BOSTON – After a tough weekend in New York, the Braves needed a victory. It didn’t come easy, but they defeated Boston, 9-7, in 11 innings on Tuesday night at Fenway Park.
Here are five observations on Atlanta (65-46) after the win:
1. In baseball, you hear the term “grind it out” often. It’s overused, but sometimes perfectly captures the team that overcame the bad bounces and breaks, the one that still fought no matter how difficult or ugly it may have gotten.
The Braves grinded out this win.
And in the process, they revealed an identity they’ve shown many times.
“Up and down the lineup – from the bullpen, our arms and everything – we got a really good group and we don’t give up until the last out,” Austin Riley, one of the game’s heroes, said. “Hopefully that fight right there that we showed at the end, we can build on that moving forward.”
“It’s kind of more what we’re made of and who we are,” manager Brian Snitker said. “We had a tough weekend. Things didn’t go our way. They bounced back.”
Riley’s two-run single in the 11th inning was the decisive blow. But before it, the Braves made many plays. Riley had a big night, Ronald Acuña executed two feats on the bases, Dansby Swanson had a terrific at-bat, multiple arms combined to help push the game to the finish line and Michael Harris led a display of teamwork.
The Braves put the disastrous New York series behind and snapped a three-game skid. The Braves did, however, lose Orlando Arcia, who suffered a left hamstring injury and will be placed on the injured list.
2. As Austin Riley settled into the batter’s box, “M-V-P!” chants rained down – on the road. In one big spot during a game full of them, Riley smoked a single into left field.
Harris scored and Acuña rounded third base. The throw from left field was perfect – except for the fact that, with direction from Harris, Acuña slid toward the inside of the line to avoid a tag. He is one of a few athletes who are athletic and acrobatic enough to pull this off.
“From the second that I saw the ‘Go’ sign from (third base coach Ron Washington), obviously I kept hustling and kept running,” Acuña said through interpreter Franco García. “I was just keeping my eyes on Michael Harris, seeing where he was pointing to, so I just kind of followed his lead on that.”
In the first inning, Riley hit a run-scoring triple to right field. In the third, he demolished a 426-foot, two-run home run over the Green Monster that might not have landed yet.
3. Batting with two outs in a tie game in the top of the eighth, Dansby Swanson fell behind 0-2 versus righty Garrett Whitlock. He then took two outside pitches that were close to being strikes. Then he fouled off two pitches. Then he took one more ball.
And on the eighth pitch of the at-bat, he hit a ball toward the gap that scored Acuña from first base.
“It was just a great, great at-bat by Dansby,” Snitker said. “My God, some of the takes he had in tough counts against a really tough pitcher was really impressive.”
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
The other impressive part came as the ball rolled toward the gap. Boston cut it off and got it in as quickly as possible, but Acuña, running from first on contact, went all the way around the diamond and scored.
“My mentality is if I get on base, I’m scoring, regardless or independently of what kind of hit it is,” Acuña said. “If it’s a line drive, a bloop, whatever, my mind is, ‘I’m scoring.’”
4. The Red Sox took an early lead in the second inning, then grabbed another in the fifth. In the eighth, Boston tied it, and did so again in the 10th. There were weird plays along the way.
“It just shows you the resilience and how these guys take it a day at a time, and the whole thing,” Snitker said. “It was just good to keep battling back tonight. When you’re struggling and you’re kind of looking for a win, it’s never easy. It’s not going to be something that’s going to be smooth. But they kept battling tonight, kept coming back. It’s a good ballgame to win.”
5. The rest of the Braves picked up Charlie Morton, who served up three homers as he surrendered five earned runs over six frames.
Morton allowed a two-run home run to Christian Arroyo in the second inning, a solo home run to Tommy Pham in the third and a solo shot to Jarren Duran in the fifth.
Stat to know
30 and 30 - With his 30th homer of the year in the 111th game, Riley tied Hank Aaron as the fastest players to reach 30 homers and 30 doubles in a season. Aaron did it in 111 games in 1959.
Quotable
“What happened in New York’s in the past. We have lots of series in front of us. Hoping to win them.”-Acuña on rebounding from a tough weekend in New York
Up next
In Wednesday’s series finale, which begins at 7:10 p.m., Kyle Wright will face Boston’s Nick Pivetta.
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