At Truist Park, Travis d’Arnaud launched a walk-off home run to center field, and his teammates mobbed him once he crossed home plate. The Braves celebrated there, and they will take the positive vibes with them into Sunday.
And around an hour after the Braves beat the Royals, 2-1, Atlanta received more good news – this time from the opposite side of the country. In Arizona, San Diego beat the Diamondbacks, 5-0, after scoring five runs in the ninth inning.
Earlier, the Mets lost to the Brewers. The Braves are one game ahead of New York and Arizona in the National League wild-card standings. The Braves sit in the second wild-card spot, and if they finish there, they will play in San Diego.
If the Braves win on Sunday or the Diamondbacks lose, Atlanta will clinch a seventh consecutive postseason berth. If the Braves lose and the Diamondbacks win, the Braves would need to win one game in Monday’s doubleheader. An important note: The Braves own the tiebreaker over Arizona.
For this Braves group, which has endured so many injuries, a postseason berth would be remarkable. It would be yet another sign of the organizational health in Atlanta, and the ability to withstand anything.
Five observations:
1. To Braves manager Brian Snitker, it feels like the postseason has already started.
“I feel like we’ve been having to win for about 10 days or more,” Snitker said before Saturday’s game. “I swear, last Sunday in Miami felt like a Game 7 in the World Series. I was exhausted when that thing was over. We’ve kind of been on go for a while now – when we’re allowed to.”
But this can be beneficial.
“I think when you’re playing games and it’s like this, it’s really good for you,” Snitker said. “Like I say, we’re just fighting like heck to get in this thing. And then, you never know what happens. But I think to go in there on edge like that, it’s good for you. I think it’s good that you just have to keep that edge every day, and you don’t get a chance to (catch your breath). And we’re not – we’re not gonna get a chance to catch a breath. If we get in this thing, we’re just gonna keep rolling.”
On that Sunday in Miami, the Braves were two games out of a wild-card spot. Since then, they are 4-0 – including that victory over the Marlins. Meanwhile, the Diamondbacks are 1-5 and the Mets are 1-3 over that same span.
Now, the Braves are on the precipice of playing in the postseason again.
“Oh, it’s been so much fun,” d’Arnaud said of this week. “So much fun. I think the biggest thing for us in this clubhouse is we’ve always had each other’s backs. I think when we were going through our lull in the middle of the year, we all had each other’s back, (which) has made us stronger today. And it showed: Late in the game, we never give up, and we believe we can win any game.”
2. How are the Braves doing this?
This is a team that lost Ronald Acuña Jr., Spencer Strider, Austin Riley and A.J. Minter for the season. This group lost Sean Murphy for two months, Michael Harris II for two months and Ozzie Albies for two months – all at different times.
And yet, the Braves control their own destiny. Win, and they’re in.
“Fate’s in our hands,” d’Arnaud said. “Nobody felt sorry for us when everybody got hurt. We knew we had to keep going, and the next guy came up and was ready to play. When we lost last year’s MVP (in Ronald Acuña Jr.), that was a gut punch. But nobody felt sorry for us. They all want to get to the playoffs, and when Ronnie went down, I’m sure they felt a little better about our chances of not making it. … Nobody felt sorry for us, we had to keep going and now fate’s in our hands tomorrow.”
There is something immeasurable here. The Braves’ makeup – the baseball word for character – shines in the tough moments. They looked lifeless for parts of this season. At times, you likely wondered if they could actually miss the playoffs.
Here they are.
“What I’ve learned is that’s what keeps the lulls a lot shorter,” d’Arnaud said. “When everybody’s pulling on the same side of the rope, it’s easier to come out of a valley – versus, if everyone’s pulling all different ways and putting blame on others, it makes it really hard. (President of baseball operations and general manager) Alex (Anthopoulos) has done a great job of finding guys who love pulling on the same side of the rope. Every year I’ve been here, it’s shown: Every time there’s a lull, it’s small and we’re able to come out.”
To his point: This is the same team that had two different six-game losing streaks in the span of a couple weeks in this second half.
These Braves have faced circumstances that could tank any team – except them.
3. Reynaldo López, the reliever-turned-starter, finished this regular season with a 2.00 ERA over 134 2/3 innings across 25 starts.
Take a bow, López and Anthopoulos. What a move for the Braves, and what a season for López.
“I’m just thankful to be back and to be feeling healthy,” López said, after his start, through interpreter Franco García. “And in terms of the season, I would just say it’s been a surprising season for me. To sign here and to be given the opportunity to become a starter again, not knowing what to really expect, being able to take full advantage of the opportunity that was given – I couldn’t have expected this type of season to be put together and I think it’s just been tremendous, and I thank God for this opportunity that I was given.”
In his first start since Sept. 10, López held the Royals to a run over six innings – and only needed 73 pitches to do it. He fanned nine and walked none.
This should give the Braves enough confidence to use López in a potential postseason rotation. He looked sharp. He was clearly healthy, as his four-seam fastball averaged 96.2 mph and topped out at 98.9 mph.
Asked if he’d be disappointed if he didn’t get a postseason start, López said:
“No, not at all,” López. “I’m not gonna waste any energy being sad if I get told I’m not starting or not doing anything. I feel like I’ve been pretty vocal about it, and I think the whole team knows that our entire objective is to win, and I don’t care how we do it. And if they need me to start or they need me to pitch out of the bullpen, I’ll do whatever it takes. Obviously, all we really care about is just getting a ring on our finger at the end of the day.”
4. Of course it was d’Arnaud. Of course.
He might be the most clutch hitter on this Braves team. Certainly, he’s one of the calmest in big spots. He doesn’t get nervous, he doesn’t flinch.
On Saturday, he stepped up to the plate in a tie game in the bottom of the ninth.
Pitchers must hate seeing him in those moments.
“Just how calm he is every time he goes up to the plate,” López said, explaining a pitcher’s perspective on facing d’Arnaud. “I think as a pitcher, when you see a hitter look and be that calm, it kind of clamps them down and makes you think. It makes you second-guess things. Travis has just been that guy for us. It feels like he just has those moments where he’s calm and he just takes those at-bats the way they are.
“Man, I feel like that was just such a big homer for us and I feel like that’s just given us a jolt of energy and a real boost here, so that was big.”
D’Arnaud did it again.
“Just grateful,” d’Arnaud said. “Playing as long as I have, I never would’ve imagined I’d still be playing. So to have the opportunity to be out there is something I’m always grateful for – whether I’m 0-for-4 with four strikeouts or 4-for-4 with four singles. It’s a game where we’re supposed to get out, so as long as I just have fun, the law of averages tells me something good is gonna come.”
5. When Snitker addressed reporters after the game, he said the Braves were undecided on who they would start for Sunday’s finale against Kansas City. The Braves were monitoring the Arizona game – which is another domino that fell their way.
The Braves later said they will start Charlie Morton. This will allow them to save Chris Sale and Spencer Schwellenbach for Monday’s doubleheader if the teams need to play it or save Sale for Game 1 of a wild-card series Tuesday.
Stat to know
17 - The Braves on Saturday became a season-high 17 games over .500. They’ve stretched their record – now 88-71 – in this final week. They’re beginning to play their best baseball when it counts.
Quotable
“I hated when the storm came because I really liked where we were. We were getting on one of those runs that you get. I hated that we had to sit for two days, because I liked where we were – just individual players, that vibe on the team, stressful games, having to win games, and we were pulling it out. The last thing I wanted was for us to be idle for two days. So we’ve come back to play two really good games. We gotta play another one tomorrow. This thing, there’s no letting off the gas and everything. Tomorrow’s is the most important game we’ve played all year now.” - Snitker
Up next
Sunday’s series finale begins at 3:20 p.m.
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