Braves fans cheered Dansby Swanson last night. Fans greeted him warmly. They then cheered louder as he struck out to end Game 1. The Braves won game one in scintillating fashion, coming from down 6-0 to win 7-6. Braves, Cubs – Game 2 takes place at 7:20 ET/6:20 CT.
Young Darius Vines (1-0, 4.40) takes on Jameson Taillon (8-10, 5.05) to the mound. The Braves are 101-56 and are close to locking up home field as long as they are alive in the postseason. Chicago, on the other hand, is fighting for their playoff lives and need Taillon to shove against the mighty Atlanta offense.
The Braves are now just seven home runs away from being the greatest home run hitting offense of all-time, having recorded two more last night (301). Ronald Acuña Jr., Sean Murphy and Matt Olson have all homered off Taillon previously in a combined 12 at-bats. Taillon is susceptible to the home run ball, so maybe the Braves can set that mark tonight! Wouldn’t that be fun?
That was a brutal call on the first Cubs run, and also this is a one of the better sets of commentators we’ve had for the Braves in recent memory.
I remember an interview with tennis’s Ivan Lendl after he won a match, and it went something to the effect of:
“Ivan, you spoke to the umpire at one point; what did you say?”
“I asked him if he was blind.”
“What did he say?”
“He didn’t say anything, so I think he must be deaf too.”
And that is the only explanation how four umpires could neither see nor hear that foul ball.
About as good a start as you can expect from Vines. Offense gonna snooze until late innings again?
Jeez, 53 pitches over 5 innings to totally shut us down.
I’m facing eye surgery next month and I saw clear as day the ball hit the bat. I can’t imagine how all four umps missed it.
What is happening to a good Cubs defense in this series is incredible
I wonder if Snitker knows what a reverse split is or that they exist.
Geez, Murphy broke after he stopped playing everyday because TDA was injured. Had an all star season till then.
They have to figure that situation out in the off-season.
What are Murphy and Travis’ slash lines since the All Star Break?
Both hitting under .200. Murphy is hitting about .120 in September with a .250 OPS
A little A-B-C baseball from Ac and Alb!
Strike him out, throw him out… that is pretty brutal. Dunno what Riley was doing there, checking his swing on a fastball on the outer half…
Nice of Kirby to provide a reminder why he shouldn’t be anywhere near a high-leverage situation unless it’s a last resort.
Oh, my, that was a big fly.
Had a feeling he was going to cream a 3-0 pitch if Leiter grooved it. What a comeback season for Ozuna
I wonder what our stats are with runners on third and less than 2 outs over the last month or so. So many times we cannot get the runner home.
Edit: Then Chicago does it instantly
Edit: Bellinger is such a goddam tough out. One of the toughest in baseball. Wish we had him
Acuna is now hitting .336, and that piece of hitting in the 10th is a huge reason why. Also he takes the 70th base immediately, as everyone knew he would.
Y’all, this team right here.
What a win! Acuna’s 69th and 70th were both crucial as he scored a tying and winning run on a single
This team is unrelenting! What. A. Blast!
Ronald’s 146 runs scored are the most in a season since Sammy Sosa in 2001. Freddie’s in second place in the majors, and Mookie’s tied with Matt Olson for third, 19 and 21 behind, respectively.
As a sheer offensive force, Ronald’s in a league of his own.
I’ve been looking at all of RAJ’s steal attempts on BRef’s game log and got through last night just before the game started. Very few had been very important in terms of WPA. Haven’t looked at the numbers for tonight yet, but his two late steals may wind up being his 2nd and 3rd most impactful ones of the year. He had one not long ago where he stole 3rd and scored on a throwing error to tie the game in the 8th that had +.29 WPA, though Yates blew the game in the 9th.
Vines and Winans have both done some really heartening work over the past month and change, grabbing the brass ring when the team has needed them to step up. I think they’ve done a lot to put themselves in a position for good, healthy major league careers.
The thing about this team that amazes me is that they are a great 1st inning team, but if they don’t do anything (or much) in the first, you can usually count on them to figure out the starting pitcher by the 5th or so. The amount of learning and adjustments they do during the game is incredible.
recapped.