KANSAS CITY, Mo. – A week ago, the Braves dropped a third straight game. The injuries mounted. The lineup cooled. Two young starters struggled.
Atlanta looked vulnerable.
Look up now and the Braves have won six in a row after beating the Royals 5-4 on Sunday at Kauffman Stadium.
“Really enjoyable,” Ozzie Albies said of this stretch. “When you’re winning, it’s fun. This team, we keep playing hard, so we win every single night, one day at a time. That’s what we do.”
Their latest win took some grit: They saw their lead evaporate in the seventh inning, but remained calm, recovered, retook the lead and captured the sweep.
In the bottom of the seventh inning, Michael Tonkin – who has been terrific for the Braves this season – served up a game-tying, two-run shot to right field to Vinne Pasquantino. What made it sting more for Atlanta: It came with two outs, and on an 0-2 pitch.
Two innings later, Vaughn Grissom singled down the right-field line to score Albies, who had doubled, for the go-ahead run. And in the bottom of the ninth, A.J. Minter earned his third save.
“Any sweep is huge. It doesn’t matter who you’re playing,” said Kyle Wright, who started the game. “It’s the start of our road trip, so it sets the tone. We gotta go face the Padres again, who are a really good team. Obviously they kind of took it to us last time, so hopefully we can carry this into this series and try to play a little bit better, and hopefully grab a couple more wins.”
Up next: Three games in San Diego versus the Padres, who took three of four when the teams met at Truist Park last weekend. Two of baseball’s best teams will meet again, this time for three games.
Grab your popcorn. April series don’t get much better.
Before heading to San Diego, the Braves arrived in Kansas City, where a young Royals squad is trying to validate its organization’s rebuilding efforts. There is talent here, but these Royals might be years away. Then again, a series versus the Braves is a difficult task.
Atlanta dominated the first two games, then almost lost the third. That it won the finale is a testament to the Braves’ depth. They can beat teams from many different angles.
Wright, eager to have better results than in his regular-season debut, allowed two runs over 5 2/3 innings. Wright struck out six batters. He walked three and allowed four hits.
Wright faced the most trouble in the third inning, when he loaded the bases – with no outs – on two singles and his own error. The error occurred because he fielded a sacrifice bunt and turned to third, where Riley wasn’t to the bag yet. Wright quickly spun to first, but his throw didn’t make it in time. Somehow, Wright only surrendered one run in that inning.
“(This start) was a big confidence booster for me going forward,” Wright said. “I feel like I could’ve thrown the ball better, but I felt right, I felt like we made pitches when we needed to. Stuff was good. Now we’ll just continue to build and continue to grow outing after outing. But I feel like I’m in a much better position now to go and just continue to be consistent.”
A three-run third inning carried the Braves’ offensive output versus veteran right-hander Zack Greinke. In that frame, Matt Olson smoked a sinking liner that got under the right fielder’s glove and rolled to the warning track. Olson raced around the horn for a triple as two runs scored. Then Austin Riley lifted a sacrifice fly.
An inning later, Albies launched a solo homer to right field, his third blast of the season. Albies, one batter who has struggled to get going, drove in five runs over the final two games of the series. Then he became the winning run in the ninth.
In that ninth inning, Grissom decided against punishing a hanging slider. Instead, he shot it down the right-field line.
“It could’ve been easy to pull my shoulder and hit a ground ball to short – that would’ve been the easy route,” Grissom said. “But yeah, just stick through it and just trust the guy behind me. That was my only job was just to get this guy to third.”
Before Minter earned the save, Nick Anderson pitched a scoreless eighth inning.
The Braves are in a good place.
“We’ve been playing some good ball here,” Olson said. “Didn’t play San Diego the best there in Atlanta, so get some (wins starting Monday.)”
Over their run of five straight National League East titles, the Braves have seemed somewhat unflappable. When adversity hits, they stay the course. One thing happens, then another. It doesn’t shake them.
Max Fried went on the injured list, and Bryce Elder stepped in and performed well.
Michael Harris II suffered an injury, and Sam Hilliard has filled in nicely.
Travis d’Arnaud went down, and Sean Murphy had an outstanding week.
Regardless of what happens, the Braves keep rolling. And now, they’re onto San Diego, where they’ll have a rematch with the Padres.
They will take their identity out west.
“These guys are relentless,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said. “And I’ve said this for a few years now: They play a hard 27 (outs), that’s for sure. And they never feel out (of a game), they don’t panic. …It’s kind of a next-man-up attitude. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t, but they just keep coming at you.”
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