Marcell Ozuna and Ronald Acuna Jr. hit 2 run homers in the 2nd inning and Jared Shuster was good enough, as the Braves beat Nationals and won their 7th game in a row. Acuna added a couple of doubles to go with his 13th homer, and Ozuna’s homer was his 13th as well.
Each and every time you have a fight
Brad Paisley, “Letter To Me”
Just assume you’re wrong and daddy’s right.
Shuster allowed 8 hits and 3 runs through 5 innings, but was not able to record an out in the 6th. Jesse Chavez came on with runners on 1st and 3rd, and Snit liked Jesse’s 2 strikeouts and a ground out so well that he sent him back out for the 7th, where he threw a second perfect inning. Joe Jimenez threw an uneventful 8th, and A.J. Minter took the 9th to gave Raisel Iglesias a day off. Stone Garrett led off the 9th by golfing a pitch out of the strike zone for his 3rd homer of the season, but Minter benefited from a generous 3 – 1 strike call on Alex Call to induce a flyout and regroup. Shuster neither walked not struck out a batter while picking up his 3rd win. Chavez’s ERA is now 1.55 and Minter recorded his 9th save.
I was wrong about Orlando Arcia, and I was wrong about Marcell Ozuna, and if Brad Paisley is right, I’ll be wrong about the about the Olson and Murphy extensions too. Sorry, dAAddy.
The Braves go for the series sweep on Sunday at 1:35; Bryce Elder and Trevor Williams scheduled.
Braves Sunday Lineup
Forrest Wall Getting Attention
Forrest Wall is doing something I’ve never seen done: He’s stealing bases. I mean, I’ve seen players steal bases, but not 38 in a row without being caught. He’s also on pace for a career high in home runs while playing spectacular defense AND carrying a .387 OBP. There’s not a spot for him right now, but if Michael Harris II continues to struggle or if some OFer hits the IL, the Braves could put up a Wall in the outfield. If it doesn’t happen, I’ve a feeling that he could be one of the players that gets added to the 40-man this offseason. Here’s his bomb from last night:
Justus Sheffield Starts Today for the Stripers
A few weeks ago, AA did his thing quietly and the transaction was slipped into the official Braves transactions page unnoticed. One day, I was browsing around and noticed it buried in the week prior. I searched online and all the outlets, even Twitter, and no one reported it, so I did!
MLBtraderumors normally gives shoutouts to people that break the news, but I got nothing. Buncha amateurs. Sheffield will make his Braves org debut and I’m very curious what he’s been working on down in Florida.
To poke the fire over at The Bar, I posed a question and I’d love to hear your input over there.
Glorious, indeed!
Stripers notes…
Soroka had a really strong start for Gwinnett: 6 IP, 3H, 1R, 2BB, 6K
Forrest Wall is also having a breakout campaign as a CFer. He’s showing outstanding defense, carrying an .818 OPS (heavily aided by a .387 OBP), and has stolen 38 bases and has been caught 0 (not a typo) times. Feels like Rob Cope might get what he wants and Wall could be that guy called up in September.
Speaking of adding a guy to the roster: Will Charlie Culberson first get into a game as a position player or as a pitcher?
They DFA him before he gets to get on the field.
There is a God! I had no idea he hadn’t been caught all year. That’s insane.
Dunand and Grissom continue to rake down there, as well.
Also, let us not forget that Wall is a former 1st round pick that, of course, fizzled out in the worst developmental org in the league, the Colorado Rockies. Seriously, the Braves might’ve struck gold again.
Great recap, Rusty. I’m wrong on those same two guys, and am willing to admit it.
I like Olson when he hits a home run, and I know Acuña moved up on his fly out to center in the first that let Riley drive him in, but Riley leads off way too many innings lately and the “it’s all or nothing here at the home run derby” but is growing tiresome. Somehow, Ozuna is hitting nine points higher and has nearly caught him in OPS after having an OPS of like 10 in April.
Great job as always, Rusty S. You and I remember Braves GM’s who didn’t know much more than the average fan on the street, and they were often wrong in their judgments. But I’m with you on AA–I’ve realized that any time I believe he’s misjudged a player or made a bad trade, he’s almost certainly right and I’m wrong.
And as several on here have noted, the development coaches and staff in this org are pretty remarkable. So many unheralded prospects are having success at the big league level that it’s clearly not a coincidence.
It is nice for Atlanta to put losing 2 out of 3 to Oakland behind them. They have now won 7 in a row and 7 of 8 since the Athletics. However it looks like Oakland will not be the worst team ever. They’ve now won 4 in a row against the two best teams in the NL Central – Pittsburgh and Milwaukee. Of course, Pittsburgh and Milwaukee as the 2 best teams in the NL central does not put that division in a good light.
The other interesting development is to see Los Angeles 2.5 games behind Arizona. I wonder where they would be without Freeman. He leads the team in batting average (.336), OPS (.986), AND stolen bases (8).
AA should get more credit for his theft of Orlando Arcia from the Brewers. He traded away 2 relievers who never amounted to anything to get him.
Arcia has learned how to hit in the Braves organization.
Agreed. AA is a genius, and Kevin Seitzer and the hitting coaches do a great job as well. Arcia’s success can also be attributed to his willingness to fully buy into the Braves’ hitting philosophy (i.e., swing as hard as you can and try to do as much damage as possible).
I’m just going to add to Rusty’s piece to make it a recap and game thread. I don’t like when our recaps from late night games get washed so quickly.
By the way, Isbell’s entire album “Weathervanes” is available now and “Cast Iron Skillet” is the cream of the crop. What a wonderful singer/songwriter.
About 3 months ago, I had my first battle with anxiety and depression due to school shootings. Funny, yet crippling story: If you haven’t watched the series “Shrinking” on Apple TV, it’s a must! It’s brilliant, comedic, heartwarming, and heartbreaking. Jason Segel and Harrison Ford are therapists and Segel has just lost his wife to cancer. Anywho, about 4 months ago, I had a dream that I was sitting in with Harrison Ford and the dream implied that he “wanted me to meet someone”. The door opened and 2 of the Uvalde kid victims walked in. The next morning, I just couldn’t get passed it and now I’ve found that there are certain Isbell songs that I now have to skip as they’re triggers for me.
Luckily, I found the cocktail my doctor prescribed me was escalating the anxiety so I’m doing self-work and holistic meds to treat it and I’m really rocking once again. Happiness has always been easy for me and I’m glad to report it is once again.
I’m not going to get political here and I hope that is not what people read into when I talk about this, but these school shootings have really taken its toll on teachers and it’s not about the fear of getting shot, but more about what we have to do to our students to prepare for the worst.
I’m sorry to hear you’ve had some mental health struggles. My father and his father had mental health issues, mostly reported as ‘being odd’ because, you know, Alabama in the mid 20th century, and that has definitely come down to me. I’m glad you’ve gotten help and are doing better.
Thanks for sharing, Ryan. I am happy for you that you are finding a good way through this.
God bless, Ryan. I love you, my friend.
Well, that got out of hand quickly. Full-scale Episode.
Third time through the lineup…go figure
Down 6-2, they got them right where they want them.
Hibernation mode too. Cant win ‘em all I guess.
I dunno, MHII got robbed. I think the Nats played well the latter half of this game.
Recapped: https://bravesjournal.com/2023/06/11/braves-7-game-winning-streak-comes-to-close/