MINNEAPOLIS – In the approximate 35 minutes of game time before a fierce, unrelenting storm forced this contest into a delay, the Braves scored nine runs over two innings. Nine!
In those two innings, as tornado sirens went off nearby, they scored more runs than they had in 118 of their 130 games before Monday’s series opener against the Twins at Target Field.
And after an 86-minute delay, they cruised to a 10-6 victory over the Twins. Amid the explosion, Whit Merrifield, recently signed after the Phillies let him go, matched a career high with five hits – something he had only done once before, in 2018.
Five observations:
1. There were 2,241 days between July 8, 2018 – Merrifield’s last five-hit game – and Monday. In between those two performances, Merrifield played for four different teams, including the Braves, and was named an All-Star three times.
“I know I can do it,” Merrifield said of the feat. “You’re not gonna get five hits every night, but sometimes when the stars align, take advantage. That’s kind of what happened tonight.”
Around a month ago, Merrifield was at home after the Phillies designated him for assignment. His confidence was down. He was enjoying being a dad. He had made peace with that.
A door opened.
Ozzie Albies fractured his wrist. The Braves needed an infielder. They signed Merrifield and gave him everyday playing time.
He’s flourished.
“Getting back and playing every day and getting those feelings back of what that felt like, and having certain things go your way, having some balls find holes, you sort of start remembering some of the good things that come with success,” Merrifield said.
On Monday, he singled in the first inning, doubled in the second, singled in the third, singled in the sixth and singled in the eighth. He was inches away from a second double, but was thrown out trying to stretch his sixth-inning single.
Merrifield is batting .333 with an .877 OPS over his first 26 games with the Braves.
“He’s just a pro,” Matt Olson said. “Nobody’s shocked (about his five-hit game). He could go out any time and do that. He’s working counts, he’s shooting (balls through) the holes, he’s driving balls to gaps, he’s able to run the bases, play good defense. You can’t just find guys to pick up and plug in like that very often. We got lucky that he was out there when something happened to Ozzie, and he’s fit in perfectly in the clubhouse and on the field for us.”
2. With the storm gone and the tarp off the field, Max Fried jogged out to the outfield. The section of Braves fans behind the third-base dugout cheered as they saw No. 54 head toward the visiting bullpen.
Fried began warming up. Despite the delay lasting almost an hour and a half, he returned to pitch after throwing only one inning and 15 pitches before the hiatus.
“I put it in his court,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said. “(I said), ‘Whatever you feel like.’ And he goes, ‘I wanna go. I don’t care how long we wait.’”
During the delay, Fried played catch twice. He threw 10 to 15 balls each time. He knew if the delay lasted around an hour, he’d be able to go back out.
Fried covered four more innings instead of the bullpen. In total, he finished having allowed three runs – only one earned – over five frames.
His performance was so important because the Braves don’t have another off day until next Monday – after this seven-game road trip. Fried helped protect a bullpen the Braves will need over the rest of this trip. Atlanta is playing two contenders in its two-city journey, including the Phillies, and will likely need its best bullets to cover important innings during this stretch.
“I’ve already had an outing where I went two-thirds of an inning and only had one inning (earlier in the season),” Fried said. “The last thing I wanted to do was to be able to have a similar one, knowing that if we we’re going to be playing tonight, that the guys had to cover another eight. So, for me to be able to go out there and just eat as much as I could, it was really big for me.”
After he exited, Grant Holmes pitched two innings, then Pierce Johnson and Dylan Lee each tossed an inning.
Fried put Atlanta’s bullpen in a good spot heading into the rest of the week.
“I think it’s huge, because we would’ve dug into that bullpen pretty big, and we got six more games,” Snitker said. “That would’ve took a big bite out of that bullpen for a while and would’ve been hard to catch up, so those were big.”
3. In the top of the first inning, the Braves led, 4-0, after four batters. They only needed to send 14 men to the plate to take a 9-1 lead.
This was probably the Braves’ most fun offensive performance of the season because of how early they scored. The game was over in one and a half innings. It was like an avalanche.
By the end of the top of the second, Olson had a three-run home run (first inning) and a two-run double (second inning), Marcell Ozuna had a pair of run-scoring singles (one in the first, the other in the second) and Travis d’Arnaud had a two-run homer (second inning).
The Braves left Bailey Ober stunned. He took a streak of 11 consecutive quality starts into this game.
The Braves destroyed it.
Ober left with arguably his worst start of the season. It would compete with his first start of the season, in which he allowed eight earned runs over 1 1/3 innings.
Needless to say, he didn’t return to pitch after the delay.
4. A Braves key to victory: Get a homer from Olson.
When he hits a home run, Atlanta is 17-4. Ten of his 23 homers this season have come in the last 29 games, dating to July 27.
“Yeah, it’s good,” Olson said of seeing results. “I got to a couple pitches that I really hadn’t been getting to, so I’ll take it.”
Another great sign: On Monday, he hit balls at 110.3 mph (double), 107.3 mph (lineout), 105.9 mph (double) and 102.6 mph (home run). He was responsible for the hardest-hit ball in the game and three of the top four.
“That’s really good to see,” Snitker said. “Hopefully that’s something that gets him going. That was huge.”
The Braves, of course, will need Olson to hit if they are to achieve their ultimate goal this season.
5. Since the Braves lost Austin Riley, their pitching has carried them while the offense has adjusted to life without another one of its stars. On Monday, though, Fried toed the rubber with a four-run lead. His lineup came through early.
But the Braves’ rotation is probably the main reason this team is 6-2 in eight games since Riley departed (including the game he exited early).
With Fried’s outing, Braves starting pitchers have allowed no more than three runs in each of the club’s last 15 games, dating to Aug. 11 in Colorado. This is the longest active streak of its kind, and is the longest such run by Braves starters since a 16-game stretch in 2018.
“Well, I mean, it’s always nice to have a pad like that,” Snitker said. “I think the biggest thing is Max wanted to continue. He was like, ‘I feel too good.’”
Stat to know
10 - Merrifield is the 10th player, since the start of the 2011 season, to go 5-for-5 in a regular-season game at age 35 or older. The others, in no order: Chipper Jones, Derek Jeter, Bobby Abreu, Paul Konerko, Hideki Matsui, Nick Markakis, Derrek Lee, A.J. Pierzynski and Jerry Hairston.
Quotable
“I know I’m 35, but physically, I really am faster, I’m stronger than I was when I was 28. The age thing is just a lazy way to throw some blame on some things that weren’t going right. My swing’s kind of getting to where I like it. Playing every day, you can focus on having good at-bats and not so much worry about results, and the results seem to come when that happens. Just in a good place and trying to ride it out as long as we can.” - Merrifield
Up next
On Tuesday, right-hander Spencer Schwellenbach will pitch opposite Twins right-hander Simeon Woods Richardson. First pitch is at 7:40 p.m.
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