The Atlanta Braves started their four game series against the San Diego Padres in much need of revenge after being swept by the Padres just four weeks ago.
The Braves have been red hot on offense leading all MLB teams in runs scored in July. This past week in particular has been great with Drake Baldwin being recognized as the player of the week leading all players with a .714 average, .733 OBP, 1.357 slugging percentage, ten hits, nineteen total bases and tied for the lead in runs with five and RBI with eight. Austin Riley has also heated up as well, which has been a huge boon for the Braves.
The game on paper looked like it was going to be a shootout. Bryce Elder had an 11.00 ERA in his past four starts, and JP Sears for the Padres has only pitched four games this season and had an ERA north of five. Both teams have been red hot in July as well. The Braves are third in MLB in wRC+ in July, and the Padres are tenth. This was not the case in terms of facing the starting pitching.
Bryce Elder looked like he was going to go back to his recent trend in the first inning. He walked the leadoff hitter. He struck out Merrill, but then Machado was able to pull off a spectacular bunt for a single to put two on with one out. Fortunately, Joey Bart came in clutch and threw out Tatis Jr. trying to steal third and then Elder was able to get the red hot Ty France to ground out. The first did not go as planned for the Braves offense. Baldwin led off and hit the ball hard, but second baseman Jake Cronenworth was able to field it. Albies and Olson then flied out.
Elder settled down in the second with a three up, three down inning all on contact. Unfortunately, it was the same story for the Braves. They could not produce a baserunner in the second. In the third inning Elder stayed locked in picking up two strikeouts to the bottom of the order and then got Tatis Jr. to pop out. The Braves still could not get anything going in the third against Sears and all three hitters were sat down in order.
The fourth is where things started to get rolling. Elder got Merrill to ground out, but then Machado took Elder deep for his twentieth HR of the season to give the Padres a one run lead. Ty France then got his first hit of the night with a single. Elder settled back down and was able to get Sheets to fly out and Bogaerts to groundout to prevent anymore damage. Baldwin grounded out to leadoff the fourth, but then the Braves finally got a baserunner when Albies singled. Unfortunately, the momentum was killed a GIDP from Olson to end the inning.
The Braves were short on bullpen arms tonight so it was great that Elder was able to be extremely efficient. He stayed out to pitch the fifth inning. He gave up a single in the fifth but saw the minimum number of batters thanks to a forced double play.
The Braves were able to strike back in the fifth inning. After Riley just missed a HR on a deep fly ball, Harris did not miss for his eighteenth HR of the season to tie the game.
As Chad Bishop said, it looks like Michael Harris will be having a new career high in HRs in a season if he keeps this up. With a little bit of luck, Mauricio Dubón was able to reach on catcher’s interference on the first pitch he saw. Joey Bart then followed that up with a perfectly placed double down the line that allowed Mauricio Dubón to score from first base to give the Braves the lead.
The Braves could not score Bart, but the Braves had taken the lead before the inning was over.
Weiss showed faith in Elder and kept him in to pitch the sixth. Whether it was faith, or necessity is debatable, but it happened nonetheless. Elder showed it was the right decision when he sat down the heart of the order all in a row. JP Sears was then replaced by Wandy Peralta in the sixth and this worked out for the Braves. Baldwin struck out, but Ozzie Albies knocked his fifteen HR of the season over the left field wall to give the Braves a one run cushion, which was needed.
Olson grounded out, but a good sign is that Austin Riley walked. However, it Harris grounded out, so the inning was over.
Bryce Elder was then brought back out to pitch the seventh inning. In a vacuum this seemed like a questionable decision, but it was reported before the game that due to so many short starts by the rotation as of late, the bullpen was short tonight. Elder then pinched a sinker right down the middle and the red hot Ty France made him regret that pitch with a HR to bring the Padres within one run. This ended Elder’s night where he completed 6.0 innings of two run ball on five hits, one walk, and four strikeouts on only seventy-seven pitches. Danny Young then came in and put everyone on the edge of their seats. He gave up a single to his first hitter and then the runner moved over on a groundout twice in a row. Luis Campusano, who has been the Padres’ best hitter in July, came in to pinch hit which prompted Danny Young being replaced by Victor Mederos. Mederos wisely pitched around Campusano and walked him. He then got Song to fly out to end the top of the seventh.
Bradgley Rodriguez came in for the Padres to pitch the bottom of the seventh and was able to strikeout both Dubón, and Bart, followed by a Jarvis groundout to end the inning.
Mederos has been a huge asset to the Braves since joining the MLB squad. He stayed in to pitch the eighth inning and retired the side facing the top of the order. Kyle Hart came in to pitch the eighth for the Padres and looked to strikeout Eli White on a full count, but White challenged the play and got it overturned to a walk. It was wasted though when he was picked off at first, a rising trend for the Braves this season that has really hurt them. Drake Baldwin was then struck out looking on a full count. Ozzie Albies, who was 2-3 at the time of this at-bat, battled hard by fouling off four pitches, but ultimately struck out as well.
This meant Ty France who already had to hits in the game to include a HR was leading off the ninth inning for the Padres. With a short bullpen Weiss opted to leave Mederos in to pitch the ninth inning. This was a bit puzzling considering Mederos does not have much of a track record yet. He was able to strike out Ty France, which had to be a huge confidence booster for both him and the Braves fans tuning in. Almost instantly that confidence got tested when Rengifo singled on the second pitch he saw. Medero stayed the course and got Bogaerts to line out to Harris.
Jake Cronenworth came to the plate as the last hope for the Padres as the last hope with two outs and a runner on first. Mederos then picked up his first save as he got Cronenworth to groundout and lowered his season ERA to 0.96.
The Braves won a game by one run, against a team that swept them less than a month ago, where Bryce Elder looked like his former self while the short staffed bullpen was able to hold down the fort. This could go down as one of those games that the team looks back on as a momentum starter.
The Braves look to win their fourth game out of five tommorow as they take on the Padres again with Reynaldo López scheduled to start against Walker Buehler.
