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This weekend, the Braves had the perfect opportunity to make hay in the divisional standings: the two teams ahead of them are said to be locking horns, while the Braves face the now exhausted Washington Nationals. Good news: the first outing went well, as the Braves skimmed their opposition with a final scoring of 8-4.
Washington starter Erick Fedde had been knocked down by the Braves in his career, and tonight was no different. After Kyle Muller first put out two hitters in a 1-2-3, the Braves streaked three straight Fedde singles, then took the 2-0 advantage over Adam Duvall’s flare to the right. This lead did not last too long, however, as Muller was particularly fragile in this outing.
Throughout the first two innings, Muller seriously missed the top and arm with a few fastballs. By the third, it had become a real problem. A starting walk turned into a de facto double thanks to a wild throw, which put a runner in third after Jorge Soler took a right dive to save a hit. Muller had a chance to keep the Nats off the board by pushing Fedde up to third, but another incredibly savage pitch resulted in the runner scoring. Muller actually came out of this set without allowing a hit, but the lead was cut in half anyway.
The problems continued in the fourth in the same vein. At this point, Muller couldn’t really rely on his fastball anymore. Another bad dud turned into an unlucky brace as Alcides Escobar pitched an up-and-out pitch and bounced him to Freddie Freeman’s left for a brace. Muller essentially stopped cranking the heat, which led to a flyout, walk, and then a draw left of Carter Kieboom, as you can only throw a limited number of sliders and curves without precise control. Luckily for Muller and the Braves, Luis Garcia bailed them out by turning a suspended curve into an easy double play late in the round.
After taking a 2-0 lead, the Braves were thwarted by Fedde, who retired eight in a row before Duvall walked in with a fourth out but was left stranded. Muller tried to persevere without any ability to throw his fastball anywhere near the zone in the fifth, but it was a terrible idea. He started the frame with a strikeout, but then cut Gerardo Parra with a curveball, threw a fastball into the dirt, gave up an easy third-place steal, then led to the third round of the Nationals. when Fedde hit a 2-0 ground. on the left for a fly bag. The Braves finally shot Muller at this point before he could take on someone for the third time, but it was just a bizarre exit – they let him literally “cross” without being able to throw a fastball. near the area through three innings. In the end, he finished after 4 2/3, and Edgar Santana came in to take Victor Robles at bat and end the inning.
But hey, remember, the Braves are on the rise! And Erick Fedde wasn’t going to get away with just those two points allowed, not with the Nationals allowing him to face order for a third time for some reason. With two strikeouts late in the inning, Jorge Soler reached the first on defensive indifference. Once again, the Braves had three straight singles, with Austin Riley tying the game on a push through the middle and Dansby Swanson leaving a weak third-place bouncer for the go-ahead. Duvall followed with a double on the left making it 5-3 Braves. That was it for Fedde, who was knocked down by the Atlanta bats again – Sam Clay picked him up after 4 2/3 and blocked all the baserunners after putting Joc Pederson on, but the Braves had a lead comfortable.
After all that fireworks display, it was basically reliever battle time, which worked out pretty well for the Braves. Chris Martin struck out two sticks in a scoreless sixth, Luke Jackson struck out the side in the seventh and had a perfect eighth on 12 shots. The Braves have threatened a few times, including a brace from Max Fried on sixth, but were unable to score against Gabe Klobotsis or Andres Machado (I don’t know who these people are, but they are presumably members of l’Enclos national relievers, although maybe they were just lucky fans who were able to make their childhood dreams come true?)
I do know who Javy Guerra is, and he was the one the Braves faced until the end of the eighth. This round was run on a walk, double hit, walk, strikeout, a two-run Freeman single, Riley sacrifice fly to give the Braves an 8-3 advantage. The sacrifice fly was fun: Riley popped a ball to the shallow right, and Albies scored and scored because the ball was caught with Garcia’s back in the infield.
The Braves asked Jesse Chavez to salute their fourth straight win, and he ultimately agreed. Chavez allowed a single and a walk to start, but Kieboom bailed him out with a double. Garcia doubled up on the right to make it 8-4, but Chavez rebounded to take out Tres Barrera on three straight shots to end the game.
Elsewhere in the NL East, the Phillies toppled the Mets, knocking them out of first place for the first time since May 8. That means the Braves have only won half a game in the standings, but we’ll take it. The odds for the playoffs are around 30% now, and if the Braves can keep winning hay against the Nationals, they might even have a share of the top spot by the end of the weekend. They will play their first five-game winning streak of the season tomorrow, with Charlie Morton facing Josiah Gray, who was acquired by Washington as part of the Max Scherzer and Trea Turner deal.
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