How sweet it is. In a four-game set between two NL East teams, the Atlanta Braves have swept mopped the Washington Nationals, extending their win streak to five and improving to 67-45.
This one will sting for Nationals pitcher Cade Cavalli,
who can add another quality start to his streak (now five in a row) with his final line: 6.0 IP, 6 H, 3 R (2 ER), 3 SO. But two solo shots would doom him and give him the loss.
JR Ritchie started strong in the first inning, freezing James Wood with four pitches, allowing a first-pitch single to Daylen Lile, almost getting Dylan Crews to ground into a double play, and then getting CJ Abrams to strike out swinging to end the frame. But he would flirt with disaster in the three innings that followed.
The Nationals threatened in the second with a Keibert Ruiz leadoff walk and Nasim Nuñez single to right. They would thankfully end up stranded on second and third base.
Things were a little easier in the top of the third, where Ritchie worked around a Lile walk. It helps when your center fielder does what he does best – Michael Harris II made a great catch at the wall for the second out.
The Braves drew first blood with a Mike Yastrzemski homer to the Chop House to give the Braves a 1-0 lead.
A lengthy fourth would be JR Ritchie’s last inning of work. The Nats loaded the bases with one out with a Ruiz single, José Tena walk, and Jorbit Vivas single. A bad miss from Ritchie came up and in to hit Andrés Chaparro on the earflap of his helmet, leading to a scary moment and a tie game. Chaparro was shaken but ultimately smiling and seemingly okay; he was later replaced in the fifth inning by Brady House. The Nationals would tack on another with a Wood sac fly to take the lead and make it 2-1.
Worry not – the Chop House would be graced by yet another leadoff Braves home run – this one by Matt Olson. His 31st longball of the year tied the game in the bottom of the fourth.
Austin Riley smoked a double off Cavalli to be in scoring position with one out in the bottom of the fifth. Jim Jarvis this, Ha-Seong Kim that, and don’t forget Jorge Mateo. But secret fourth Braves shortstop CJ Abrams and his fielding error allowed Riley as the go-ahead run to come home while Jarvis reached first base.
Some much-needed breathing room came in the bottom of the seventh, where Orlando Ribalta came in to relieve Cavalli. Mauricio Dubón reached on a solid single to left and would come home a batter later after a stolen base, throwing error by Ribalta, and Yaz sac fly to make it 4-2 Braves.
With Ritchie done for the day, Dylan Dodd and Didier Fuentes combined to work three perfect innings, setting down the Nats in order in the fifth through seventh. Dylan Lee allowed a leadoff walk to Crews, but an Abrams strikeout and Harry Ford double play took us to the bottom of the eighth.
Raisel Iglesias jogged in to face the 6-7-8 in the Nationals order for his 24th save of the year. Tena grounded out and Nuñez lined out to center field before Jorbit Vivas walked to bring the tying run to the plate. But Brady House swung at an Iggy slider to end it. Braves win!
Despite the records of these two teams, Braves Country was rightly a little nervous with the pitching situation and potent Nationals offense set to square off four times. The trauma of several consecutive one-run games didn’t help, either. But this team is looking Right again after the struggles of June and hopefully some more help is on the way before the Fish come to town on Tuesday.
While the Braves are off tomorrow, Battery Power certainly won’t be – stay tuned and keep up with everything trade deadline with us as we inch toward 6 pm ET tomorrow night.
