Tag: NL Rivals

THE ATLANTA BRAVES CLINCH THE NL EAST FOR THE FIFTH STRAIGHT YEAR!!

Fireworks from Truist park during the Braves vs. Mets series

Last night, October 4, 2022, the Atlanta Braves won their fifth straight National League East Division title in a 2-1 victory against the Miami Marlins. Being the World Series Champions last year, the Braves had a lot to prove this year, and they have definitely done that to this point.

The season started off slow once again for the Braves, and they hung right around .500 for a long time. But then, on June first, things turned around, and Atlanta hasn’t looked back since. Coming into the month of June, the Braves were 10.5 games out of first place. And starting the month of August, they were 7.0 games out of first. Then, from late August all the way through to where they are now, the Atlanta Braves got HOT. The Braves’ starting rotation was becoming secure and strong, the bullpen was reliable, and the offense was scoring runs consistently and often. All of that made the Met’s 10.5 game lead in the Division a thing of the past — and the Braves just kept pouring it on.

Yes, this title didn’t come easy for the Braves, but that’s what makes it so awesome. The New York Mets put up a good fight this year, staying in first place for almost all of the season. However, when it came down to the games that mattered the most, the Atlanta Braves always found a way to win. That proved crucial in their last home series of the season against the Mets over the weekend when the Braves swept the Mets; taking not only a 2.0 game lead in this Division, but also a winning record of head-to-head games against the Mets.

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The Division is won, but now it’s time for some Postseason baseball! The Wild Card games start Friday, October 7th, and the NLDS will begin Tuesday October 11th. Since the Braves won the Division and won’t have to play in the Wild Card Series, this gives them a week’s worth of rest. This also gives Spencer Strider a week longer to heal so he can come back and pitch for Atlanta in the NLDS, and it gives Ozzie Albies an extra week to continue to heal from a fractured finger so he can make a potential return during the Postseason.

The Braves need to work on not leaving so many men on base, playing some small ball to go with their home run game, and honing in on starting pitchers making it through 5+ innings.

This is a very exciting time for the Atlanta Braves and all of Braves Country…but the battle isn’t over yet. If anything, it’s just getting started. Yet we can still shout: THE EAST IS OURS!

GO BRAVES!!

Coming in Hot: Braves Sweep the Mets!

Game 1 of the 3-game series

What a series! If you like high-intensity, every-pitch-counts-baseball, then this was your series. Coming into this series against the Mets, all of Braves country was nervous. I mean, it’s not every day that you have to sweep your biggest Division rivals in order to have a good shot at clinching the division and having possession of a winning record against them in case there were to be a tiebreaker. It was a tall order for the Braves – especially against a good team like the Mets – but our Bravos did not disappoint!

GAME ONE: Max Fried vs. Jacob DeGrom; Braves win 5-2

I was so sure this game was going to be a pitching duel. A low scoring, old fashioned pitchers duel…I was wrong. While both Fried and DeGrom had their shutdown innings and pitched like aces, Atlanta’s offense ended up scoring five runs — three of them off of DeGrom. The Mets scored two runs in total and only one off of Max Fried. Fried pitched very well, but he had to leave after the 5th inning with only 71 pitches because he began to throw up in the dugout and it was later announced that he had the stomach bug. For Max to have pitched the five top-notch innings that he did while being sick is just amazing. Talk about putting your team above yourself.

Offensively for the Braves, they were home run driven. Austin Riley and Matt Olson had back-to-back solo shots in the bottom of the second inning which put the Braves up 2-1. And then, in the bottom of the 6th, Dansby Swanson hit a solo home run to give the Braves a 3-1 lead. All three of those home runs came off of Jacob DeGrom, but Dansby’s was much more meaningful. It was his 100th home run of his career, and it couldn’t have come at a better time.

The bullpen for Atlanta, like we have grown so accustomed to, got the job done. A.J. Minter allowed a nerve-wrecking solo home run to Tomas Nido in the top of the 8th, but that was it. In the top of the 9th inning, Kenley Jansen gave ALL of Braves Country a huge scare. Being there in person was unlike any stress I’ve ever known. The crowd was groaning, cheering, sighing, and cheering again. Kenley loaded the bases with only one out. But somehow, someway, Kenley got out of it without a single run scoring and gave the Braves game one of the series with a 5-2 win.

GAME TWO: Kyle Wright vs. Max Scherzer; Braves win 4-2

Kyle Wright got off to a rocky start but was able to come back and secure the win for Atlanta. When he’s on his A-game, Wright gets a lot of groundouts, and after the first inning, that is what he got. He went 5 innings, allowed 7 hits, 2 runs, one walk, and had three strikeouts. So overall, it wasn’t a bad outing. The bullpen was able to keep the Mets at bay and prevent any further damage for the rest of the game. And, Kenley Jansen pitched a stress-free 1-2-3 inning.

Dansby Swanson and Matt Olson once again brought the power for the Braves. Swanson hit a 2-run homer in the bottom of the 5th inning, and in the bottom of the 6th inning, Olson went yard to give the braves a 4-2 lead.

This game showed what the Atlanta Braves bullpen can do. There were SO many chances for the Mets to score, yet they could not make contact with anything the Braves relievers were throwing. And when they did make contact, Atlanta’s superb defense was there to make the play — hello, Michael Harris II!! This was an overall good game for Atlanta that started out scary and ended with a Braves’ victory.

GAME THREE: Charlie Morton vs. Chris Bassitt; Braves win 5-3

Talk about a great way to end the series. Dansby Swanson led off the game with a bang: an opposite field solo shot in the bottom of the first to give the Braves a 1-0 lead. This was his third home run in as many games. He hit a home run off of all three Mets starters: Jacob DeGrom, Max Scherzer, and Chris Bassitt.

The Mets beat up on Charlie Morton a little bit, scoring three runs off of him in 4.1 innings. But they couldn’t come up with anymore run support.

In the bottom of the third inning, the Braves’ bats came to life once again, except this time it wasn’t via the home run ball. With the bases loaded and two outs, Matt Olson walked to score a run, and then Travis d’Arnaud had a two-run single to give the Braves a 4-3 lead. Then as if Dansby hitting a home run in all three games wasn’t cool enough, Matt Olson decided to do it, too. He hit a towering solo home run in the bottom of the 6th inning to give the Braves a 5-3 lead.

And that 5-3 lead was all the Atlanta bullpen needed. Kenley Jansen came in for the third straight game and was lights out! This awesome showing allowed the Braves to win their 100th game, sweep the Mets, win the head-to-head series with the Mets, and give the Braves a 2.0 game lead in the division. Talk about a productive win. 🙂

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The Atlanta Braves magic number to win the division is now one, and they are set to play a three game series against the Marlins in Miami starting tonight to finish out the regular season. I have all confidence in what the Braves are capable of and are excited to see them play in the postseason!

GO BRAVES!!

What Needs to Happen for the Braves Coming Down the Stretch:

With less than a month of baseball left, the Atlanta Braves are coming down an important stretch. They have been playing very well throughout the season and especially in the month of August, but the past few series’ for the Braves have been tough. Yes, they have been playing “easier” teams, but for some reason, those teams are always harder wins for the Braves. Atlanta is currently 1.5 games out of first place. Just two days ago they were 0.5 games in first place, but they lost two games that they should have won — unfortunately blown by the bullpen and our offense couldn’t come through.

Pitching wise for the Braves has hit an overall rough patch. Lately, the starting rotation hasn’t been as sharp as we have gotten so used to. Even Atlanta’s ace, Max Fried, has been struggling of late. And as for the bullpen, it is mainly the closer role that is drawing concern. Kenley Jansen either has his good games, super stressful games, or bad games. And lately, he’s had more bad games than good. He blew a game on Sunday against the Seattle Mariners that the Braves should have won. It’s just been a frustrating run for him lately, which leaves some concern for the Braves’ closer role with only a certain amount of games left. And it cannot be overstated how very important these games are.

Offensively, the Braves are still hitting their home runs, and driving runners in, but they are leaving so many missed opportunities. Yes, Atlanta’s offense hits a LOT of home runs, but you can’t rely on those to win ballgames. You have to play small-ball. You have to move runners over, take your walks, and score when you need to score. We have seen the Braves leave the bases loaded with one out or two outs too many times this year, and sooner or later that is going to come back and haunt you when you’re in a close division race and need to win ballgames. What I think needs to happen for the Braves is that they just need to make contact with the ball and be patient at the plate. Make the opposing pitchers work. Take balls, work in the count, and get hits. I feel like some of the Braves players are so focused on hitting home runs or getting that “big hit” that they miss opportunities to score a run or reach base so the next guy can get a hit to score some runs.

Hopefully the Atlanta Braves will work out these little hiccups, and soon. The Braves are a good baseball team and we know what they are capable of. It is just a matter of if they can figure out what is causing these hiccups and improve their weaknesses. I believe they can do this! And, as a glimpse of hope, Ozzie Albies should be returning within the next week or so. His bat will provide some spark in the Braves lineup, not to mention his smile and positive impact on our whole team!

GO BRAVES!!

A Red-Hot August for the Atlanta Braves:

The month of August has been a very good one for the Braves. They have played all-around very good baseball, and have gained significant ground in the NL East.

At the beginning of August, the Braves lost four out of five against the Mets, bringing them 7.5 games out of first place, which caused some concern. However, the Braves did not let that bring them down, and they had a huge bounce back when they played the Mets at home the following week.

Atlanta pitching has been great this month. Charlie Morton has found his groove, Max Fried is continuing to be his superstar self, Kyle Wright has been very good, and Spencer Strider has been downright impressive. Even Jake Odorizzi has had a bounce back…he won his first game as a Brave Monday night against the Pittsburg Pirates.

The bullpen has been lights-out. How the bullpen is pitching right now, is how I have expected it to be since the beginning of the season. Everyone has been able to come in during high-leverage situations and manage to get out of them, while also maintaining close leads late in the games — which is super important especially as we near the postseason.

Offensively for the Braves, they have been extremely impressive. It seems that every game 1-9 in the lineup is contributing some way. Whether it’s a sac-fly to score a run, a groundout to move the runner over, a home run, or a pinch-hit walk-off single – the Braves hitters are getting it done. It’s very fun to watch them come through in ways you’d never expect and get the big hits we need with runners in scoring position.

Also, defensively, Atlanta has been outstanding. When you hear the word “error” and “Atlanta Braves” in the same sentence, it does not sound right. As a team, the Braves had made 56. I know that sounds like a large number, but compared to the Pittsburg Pirates who have made 85 errors in the same amount of games, it’s really not that high. The Atlanta infield is quite impressive. Even Grissom has proved to be quite a good fielder, although he is not near as good as their normal second baseman, Ozzie Albies. And let me just say…if Dansby Swanson does not win the Gold Glove this year, or finish in the top three of Gold Glove voting, he will have been robbed. His defense has been superb all year long!

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The Atlanta braves are just a fun, exciting team to watch! They always put up a fight and don’t give up easily. Coming into today’s game, the Atlanta Braves are 3.0 games out of first place. That is very manageable, as long as the Braves keep winning the majority of games they play, and the Mets lose some, too. 😉

It will be very exciting to see what happens down the stretch come September.

GO BRAVES!!

Braves vs. Giants Sereis Wrap

Coming into this series everyone knew how important it was. The San Fransisco Giants had the best record in all of MLB. However, the Atlanta Braves know how to win ballgames! They won the series, winning two out of three.

Game One: Max Fried vs. Kevin Gausman, Braves won 6-5

This was a good, exciting game. The Braves were behind all game until the bottom of the seventh inning. Then they had an offensive burst in the bottom of the sixth inning and were able to barley hold on a win.

Even though he didn’t get the win, Max Fried pitched a pretty good game for Atlanta. He went six innings, allowed five hits, four runs, he allowed ZERO walks, and had five strikeouts. He did not pitch a bad game. He just had a couple slip-ups and the Giants took advantage of them.

In the top of the first inning, San Fransisco took a two run lead. Buster Posey hit a two-run home run, giving them an early 2-0 lead. Max Fried does not give up that many home runs, but in a 3-0 count, he hung a pitch in the strike zone and the Giants catcher took advantage of it.

The Giants added on another run in the top of the second inning. Kevin Gausman grounded into an RBI force out, making it a 3-0 game.

The Braves got one of those runs back in the bottom of the second. Adam Duvall launched a solo shot to left centerfield, making it a 3-1 game.

In the bottom of the third inning, Austin Riley made it a 3-2 game. He hit an RBI single that scored Jorge Soler who singled to start the inning and advanced to second on a wild pitch.

However, in the top of the fourth inning, the Giants got that run right back. Tommy La Stella hit an RBI double that scored Wilmer Flores making it a 4-2 game.

The Braves had a huge offensive burst in the bottom of the seventh inning. It turned out to be crucial to their win. Adam Duvall started the inning with a strikeout, then Joc Pederson reached base on a walk. Guillermo Heredia came on as a pinch hitter. He hit a first-pitch single that advanced Pederson to second. With two on and one out, Ozzie Albies was up to bat. On the first pitch he saw, he hit a booming RBI double that scored Joc Pederson and advanced Hereida to third. His double made it a 4-3 game. San Fransisco went to their bullpen, and brought on Zach Littell. Jorge Soler didn’t greet him very kindly. On the FIRST-PITCH he saw, Soler hit a monstrous three-run home run. His homer gave the Braves the lead at 6-4.

Will Smith came on to pitch the ninth inning for Atlanta. Throughout most, if not all of his appearances, Smith gives up at least one run. He did the same thing in this appearance. Smith gave up a solo home run to Wilmer Flores, the first batter he faced making it a 6-5 game. Luckily, Will Smith was able to hold on to that one run lead, and the Braves took game one.

Game Two: Huascar Ynoa vs. Logan Webb, Braves lost 5-0

Huascar Ynoa pitched well for the Braves. He gave up two runs on three hits over six innings of work. He also had three walks and three strikeouts. Overall, Ynoa did not pitch a bad game, he just didn’t get any offensive support — and the bullpen didn’t help him out.

San Fransisco scored their first run in the top of the first inning. Tommy La Stella, their second baseman, hit a solo home run giving the Giants a 1-0 lead. To give them a 2-0 lead, La Stella then hit a sac fly in the top of the third. Those were the only two runs that Ynoa surrendered.

The Giants did not score again until the seventh inning. Richard Rodríguez was pitching for Atlanta. He gave up a first-pitch, solo homer to Mike Yastrzemski. That made it a 3-0 game. Rodríguez has been very lights-out for the Braves since they got him at the trade deadline. This was one of the very few runs he has surrendered.

Chris Martin gave up the other two and final runs to the San Fransisco Giants. He surrendered an RBI single to Darin Ruf, and a first-pitch RBI double to Yastrzemski to make the score 5-0.

The Braves had a couple chances to score throughout this game, but they just couldn’t pull the trigger.

Game Three: Ian Anderson vs. Anthony DeSclafani, Braves won 9-0

Well, the Giants shut them out the night before, so it was only fitting that the Atlanta Braves did the same to them!

Ian Anderson pitched very well for the Braves. He pitched 5.2 innings, allowed four hits, zero runs, only to walks, and he had ZERO strikeouts. What?!? Zero strikeouts? That is an unusual thing to see from a pitcher in this day and age. But Anderson’s stuff was sharp and the Giants hitters were constantly making contact and getting balls on the ground. Not to mention, Atlanta has A-plus defense in the infield, so Anderson knew if he got the ball on the ground, he didn’t have to worry.

The Braves offense opened up in the fourth inning. Jorge Soler led off the inning with a solo home run to get Atlanta on the board with a 1-0 lead. Freddie Freeman reached base on a single and then, to give them a 3-0 lead, Austin Riley hit a two-run homer.

Eddie Rosario, playing in his first game for Atlanta, had a two-RBI triple that scored Joc Pederson and Dansby Swanson. The Giants reviewed the play at third (Rosario was originally called safe) the called went in the Braves favor and was upheld, making it a 5-0 Braves lead.

To lead off the bottom of the seventh inning, Ozzie Albies had a double. Jorge Soler reached base after Albies on a single. Freeman had an RBI single that scored Ozzie, extending the Braves lead to 6-0. To make it a 7-0 lead, Joc Pederson scored Soler on a sac fly.

Atlanta scored their final two runs in the bottom of the eighth inning. Guillermo Heredia scored on a wild pitch to make it an 8-0 score. Then, to add the final blow, Ozzie Albies crushed a solo home run into the left field seats, making it a final score of 9-0!

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This was a crucial series for the Braves. They played every game hard and with everything they had. It paid off. When you play with confidence and a reason to play, you’ve got a shot at winning no matter what type of team you are playing.