1. Nine games. Nine wins. The Braves wrapped up their first undefeated three-city road trip in 29 years Sunday with a 3-1 win over the Baltimore Orioles at Camden Yards. A sweep of the three-game series against the Orioles followed sweeps of same-sized series at Washington and Miami.
“I can’t recall ever going on a 9-0 run, period, but being able to do that on the road is huge,” outfielder Adam Duvall said.
According to the Elias Sports Bureau, the last Braves team before this one to go undefeated on a three-stop trip was the 1992 World Series-bound club, which went 10-0 on a July journey to Chicago, Houston and St. Louis.
2. The three teams the Braves faced on this trip are a combined 87 games below .500. The Orioles, now on an 18-game losing streak, are 38-85, the Marlins 51-74, the Nationals 53-70. Still, given the randomness of baseball, a 9-0 trip is remarkable.
“It’s hard to do that, regardless of who you’re playing,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said. “Man, these are major-league teams. This team here (Baltimore) was a big hit away a couple of times. Just credit to the players for keeping that consistency and approach and everything to make that happen.”
3. The Braves’ flurry of acquisitions at the July 30 trade deadline paid off again Sunday, with Jorge Soler (acquired from Kansas City) belting a solo home run and Duvall (reacquired from Miami) delivering a two-run double. Between them, they drove in all of the Atlanta runs, all in the fourth inning.
“We’ve been getting good dividends on those guys, that’s for sure,” Snitker said.
“Just to be a part of this little stretch that we’ve been on has been awesome,” said Duvall, who has 18 RBIs in 21 games since joining the Braves and 86 RBIs for the season. He’s hitting .223 for the season, but .324 with runners in scoring position.
4. Braves starting pitcher Touki Toussaint turned a 3-1 lead over to the bullpen with one out in the sixth inning. Five relievers — A.J. Minter, Chris Martin, Tyler Matzek, Luke Jackson and Will Smith — combined to hold the Orioles scoreless the rest of the way. Jackson struck out all three batters he faced in the eighth inning. Smith allowed a leadoff double in the ninth before retiring the next three batters, two on strikeouts, for his 28th save in 32 opportunities.
“The bullpen again came up huge,” Snitker said.
5. The Braves’ road trip transformed the National League East standings. The trip began with the Braves in third place in the division, one game behind the Phillies and a half-game behind the Mets. Now the first-place Braves are five games ahead of the Phillies and seven ahead of the Mets.
But the schedule turns much tougher for the Braves, with their next three opponents — the Yankees, Giants and Dodgers — a combined 87 games over .500. The Braves open a two-game series against the Yankees, who are on a nine-game winning streak, at Truist Park on Monday night, followed by three games against the Giants at Truist and three games against the Dodgers in Los Angeles.
“We have a tough part of our schedule coming up, and we’re all just excited to get after it,” Toussaint said. “We just take every win for what it is, and on to the next one. Yeah, there’s a little more bounce now, but I think guys are just locked into next game ... because we know how hard this game is.”
By the numbers
13: Consecutive road wins by the Braves overall, dating to July 29, the longest such streak in franchise history.
Quotable
“I don’t want to shortchange us, either. We’re pretty good. We’re a good club, too. But there are going to be big games. We’ve been in that arena all year, and we’ve managed to do OK, so I’ve got a lot of confidence in our guys.” — Braves manager Brian Snitker when asked about the difficult schedule ahead
Next game
Huascar Ynoa (4-2, 2.70 ERA in nine starts for the Braves this season) will make his second start since returning from the injured list Monday night against the New York Yankees at Truist Park. In his first game back after missing three months with a broken right hand, Ynoa pitched 5-1/3 scoreless innings against Miami last week. Left-hander Jordan Montgomery (4-5, 3.77) will start for the Yankees.
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