MINNEAPOLIS – As the momentum shifted late on Tuesday, it seemed the Braves could be headed for another gut-wrenching loss. It feels like they have dealt with so many of them this season. Time and again, they have had to flush defeat and remain positive.
So when the Twins mounted a four-run comeback to tie the game, tension rose.
Well, maybe for fans.
The Braves calmly handled the storm. They regrouped and attacked.
They turned a potentially disastrous and momentum-killing loss into a gritty victory.
In 10 innings, the Braves defeated Minnesota, 8-6, at Target Field to take the series. It appears Atlanta is finally gaining, and sustaining, momentum.
“That’s a good win right there, man,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said. “It was going to be a costly loss, quite honestly. Now, it’s a good win.”
At 72-60, the Braves are 12 games above .500 for the first time since they moved to 54-42 after winning the first game of a doubleheader against the Cardinals on July 20.
The Braves will go for the sweep on Wednesday.
Five observations:
1. In over four decades managing, Snitker has sat through over 4,000 games. He has seen it all.
Nights like Tuesday never get easier.
“That felt like about 3,000 of them right there,” Snitker quipped as he finally could breathe a sigh of relief after having to sweat through that one.
Then he added: “No, that’s good. That’s why we do this. That was a good win – against a really good club. Those guys are dangerous, man. They got all those big power guys and they got good arms in their ‘pen. That’s a really good team.”
The Braves on Tuesday took a 4-0 lead into the bottom of the seventh, when the Twins scored three runs – all charged to Jesse Chavez. In the eighth, Raisel Iglesias allowed a run-scoring single that went just out of the reach of a diving Jarred Kelenic. (This run was charged to Joe Jiménez.)
In the 10th inning, the Braves scored four runs on hard-throwing Twins closer Jhoan Durán. This was impressive. It showed their resiliency and ability to stay calm in tough moments.
They had none of the momentum.
Then they had all of it.
“The energy can go low a little bit, but not on this team,” Ramón Laureano said. “I think we’re experienced enough to go through those moments.”
2. As the Braves readied for the top of the 10th inning, the bells began ringing. Gong … Gong … Gong. The bells, made famous by The Undertaker of the WWE, are part of Durán’s entrance.
They signaled this much: The Braves would face a difficult challenge in extra innings.
Marcell Ozuna hit a hanging curveball for a double off the wall. The next batter, Matt Olson, hit a grounder to the second baseman, but Kelenic bolted toward home and slid in safely to beat a poor throw to the catcher. Then Travis d’Arnaud, a master of these spots, hit a run-scoring single. Two batters later, Laureano smoked a two-run double.
The Braves got Durán for four runs – the most he’s allowed all season. The three earned runs tied a season high.
“That was a great game plan and everybody battled,” d’Arnaud said. “We knew we were getting some heat and were able to fight off the good off-speed pitches, too. Just competitive at-bats throughout. I think everybody felt bad that we gave up the lead and wanted to make sure that we ended with a win.”
Of his own hit, Ozuna said: “He’s one of the best closers in all of MLB. I give my credit to him that I was able to hit that pitch. Otherwise, that’s a guy that I don’t prefer to face.”
Of d’Arnaud’s ability to excel in those moments, Ozuna said: “He’s clutch, man. He’s a clutch hitter. Every time that he’s got the situation in that spot, he does something, he does some damage. I always talk to him and ask him, ‘How do you approach it on those kind of guys?’ And he says, ‘I don’t try to do too much. I’m just trying to stay up the middle and if it happens, it happens.’ And that’s what happens to him every single time.”
D’Arnaud has a mature perspective on these big situations.
“Knowing to just stay calm no matter who’s on the mound,” he said. “As long as you’re not the most nervous guy on the field, usually good things happen. … For everybody here, we’ve all been through big situations and know to just stay calm and not try to do too much.”
3. How much can wins like these prepare the Braves for the postseason?
“Super, super important,” Laureano said. “It gives us confidence that we can make it happen. The more you have these moments closer to the playoffs, the more confidence you build up for the playoffs.”
The Braves hold the National League’s third wild card spot. They lead everyone else by at least three games.
On Tuesday, they showed their resolve. When the Twins rallied, the Braves remained composed.
“Just understanding that it’s baseball. It’s gonna happen,” Laureano said. “It doesn’t matter if it’s the worst team – (the Twins) aren’t bad, it’s just, it doesn’t matter if it’s a bad team or not, it’s baseball and we have at-bats to take and we have at-bats to execute. And whatever happens, happens.”
The Braves are without a few stars. They’ve pushed forward to win 11 of their last 15 games.
“We talked about it the last two weeks,” Ozuna said, “and then we said, ‘Hey, we never quit. We gotta keep doing it and help the younger talent to go out there and play the game right.’”
The Braves have played in a lot of close games lately. It could help them going forward.
They don’t panic in these situations.
“No, because we always play the game like a playoff (game), so we’re always going to be prepared for what’s next coming up,” Ozuna said.
4. An overlooked moment: In the seventh inning, the Twins trailed by a run with a runner on second and no outs. Jiménez retired three straight batters. He struck out the final two, which included whiffs on five straight sliders.
Yes, the Twins eventually tied the game. But the Braves could’ve found themselves down with six outs to go had Jiménez not come up big.
“It was important because he kind of killed the rhythm a little bit for them, and that’s so clutch when you kill a little rhythm there,” Laureano said. “Momentum is everything in this game, and he took it away.”
5. Spencer Schwellenbach walked the leadoff man in the bottom of the first inning. In the second, he had runners on second and third with two outs. In the third, he had a runner on second with two outs. Then he had men on second and third with one out in the fourth. In the fifth, he put runners on first and second with two outs to end his night.
He dealt with all of that … and still did not allow any runs. Zero.
Impressive, huh?
“Schwellenbach’s stuff was really good and he just was having a hard time putting guys away,” Snitker said. “He just kind of ate up his pitch count. And he wasn’t really wild – he was just missing by a little bit. But I thought his stuff was really good. I told him when he came out, ‘I hate that you didn’t get in line for the decision, but you kind of struggled a little bit, grinded through, competed and you didn’t let them score – which is a great trait for a young guy to have.’”
The rookie completed each of the first four innings. Dylan Lee recorded the final out in the fifth.
Long after he exited, Schwellenbach watched his team give up a lead, then take another one, then win a thriller.
“Well that was an entire team win there,” Schwellenbach said. “I don’t know how many pitchers were used, but a lot of position players, a lot of pitchers. It was a long game, but we got it done.”
The Braves used six pitchers and 11 position players. They needed all of them to win this one.
Stat to know
3 - The Braves are 4-0 in extra innings in August. In three of those games, d’Arnaud has driven in a run in the 10th inning.
Quotable
“All the things I’ve seen, I’ve seen some crazy things. Even this year, we saw that crazy one, we were up by six runs and we ended up losing. So to just stay calm and know to just take it pitch by pitch, because if you get out of control, you can start spiraling and it can start compounding and things can go bad really quick. So to just remember to stay calm. You’re supposed to get out as a hitter. Nobody hits 1.000 ever. So to just stay calm and not try to do too much, good things usually happen.” - d’Arnaud on how experience has allowed him to stay calm in the biggest moments of a game
Up next
The Braves will send Chris Sale to the mound as they look to sweep Minnesota. Right-hander David Festa will start for the Twins. The game begins at 7:40 p.m.
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