I’m looking forward to the soon-to-be-released single from Adam Wainwright, “Wow!”. Ronald Acuña Jr. hit two bombs off Wainwright, eliciting a “Wow!” after hitting a ball out of the zone out of the park. And all of Braves Country shouted “Wow!” when Eddie Rosario ended the game with a sliding, backhanded grab. Braves 8, Cardinals 5 in the final game of this series.
Max Fried improved to 7-1, grinding out six innings of three-run ball. He wasn’t Maximum Fried on this night, but showed why he’s our ace in battling through six. Pierce Johnson and AJ Minter were great out of the ‘pen. Raisel Iglesias was called on with a five run lead, and nearly created a save opportunity for Kirby Yates. Thanks to Eddie, we saved Yates for tonight’s contest.
The story of the night was the long ball. Wow! The Braves hit five more on this night. Acuña hit two, Matt Olson homered for the fourth straight game, and Michael Harris II and Travis d’Arnaud homered, too.
Acuña heater ahead?
The Braves hit the ball hard. They hit 13 balls 95 mph or harder, eight of which were at least 100 mph. Ronald’s leadoff homer came on the first pitch he saw, hitting it 115.3 mph and 426 feet with a 16 degree launch angle. Wow! Ronald’s second blast came on a 71.3 mph curveball that was down and away, out of the zone. It left the bat screaming at 103 mph, It traveled 406 feet. Again, “Wow!”
Amazingly, Ronnie’s two homers on the night have him back on course for a 40 HR season. He’s already the only member of the 30/60 club! With 24 games to play, Ronnie is poised to be the fifth 40/40 player, and the ONLY 40/50, 40/60, and 40/70 player – EVER! This is truly an historic season.
All this is to say, I can’t keep track of all the records this club has already set and will own by the end of the year. Olson is within four of tying Andruw Jones‘ team HR record. The Braves have the second most team HRs in NL history. And the 2019 MLB home run mark is well within reach.
Okay, it’s finally time to recap the game
Okay, it’s finally time to recap the game. The Braves jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first. After Ronnie got Truist Park rocking, Ozzie Albies walked, Olson doubled (25), and Rosario singled them both home.
As has been the case lately, Atlanta’s starting pitchers don’t seem to enjoy prosperity, and Max gave up the lead. The annoyingly good Nolan Arenado started a second inning rally for the Birds. Fried later hit Andrew Knizner with the bases loaded, and then Tommy Edman tied the game at 3-3 with a single to center. Correctly, Knizner was called out when Harris hosed him at the plate. However, the Cardinals challenged – Venmo’d $50 to NY – and the call was overturned. I see no other explanation.
At any rate, the game remained tied at 3-3 until Olson broke the tie in the fifth with a solo shot. Harris II and Acuña JR. added solo blasts in the sixth, and d’Arnaud completed the Atlanta scoring with his two-run blast in the seventh. The Braves held on for dear life in the ninth and won their 91st game of the season.
Pittsburgh comes to town for a three-game set tonight. First pitch is set for 7:20 ET/6:20 CT. Thankfully, I can watch again tonight! Enjoy the game, y’all!
Regarding the play at the plate, the TV guys shared an angle from the Cardinals Bally feed that supported the safe call. I thought he was out at first, but it looks like the tag may have whiffed. After seeing that, I wasn’t apoplectic about the call, though I think Harris made a great throw and d’Arnaud did what he could. And then he hit a two-run blast. And so did Harris.
I’d say the Braves are pretty solid up the middle.
That Rosario catch was remarkable and completely unexpected. Eddie is such an odd defender. My friend Ben Chase, who writes a lot about the Braves and also lives in an area where the Twins are the local TV team, warned me about Rosario. He said he’ll make incredible plays, but will blow several very routine plays per year. He ain’t wrong.
No, he ain’t wrong! But he’s raking again and making an occasional play, so we will take it!