They don’t all have to shine. That was a pretty rough offensive performance against a horrid pitching staff. The Baltimore Orioles had allowed 9.5 runs per game over their last 15 games entering tonight, but the Atlanta Braves only mustered up three runs on seven hits.
Obviously that’s not great, but we’re at the stage of the season we’re it really doesn’t matter. Max Fried fired a gem, and that was enough for a 3-0 victory in the opening game of the series at Camden Yards.
Vintage? Not by a long shot. Enough to extend the winning streak to seven and keep the momentum going? You bet.
Positives:
- Max Fried. Wow. Let’s put some historical context to that one. Fried threw the first nine-inning game of his career, as well as his first complete game shutout. He is the first Brave to throw a complete game shutout since Mike Foltynewicz in June 2018, and the first Brave to throw a Maddux since Shelby Miller in May 2015. He joined Greg Maddux and Tom Glavine as the only Braves to throw a complete game shutout on fewer than 90 pitches since pitch counts have been tracked according to Sarah Langs.
I don’t care if it was a regular season game or if it was against a bad lineup. That’s one of the best single-game pitching performances in Atlanta Braves history. Embrace it.
- Happy contract extension day, Travis d’Arnaud! He celebrated his two-year/$16 million extension with a two-run home run and a shutout behind the plate. That’s an absolute steal for the Braves, and he already started showing why tonight.
- Jorge Soler hit a homer tonight and should’ve had two more hits if not for a pair of diving catches by Austin Hays. Everything he hits is hard.
- The defense tonight was incredible behind Fried, especially on the infield. Austin Riley’s diving stop to end the game was an absolute gem.
- The Braves have now won 11 in a row on the road, tied for the longest streak in franchise history. Imagine saying that would happen for this team two weeks ago.
Negatives:
- If Adam Duall had put a little more juice on his third inning drive to left field, it would’ve been a grand slam that made it 7-0 Braves. Maybe they could’ve gotten into Baltimore’s bullpen a little bit earlier and made things easier for tomorrow and Sunday. Other than that, there’s really not much to complain about tonight.
Former Brave Of The Day:
Josh Donaldson knocked a two-run home run out of Yankee Stadium tonight for the Twins.
Quote Of The Game:
“On any given night, I can throw a shutout.â€
— Roy Oswalt
Tomorrow’s Goal:
Put up some more crooked numbers on the scoreboard. This is the worst pitching staff in baseball in the other dugout trying to pitch a bandbox of a ballpark, afterall.
Thank you, Alan.
90 pitches. Wow!
If Tomlin is incapable of maintaining a lead in a blowout win of any margin, that would eliminate 50% of the need for him.
And on the flipside, if the Braves never lose another game for the rest of the season, let alone find themselves staring down a blowout loss ever again…
Be honest, though, don’t you want to see what would happen if Tomlin pitched to this Orioles offense? For science?
24-16 to get to 90 now. Oh hell, why not just make it 29-11 and get to 95 wins, huh?
@4 this is the first time I’ve looked at what we’d need to do to hit 90 wins and thought “okay, we can definitely do that.”
@3, absolutely! In a different uniform.
Bethany’s husband is some kinda pitcher, ain’t he? Like Morton it took him longer to find his feel and come on, but he’s sure coming on at the right time.
We don’t really have much on the schedule except three against the Dodgers until way up in mid-September. In theory, we could wrap the division up before anyone blinks too many times and it won’t matter too much who we play from Sept 17th through the end of the season.
And in case no one has noticed, we have one of the best road records in the majors now.
I recall that Dick Ruthven threw four or five complete game shutouts one year. I wonder if one went from ’66 onwards, how many gems one would find that would be at least as good as Max’s.
@7 This sounds like irrational exuberance to me. After the Orioles, the Braves have two against a torrid Yankees team, followed by the first-place Giants and almost-first place Dodgers (in Chavez Ravine). Atlanta is not going to stay as hot as it is right now. Those games will be a big test. I’m hoping they enter that stretch up six games, because it’s very likely there will be some erosion of their lead.
Also, don’t forget four games in Colorado after the Dodgers series. That place can humble a great pitching staff, let alone a merely good one, as the Braves have now.
Yup, we need to build up the lead as those 3 teams are really good AND need to win, none of them are in coasting mode.
absolutely! In a different uniform.
I lol’ed.
Here’s a question for the truly brave: is anyone else keeping an eye on the WILD CARD standings?
You don’t have to say “Just keep winning, and you won’t have to worry about it.” I know. On some level, I’d rather not think about it either. And maybe we won’t have to. But the masochist in me can’t help but notice that, if we fell out of first, we have reached the point where we’d be in the thick of the race for the second wild card spot.
Is it strangely nice to stop and see that as an indication of how far the team has come? Is it comforting to have another option, terrible as it is?
Perhaps too terrible to contemplate facing the Dodgers in a play-in game. It could be 14 innings before we’d face someone not named Buehler or Scherzer. At this rate, it may be the Giants, who despite how good they’ve been are less scary, but this forces me to contemplate another thing I don’t want to contemplate: the prospect of the Dodgers winning their ninth straight division title. Almost as dark a thought as Freddie leaving.
Happy Saturday!
Greetings from Key West…
#9. Yes, our sked gets tougher in the short term & the Phils’ post-Aug. 25 schedule is loaded with the worst teams in baseball, incl. Bal, Pit, Col, Az, Wash, Cubs, & Mia.
This thing ain’t over by a long shot. Collect all the wins we can now.
Ken Rosenthal on the trade deadline:
https://theathletic.com/2781224/2021/08/20/rosenthal-the-borderline-playoff-teams-that-won-and-lost-at-the-trade-deadline-at-least-so-far/
Thing about the wild card is, I’d much rather be in a dogfight with the Phillies and Mets than a dogfight with the Padres. Sure they’re reeling now, but they terrify me.
New thread by Clint
https://bravesjournal.mystagingwebsite.com/2021/08/21/2021-midseason-top-30-prospect-list-who-got-cut/
Drew Frowny is making an appearance .