“Here I am to save the day!” said Marcell OHzuna Sunday, as the Big Bear Blast saved the series for the Braves.
I’m traveling with a couple of old friends today, sitting in the back seat of the pickup. I’m listening to the conversation while also watching the Braves/Marlins game on my phone. I watched as Uncle Charlie squandered a four run lead, not saying a word. I watched as Dylan Lee gave up a two-run bomb, and didn’t make a peep. Finally, I groaned as Austin Riley barreled up a ball at 107 mph only to be caught. And when OHzuna swung at that breaking ball that was down and in, to put him in a 1-2 hole, I cussed.
“I guess the game isn’t going too well,” one of the guys from the front seat uttered. There isn’t much worse than losing to the last-place team in your division. To do so two days in a row, well, I was frustrated.
Until I wasn’t. After fouling off a pitch, OHzuna went down and smacked that down and in spinner off the left-center facade. The Big Bear Blast won the game, 9-7, and the series, 2-1. The hooting and hollering from the backseat was a little much for the boys up front – and I don’t care!
Pitching struggles
Atlanta pitching has not been great. The Braves’ starters have a 5.51 ERA early in the season, and the ‘pen hasn’t been great lately, either. Charlie Morton was the latest sup-par performer, allowing six runs on seven hits to a bad offense. The Fish had just one hitter in the lineup with an OPS over .702 and yet they still pummeled Uncle Charlie.
Thankfully, A.J. Minter was brilliant, striking out all three hitters he faced in the eighth. Raisel Iglesias wasn’t bad either, striking out one in a clean ninth for his third save. Minter is already 2-1 with a 2.57 ERA.
Adam Duvall got the Braves on the board with a sac fly in the second inning. Matt Olson had singled to open the second. OHzuna followed with a 405-foot single to dead center, and then Duvall pounded one to left at 106 mph.
The Braves added two more in the third. Ronald Acuña Jr. scored on a throwing error, and Ozzie Albies scored on a single by Olson to make it 3-1. Duvall led off the fourth with another 106 mph blast, this time recording a 415-foot blast at 106.4 the bat.
Fish rally
As I began to doze in the back seat of the truck, so did Uncle Charlie on the mound. Josh Bell homered to left to lead off the bottom of the fourth. Jazz Chisholm added a double, and Bryan De La Cruz singled him home to cut the lead in half. Back to back hits to lead off the bottom of the fifth resulted in the leading being cut in half again, and the Fish finally chased Morton in the sixth. Morton left with the score tied at 5-5, and Lee gave up a 340 ft homer to Nick Gordon on just his second offering.
Trailing 7-5, OHzuna belted another 104 mph laser off the LF fence to plate Riley, setting the stage for the Big Bear Blast in the top of the ninth. OHzuna is the best DH in baseball this season, and it isn’t particularly close. He was 3-for-5 today with four RBI. Olson was 3-for-4, and Acuña 2-for-4 for the winners.
Fortunately, we are 5.5 hours into our 8.5 hour drive, and I am happy! The Braves improved 9-5 and head for Houston for a Monday night tilt with the Astros. First pitch is set for 8:10 ET/7:10 CT. Darius Vines will make his 2024 debut against 24 year-old right-hander, Spencer Arrighetti. The Astros are 6-11 so far in 2024.
Gal pal and I were talking about whether or not it’s always the pitcher’s fault when they give up runs. So I showed her the Big Bear’s 9th inning HR. He probably should have buried it in the dirt, but that was still 3 inches below the zone. Then I showed her the 96mph 3 inches inside that Bear hit off the wall. He’s hitting everything right now.
Right? Sometimes the ball looks like a marble – other times a beach ball! Grateful for the big ball and the Big Bear right now.
Great recap to an unlikely ending, thanks Christian! Save travels.
Nice recap and that sounds like a fun drive. Even better now that the Braves have won.
It’s amusing reading comments saying this is a .500 team at best. Saying that, clearly starting pitching could be a weakness this season, but not one I’m worried about in April.
And Ozuna’s turnaround I did not see coming. I, like most people, assumed he’d be cut by now. One of the few times giving a veteran an extra year on a contract has turned out positive for the team.
Not so many people clamoring to get rid of him due to the 2022 DV incident as when he was hitting .200.
Funny world, ain’t it? Nobody wanted to dump Ty Cobb either,
Honestly, I’d still feel much better with him gone. Trade him for something of value, ideally, but it’d be great to see the back of him. DV, DUI, no thank you.
From all I understand, even if his fans felt strongly otherwise, more than a few of Cobb’s teammates would’ve preferred him gone.
Alex, I pretty much agree and I think a lot of fans feel the same way but I have heard he is beloved in the clubhouse. That may be what allows him to stick. I don’t think his option should be picked up but could we re-sign him cheap? Others like him are not even getting contracts at all or at best MiLB contracts (Pham, Urias, Bauer, Puig, etc…)
Yeah, I mostly keep quiet on Ozuna but since we’re talking about it, I’m fully with AAR here. I know human beings are complex & multidimensional, but I just can’t see him without my mind flashing to the frame of him with his hand around his wife’s neck. Something particular ofc. about following a baseball team is the sort of parasocial relationships you form with the players— you’re with them, every evening, all summer. Obviously ‘never meet your heroes’ is great advice, and no team is gonna consist 100% of fully-canonized saints, but he’s just a bridge too far for me. Even if he’s winning games for us singlehandedly, I wish he wasn’t on the team.
It was nice to see another barrel finally go over the wall there with Ozuna’s home run in the 9th. Leading up to that homer, the Braves had hit four barrels that didn’t leave the yard, with two of them being deep flyouts by Austin Riley.
Even without Acuña firing on all cylinders yet, the Braves are still currently at or near the top in lots of offensive categories (hard hit percentage, average EV, wOBA, etc.) and lead the majors in offensive WAR. The pitching situation may not be ideal (though it’s not terrible — still 11th in xFIP at this point), but it’s comforting to know that this offense always has a chance to propel this team to victory.