The quick six-game homestand for the Atlanta Braves is now over and like everything they’ve done so far during this season, they passed the test with flying colors. They proved their point against a very good Cubs team in order to build upon a huge series win at Dodger Stadium and then the Braves had a shot to take care of business against a Red Sox team that was coming into town spinning their wheels at best.
As such, there was the potential for the Braves to find themselves in a trap against a Red Sox pitching staff that could keep anybody quiet on their best day. With that being said, Atlanta’s pitching staff is good enough to be put up against any challenge and stand up to it, so all certainly wouldn’t be lost if runs ended up being at a premium. This series would come down to which lineup could potentially break out in a big way and as you’ll see below, we got some pretty good news in that regard.
Friday, May 15
Braves 3, Red Sox 2
It’s always nice to start the weekend with a (victorious) thriller, now isn’t it? Indeed, we got a dramatic ballgame that saw the Braves take control of things early, the Red Sox get back into it in the middle innings before it eventually went to extras for an exciting finish. Spencer Strider got the ball to start things off and while he was out there, the Braves had the slight edge thanks to a first-inning dinger from Drake Baldwin and Michael Harris II depositing one into the bullpen in right-center. Both were solo shots and Strider did a solid job of making sure those two runs stood up.
Unfortunately, a leadoff double from Carlos Narváez in the sixth inning ended up getting cashed in for the only run that went on Strider’s record, as Dylan Lee gave up an RBI knock to Mickey Gasper that put the Red Sox on the board. The next inning saw the game get brought back to square footing after Tyler Kinley gave up a game-tying solo homer to Marcelo Mayer. From that point forward, good defense and strong pitching meant that this one went into extras.
Didier Fuentes got the ball for the tenth inning and while he did hit Jarren Duran with a pitch, he was able to retire the other three Red Sox batters in order to make sure that all the Braves needed in their half of the tenth was a solid base hit. Mike Yastrzemski led off the tenth and attempted to bunt the runner over twice. After two failures (which he actually lamented in the post-game press conference), he squared up to hit against Tyler Samaniego and instead shot it out into left field for a walk-off double that gave the Braves another series-opening win.
Saturday, May 16
Red Sox 3, Braves 2
Boston’s pitching staff continued to do everything they could to keep the Red Sox afloat in this series. Payton Tolle did give up two runs but that minimal damage was spread out over the course of eight effective innings from the mustachioed hurler. The two runs came from Tolle becoming the latest member of the “I gave up a first-inning home run to Drake Baldwin” club and then Baldwin cashed in a two-out double from José Azócar in the fifth inning to break what was a 1-1 deadlock at the time.
Tolle wasn’t the only one to go eight innings in this one, though. Bryce Elder also went eight innings as we got ourselves a real throwback of a pitchers’ duel. The results from both starting pitchers were startlingly similar but in the end, it was Tolle who left the game with the edge after Bryce Elder got unlucky in the top of the eighth inning. With two outs and two strikes on the board against Willson Contreras, William’s brother got a hold of a slider that was low and out of the zone but drove it into the seats in right field for a go-ahead two-run homer. It was a crying shame that that’s how things ended in this one for Bryce Elder, who delivered another good start in what’s increasingly looking like a bounce-back season for him.
The Braves did have a chance in the ninth to keep the game going as they got something going with two outs against Aroldis Chapman. The error that kept the game going wasn’t Chapman’s fault but the stolen base and the two walks that followed to load the bases sure were his fault, which set the stage for Ha-Seong Kim to potentially make it two fantastic finishes in a row for the Braves. Sadly, Chapman somehow managed to field a batted ball that deflected off of himself and he eventually got the baseball into Contreras’ mitt at first to allow the Red Sox to escape with the win.
Sunday, May 17
Braves 8, Red Sox 1
The theme of pitchers’ duels in this series came to an end and fortunately, it was an ending that shook out in favor of the Braves. Brayan Bello has had his fair of struggles this season (though he did get through his past two starts with just one run in both outings) and the Braves added to those struggles with what they did to him on Sunday. Bello did get through five innings and his efforts combined with Ryan Watson taking the baton for the rest of the game meant that Boston didn’t have to exert their bullpen too much in this one.
However, Bello got rocked for seven runs while he was out there as the Braves hit him early and often. Austin Riley cracked a three-run dinger in the first to get things going and then they added on a couple more runs in the very next frame. Drake Baldwin coaxed a bases-loaded walk out of Bello and then a productive out from Matt Olson made it 5-0 Braves.
Mike Yastrzemski capped off a lovely week with a solo homer in the fourth inning and then Dominic Smith brought in Riley on an RBI single (after Riley had doubled in the at-bat before this one) that made it 7-0, Braves. The icing on the cake was a sacrifice fly from Drake Baldwin in the eighth inning that eventually brought us to the final score of 8-0.
It also has to be mentioned that Grant Holmes did a great job over the six innings of work he put in and he maybe could’ve gotten a bit deeper in the game had a hail storm not hit Truist Park. Instead, Holmes eventually passed the baton to Reynaldo López and Tyler Kinley. López pitched two scoreless innings while Kinley got through the ninth while giving up a run (and quite frankly Kinley’s performance has been a bit concerning so far). Still, that failed to put a damper on what was a dominating way to cap off the series win for the Braves.
For the first two games at least, Boston’s pitching staff was as advertised. The Red Sox have had such an aneic offense so far this season that their pitching staff is the only thing that’s really keeping them afloat. As such, they were totally comfortable in the scenarios that played out in the first two games where they had just enough offense to compete while keeping the Braves quiet.
Fortunately for the Braves, their pitching is just as good and they’re also way more likely to come up with some timely hitting (like they did in the first game) or to just break out the boom stick and dominate a game (like they did in the rubber game). Spencer Strider, Bryce Elder and Grant Holmes each delivered solid starts which made suer that the Braves were going to be competitive in each game and it paid off in spades in the first game and nearly allowed them to take advantage of a rare spot of vulnerability from Aroldis Chapman in the second game. This offense was bound to break out at some point and that’s exactly what happened in the third game.
In short, this was a case of the Braves taking care of business against a team that they are clearly better than at this point. A series loss certainly would’ve been disappointing but when you consider that it took so much going right for the Red Sox in the second game just for them to take a single win, it’s further proof of just how good the Braves are at the moment and what it takes to take a game off of them right now. It was encouraging to see the Braves continue to come up with big hits in big moments (from nearly everybody on the roster, no less) and it was also nice to see them pull off the series win in such convincing fashion.
Basically, this is what you wanted to see from the Braves after two big series against two of the best teams in the National League right now. Instead of falling victim to a letdown against a somewhat easier opponent, the Braves kept the pedal to the metal and pushed ahead to win another series. It’s exactly what you want to see from a team that’ll hopefully be playing serious baseball once we get into September and the Postseason in October. The Braves are rolling right now and it’s exciting to see just how long they can keep this run of form going.
