Marcell Ozuna‘s 3 run homer in the bottom of the 5th gave the Braves the lead for good and propelled Spencer Strider to his 20th win of the season. Strider also struck out 7 to break John Smoltz‘s Braves single season strikeout record, and Ronald Acuna Jr. stole his 73rd base to break Otis Nixon‘s Braves modern day single season stolen base record. Ozuna’s homer was his 38th of the season, setting his career high.
The Nationals got all 3 of their runs in the first inning, but Strider allowed only 2 hits in his final 4 innings, leaving after 94 pitches. Spencer finishes at 20 – 5, with 281 strikeouts, a 1.09 WHIP, and 13.5 K/9 rate. Ronald went 2 – 3 and scored his 148th and 149th runs of the season.
After resting several starters on Friday, Brian Snitker sent the full lineup out on Saturday. The flaws in evaluating pitchers by wins are well documented and widely understood, but they are important to the pitchers and the people on the field. You could ask Adam Wainwright about it. Myself, I believe all information is useful, if you understand it in the proper relevance and perspective.
As we slide into October and all it symbolizes to the game, I’ll share that my oldest baseball memory is that of the 1970 World Series. My mother had become enamored of a young catcher named Johnny Bench, and my main takeaway from the event was that Brooks Robinson was the devil. By all accounts, I was misinformed. Range In Peace.
The Braves look to conclude the regular season with their 105th win and a series victory on Sunday at 3:10 Eastern; Dylan Dodd and Jackson Rutledge scheduled.
Seeing the Braves hit a few dingers to set a new single season HR record would be awesome, but seeing everyone remain healthy would be even better. Let’s hope the guys take it easy today.
I’ve added the lineup. It does not appear that Snitker is planning on taking it easy today, at least.
I guess If they’re going to play simulated games this week, they might as well play real ones too.