The Atlanta Braves entered Friday night coming off a series win against the New York Mets. Spencer Strider took the mound for the Braves in hopes to lead Atlanta to their third straight victory.
His last start was also against the Giants where he struck out 10 batters across 7 innings of work while allowing only one hit and did not surrender a run. Logan Webb had the starting assignment for the home team.
Game Summary
It did not take long for the first run of the game to be scored. As fans were still piling into Oracle Park finding their seats, Michael Harris II, the second batter of the game blasted a ball into the water behind right field for a 1-0 Atlanta lead.
.@MoneyyyMikeee has left the building!#ForTheA pic.twitter.com/ZM9xbBtfSw
— Atlanta Braves (@Braves) August 26, 2023
Spencer Strider showed his appreciation of the early run support by tossing a perfect opening frame on just 12 pitches. It was not until the bottom of the third inning the Giants erased a zero from the hit column. Back to back singles set up first and second with one out with the top of the order up.
A strikeout of Lamonte Wade Jr. and a lineout on a great running play from Ronald Acuna Jr. allowed Strider and the Braves to escape the first San Fransisco threat of the night with the lead still in tact.
The top of the fourth started with Michael Harris II continuining his already productive game with a leadoff single and a stolen base to put himself in scoring position. With one out in the inning, Matt Olson traded places with him after a double to right-center field to give the Braves a 2-0 lead.
Marcell Ozuna extended his hot hitting with an RBI single immediately after that scored Olson from second. Atlanta took a 3-0 advantage into the bottom of the fourth.
Strider continued to roll, holding the Giants scoreless and polishing off the bottom of the fifth inning with his 7th strikeout of the evening puttimg himself in line for the win.
Atlanta pushed their lead to 4-0 after a Acuna Jr. triple was followed by a Michael Harris II single, his third knock of the game. Harris stole his second base of the game as well to put himself in scoring position with no outs.
The stolen base proved to be productive as Austin Riley grounded out to second. What would have been a double play moved Harris to third with one out.
With NL homerun leader Matt Olson coming to the plate, San Fransisco tapped into their bullpen. Former Braves pitcher Alex Wood entered the game for Logan Webb who was pulled after 5.1 innings and gave up 5 earned runs after a Matt Olson sac fly that scored Harris who was Webb was responsible for.
In the bottom of the 7th, Strider faced his first real challenge since the third inning. Joc Pederson tripled on the first pitch of the inning. Strider struckout the next batter but allowed Pederson to score on a J.D. Davis groundout. The Giants finally cracked into the run column but Atlanta still possessed a 5-1 lead going to the 8th.
Strider left the game after seven masterful innings on 94 pitches. Joe Jimenez was the first arm out of the Atlanta bullpen. Jimenez allowed a couple of singles but nothing else in his lone inning of work.
Braves' closer Raisel Iglesias was called upon to close the door in the 9th although with a 5-1 lead it was not a save opportunity (which by the way he has converted 13 consecutive of). He allowed a 2 out double but that was his only blemish as the Braves held on for a 5-1 victory.
Pitchers of Record
W: ATL: Spencer Strider (7.0 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 9 K's)
L: SF: Logan Webb (5.1 IP, 6 H, 5 ER, 1 BB, 1 K)
Homeruns
Michael Harris II (12)
Braves Bullpen
Joe Jimenez (1.0 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 K)
Raisel Iglesias (1.0, 1 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K's)
Next Game
8/26 @SF 4:05 p.m. ET on FS1