to Bailey looking.

Atlanta would go 1-2-3 in the top of the fourth, bringing the Giants back up to the plate. Fried efficiently got the first two outs before a Casey Schmitt single. Luis Matos made it interesting, dropping a double into left field, putting runners on second and third. Yet, Max came back for the final out, throwing a nasty curveball to strike out Austin Slater and keeping the game tied.

Surprisingly, San Francisco kept Manaea on the mound for the fifth. Austin Riley entered the box with the bases empty. After two walks previously, Riley mashed a solo homerun 409-ft to deep left, his 30th of the year. The bomb put the Braves back in front at a score of 3-2. Although the inning would finish two batters later, Fried would come back in and shut down the Giants for a quick transition to the sixth.

We wouldn't have to wait long for another home run. After a Rosario flyout, San Francisco replaced Manaea with former Brave, Luke Jackson. Jackson got the first out, bringing Orlando Arcia up. In the signature Ar-cya-later swing, Orlando homered a 426 ft to center for his 15th on the season. While no more runs would score, the Braves brought the score to 4-2 and didn't look back.

Fried would provide a needed gritty pitching performance. The lefty would get through six innings on 97 pitches. The Giants struggled to string batters together, with Max shutting down momentum quickly. He ended his day with eight strikeouts, only giving up two walks and two earned runs. Of the eight strikeouts, five were off the curveball, which Giants' hitters never adapted to.

Not much would take place in the seventh inning. Michael Harris did hit a double but was picked off at second, overrunning himself into a pickle. In the bottom of the inning, Atlanta replaced Fried with Kirby Yates for his 54th appearance of the season. Yates looked great, getting all three batters with a strikeout and some good defense from Lopez and Riley.

Matt Olson led off the top eighth with a single to right center, causing San Francisco to bring in Jakob Junis. Marcell Ozuna would move Olson to second, with a single to left. Ozuna has currently hit safely in 21 of 22 games this month and has looked fully back to what he is capable of. Rosario would follow, driving another single to right and bringing in Olson, making it 5-2 Braves.

Struggling with control, Junis just tapped Sean Murphy on the arm to load the bases. With no outs, Arcia hit a sacrifice fly, bringing home Ozuna. An interesting seventh run of the game came from Nickey Lopez's shallow pop to right. Eddie made a delayed tag, fooling Matos in right field. In a heads-up play, Rosario slid home as the ball was being transitioned from the cut-off, putting Atlanta up 7-2.

The eighth saw Piece Johnson, who needed only 11 pitches to retire the side. Then, after a quick top of the ninth, A.J. Minter would come in to end the game. San Francisco tried to rally, as Ramos hit a single and reached second on a wild pitch. Finally, the Giants would receive their final run on a Wade Meckler single, before Joc Pederson grounded out to first, ending the game with a final score of 7-3 Braves.

Overall, it was a great performance from Atlanta top to bottom. Pitchers prevented San Fran from gaining any momentum, as Max Fried was able to get fairly deep into the game. Hitting put up runs in every situation possible. Moving forward, it will be essential for the offense to not only rely on home runs but utilize the field when necessary. Today was a perfect example of mixing contact, power, & sneaky base running.

Pitchers of Record

W: Max Fried: 6.0 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 6 K, 97 NPIT

L: Sean Manaea: : 3.2 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 5 K, 74 NPIT

Homeruns

Wilmer Flores ( 19 )

Austin Riley ( 30 )

Orlando Arcia (15 )

Braves Bullpen

Kirby Yates: 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K, 16 NPIT

Pierce Johnson: 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K, 11 NPIT

A.J. Minter: 1.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 0 K, 17 NPIT

Next Game

August 27th at San Francisco Giants, 7:10 p.m. EST on ESPN