Some teams possess a certain magic, or pixie dust, or whatever you want to call it.
This Braves team has it – or, more fittingly, has had it for years.
In a 7-6 win over the Padres capped by Orlando Arcia’s walk-off hit, Atlanta once again proved it is never out of a game. No lead is safe with this lineup, which San Diego found out during Thursday’s home opener at Truist Park.
Here are five observations on the win:
1. Many are guilty of, at one point or another, overlooking Arcia. The reasons why vary.
But the Braves believed in him.
He’s showing why.
“He’s probably not gonna be on the cover of one of them video games or anything like that, but I don’t underrate him at all,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said. “I think he’s a big part of why we’re sitting here where we are right now.”
With two outs in the bottom of the ninth, Eddie Rosario came off the bench cold and doubled. Arcia, with two strikes on him, put a ball into center field to score the winning run.
“I like those situations a lot, mostly because I just tell myself I want to do whatever I can to help the team win,” Arcia said through interpreter Franco García. “I kind of fixate on that and do whatever it takes to just pull one out for the team.”
And in the third inning, Arcia homered off Padres starter Blake Snell.
The Braves kept trying to tell us: Arcia is a talented player. He can do the job. He’s skilled.
It’s becoming more difficult to not believe them.
“He’s spectacular,” catcher Sean Murphy said. “His defense, I can’t give him enough praise for that. He makes every play. He goes out there and makes the routine ones, makes the tough ones. And then he’s providing pop, he’s getting knocks. He’s got a knack for the big moment.”
2. The Braves can hit homers. We know this.
In this victory, though, they only hit one of them. They manufactured offense in other ways.
“If we’re gonna do that, that’s kind of scary,” Snitker said. “We’ve had really good at-bats – all spring pretty much, but especially since the season started.”
The Braves trailed by two runs after Kirby Yates had a rough top of the eighth. In the bottom half against lefty Tim Hill, Arcia doubled. Matt Olson, down 1-2, hit a run-scoring single. Austin Riley legged out an infield hit. Down 0-2, Travis d’Arnaud singled to tie it.
And all of this happened with two outs.
“It was just professional at-bats,” Murphy said. “It’s guys not giving in, grinding them out. Put the ball in play and good things happen.”
“Hill is obviously a funky guy, different delivery, so kind of had to shorten up,” Olson said. “It’s not a guy that you’re going to string three homers together on. Kind of gotta get something and poke it out there.”
3. Snitker on Thursday managed the 1,000th game of his career – all with Atlanta, of course.
During his tenure, his teams have been exciting. They keep you on the edge of your seat, no matter the situation. They’re always dangerous for opponents.
“I said, “We’re like an NBA team: Don’t leave, because the best things might happen late in the game,’” Snitker said. “It’s just a nice knack or trait to have for teams where they don’t panic and they don’t get down. It doesn’t always go your way, but more times than not, these guys are going to go down fighting, that’s for sure.”
Why is this team never out of a game?
“We obviously have a really good team, especially here at home with the energy, I think is part of it,” Olson said. “We feel like we’re in any game as far as getting the chance to string together at-bats. Everybody wants the big hit, everybody wants the at-bat to go up there and do something and put us back in a good spot or tie it up or take the lead. It’s a good feeling.”
Credit: Miguel Martinez
Credit: Miguel Martinez
4. This didn’t feel like a game on April 6.
“It was pretty jacked up out there for the seventh game of the year,” Snitker said. “It had that vibe that we’ve become accustomed to here in this place.”
5. Michael Harris II exited the game early due to lower back tightness.
Snitker said it happened when Harris banged his back on a catch at the wall. It was unclear what Snitker meant, as Harris only caught a ball at the beginning of the warning track on Thursday. He did, however, make a leaping catch at the wall on Wednesday.
After the game, Snitker said Harris is day to day.
Stat to know
6 - Thursday marked Orlando Arcia’s sixth career walk-off RBI, his third with the Braves.
Quotable
“It was pretty jacked up out there for the seventh game of the year. It had that vibe that we’ve become accustomed to here in this place.” - Manager Brian Snitker on the atmosphere
Up next
Left-hander Jared Shuster will make his second career start Friday. The Braves’ offense will face San Diego righty Nick Martinez. The game begins at 7:20 p.m.
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