The Atlanta Braves completed off a collection win over the Philadelphia Phillies with a 6-0 thumping on Sunday afternoon. The win pushed Atlanta again to 10 video games over .500 at 49-39 and minimize their deficit within the NL East right down to eight video games. The Braves are 4-2 and have received each collection towards the Phillies this season. The 2 groups will play seven extra instances, with a three-game collection at Truist Park on August 20-22 and a four-game collection in Philly from August 29 by way of September 2.
The collection win was one which the Braves desperately wanted, particularly after shedding the opener to fall ten video games again. Atlanta entered Sunday with only a 12.3% likelihood of successful the division per FanGraphs, however this is a crucial stretch for Atlanta earlier than heading into the All-Star break.
The Braves will head again out on the highway now for a seven-game western journey earlier than heading into the break. They may play 4 in Arizona after which three in San Diego. As issues stand at present, the Braves have a three-game edge over the Padres for the primary Wild Card spot. The Diamondbacks are 2.5 video games behind the Cardinals for the ultimate Wild Card spot. So, although there’s nonetheless greater than two months remaining, these head-to-head video games towards playoff contenders are necessary. The Braves had been simply 5-4 on their homestand and have been a sub-.500 crew since their 20-9 begin. Ending the primary half robust and carrying some momentum into the break could be fairly huge for a crew that has largely struggled for the final two months.
Jarred Kelenic developing with huge hits
After placing up a .304/.356/.543 line in June, Jarred Kelenic is simply 5-for-23 on the plate by way of the primary six video games in July. Nonetheless, he got here up with one other huge hit for the Braves Sunday with a three-run homer off Phillies starter Michael Mercado that gave Atlanta some cushion. When the season started, the Braves hoped to bat Kelenic on the backside of the order and permit him house simply to slot in. Accidents to Ronald Acuña Jr. and Michael Harris II, although, have thrust Kelenic into a way more necessary function and he has largely delivered. Since Could 7, Kelenic is hitting .277/.317/.514 with all ten of his house runs.
Since shifting into the leadoff spot on June 15, he’s hitting .298/.341/.560 and has reached base to begin the sport in eight of 21 video games. Even earlier than Sunday’s homer, Kelenic had largely turn into what the Braves most likely needed to see from him: a man who does large injury on contact, even when he has to sacrifice a bunch of plate self-discipline to get there.
Adam Duvall persevering with to pattern up
There’s a small pattern dimension caveat to this, however given the latest struggles of Adam Duvall, we are going to take any signal of progress. Duvall received the scoring began Sunday with a solo house run and completed a triple shy of the cycle. It was his second three-hit recreation in July.
We identified earlier in the course of the homestand that a lot of Duvall’s metrics had been in the suitable place, however that the outcomes merely haven’t been there. Getting some course correction throughout this closing stretch earlier than the All-Star Break might present a big enhance.
Ozzie Albies offering a lift
Ozzie Albies noticed his nine-game hitting streak come to an finish Sunday, however he put collectively a pleasant homestand. Albies had 13 hits over his final 9 video games, together with three-straight multi-hit video games earlier than going hitless Sunday. He homered within the first two video games towards the Phillies, giving him a homer in 4 straight video games towards Philadelphia relationship again to the season-opening collection. That was the longest stretch by a Braves participant since Brian McCann homered in six straight video games towards the Phillies in 2012. Albies’ homer on Saturday had an exit velocity of 113.7 mph which was the toughest hit ball of his profession.
Each Albies and Kelenic have trended up sufficient to the place their offensive inputs are barely above common, which is an enormous enchancment over the .300ish xwOBA valley they each discovered themselves in earlier.
Bullpen continues to pitch nicely
The Braves bullpen entered Sunday’s recreation main the Nationwide League with a 3.00 ERA. That was earlier than tossing three extra scoreless innings to safe the collection win. Atlanta relievers allowed only one earned run over 9 innings within the collection. Now if solely there was a means to make use of them extra typically…
Spencer Schwellenbach continues run of success
Spencer Schwellenbach gave the Braves an enormous raise Saturday by permitting one run over six innings to go together with six strikeouts. That outing got here after Max Fried struggled within the loss within the collection opener. Schwellenbach remains to be carrying a 5.02 ERA for the season, however his 3.57 FIP and three.62 xFIP are extra consultant of how he has pitched of late. Since 1966, he’s the eleventh pitcher in franchise historical past to log a number of outings of a minimum of six innings whereas permitting one run or fewer inside their first eight profession appearances. He’s the primary to do since Bryce Elder in 2022. Atlanta gave Schwellenbach 5 runs to work with in Saturday’s begin, which little doubt helped. They scored 11 whole runs over his first six begins mixed.
Schwellenbach has already set a profession excessive in innings pitched as an expert and it isn’t clear how the Braves plan to handle his workload after the break. AJ Smith-Shawver is working his means again from an indirect damage and Ian Anderson could also be an possibility as nicely over the ultimate couple of months of the season. Schwellenbach, although, has performed a great job of shoring up the fifth spot and is displaying that he might play an enormous function within the close to future.
Although plenty of Schwellenbach’s struggles have come because of going significantly deep into video games, he has a really diversified arsenal that makes him fairly completely different than a lot of the starters the Braves have developed and/or deployed in latest historical past. It’ll be fascinating to see whether or not that works in his favor or to his detriment, and the way his profession evolves from right here — supplied that he can keep away from damage, which is a tall order for just about any pitcher.