Hollywood was the perfect backdrop for a nail-biting win on an historic night for the Braves Thursday. Ronald Acuña Jr. hammered a Lance Lynn offering into the left-center bleachers with the bases loaded in the second inning. It was Acuna’s 30th home run of the season, making him the only member of the 30 HR/60 SB club.
Austin Riley followed Acuña’s blast one out later with a solo shot of his own to give Atlanta a 6-1 lead. Atlanta added another run on Michael’s Harris II’s solo shot in the fifth and it seemed there would be no drama in Hollywood this night.
Strider electric, ‘pen not so much
Spencer Strider settled in after giving up a run in the first, but Mookie Betts has entered the MVP race in August and showed why in the fifth. Betts has been on a heater in August! He hit a 3-2 fastball from Strider off the top of wall in right, cutting the deficit to 7-4. Betts’ offense is one reason he’s in the race, but defense may be what pushes him over the Acuña hump. Ronald didn’t time this play very well and just missed making the catch. If you’ll recall, Betts made a similar play against the Braves an NLCS or two ago. SIGH…
Strider got thru six, allowing four runs on four hits and two walks. He struck out nine and picked up his 16th win of the season. More importantly, the Braves improved to 22-5 in games Strider has started this season. Leading 8-4, Brian Snitker had the bullpen lined up the way he wanted it. Michael Busch and Betts hit solo homers off Joe Jimenez in the seventh, though, making things interesting. The annoying Max Muncy also played a part. He pulled the Dodgers within a run on a solo shot off AJ Minter in the eighth, creating the ninth-inning drama.
Raisel Iglesias got Betts to fly out to lead off the ninth, but then walked Freddie Freeman. The more-annoying-than-Max-Muncy, Will Smith, singled to left and the Dodgers were in business. However, Iglesias induced a fly-out from Muncy on a beautiful change-up, and then filleted Keke Hernandez on three pitches to save the day.
What a show!
What a show! The two best teams in the game, and the two best players in the NL put on a show in this one. But it was the Braves who earned the nail-biting win on an historic night. Acuña was 3-for-4 with a stolen base – and oh yeah, I almost forgot – he got marries yesterday morning! A day he and Braves fans will not soon forget.
Continue to enjoy the ride, Braves fans! This is one special player, and one special team.
I fell asleep when we went up 6-1. I figured when I went to bed that the game would be close, but looks like I missed a doozy.
West Coast games are killer, man! I’m down tonight again, but gonna have to get to bed Saturday before that one’s over.
Fantastic, Christian. I imagine it was also the first time in history that a player got married in the morning and hit a grand slam in the evening.
Right? What a story…
Greetings from Honolulu…
After an 11-hour-plus trip, we arrived just in time for (what I thought would be) the Utah/Florida football game. The big cable dispute quickly disabused me of that notion. Couldn’t watch it streaming either.
So, I figured, I’d just lay down by the pool, drink a few mai-tais & listen to the Braves/Dodgers game. Glad I did.
By the 4th mai-tai, I was a nervous wreck. That game definitely felt like playoff baseball played by the 2 best teams. Glad we got the first one — mahalo, Bravos.
Four mai-tai’s – good going, ububba! What a great way to have taken in that game.
I thought Acuna could have made a better jump and at least knocked the ball down. Was very disappointed when the ball hit the top of the wall and bounced over.
He wasn’t there in time. Wasn’t dogging it, his reads just aren’t always great. One step faster and I think he makes that play.