The schedule keeps lining ‘em up and the Braves keep knocking ‘em down. Indeed, we’re just under 20 games into the season and the Braves are not just in first place at the moment, they’re the only team above .500 in the NL East and they still have yet to drop a series. This is a very, very pleasant departure from how the season got started last season and here’s hoping that this can keep going for as long as possible.
With that being said, Miami definitely didn’t make this easy for Atlanta! Despite
this being a house of horrors for the Marlins, this crew appeared to be up for the task of coming into Cobb County and making sure that things went their way for once around here. The Fish were off to a relatively solid start of their own and were desperate to make sure that things kept going in the right direction for them and we ended up getting a very competitive series out of these two divisional foes. Let’s talk about it, shall we?
Monday, April 13
Marlins 10, Braves 4
Heading into this series, the Marlins had scored a grand total of three (3) runs across three games in Detroit. Monday must’ve felt like a bonanza for them as they scored three runs each in the fourth, fifth, and sixth innings. Grant Holmes was credited with three earned runs in the fourth, Aaron Bummer got credited for the trio of runs in the fifth and then Rolddy Muñoz got dinged for three runs over the two innings of work that he put in.
It seemed like there was going to be a slugfest coming based on what happened in that fourth inning as Atlanta responded to Miami’s flurry with a three-run rally of their own. They were unable to match the second three-run volley that Miami offered, as they could only muster up one more run in the fifth and that was it as far as the scoring was concerned for the Braves. Again, when you consider how both the Braves and the Marlins looked over their past three games before this one, respectively, this was just one of those nights that baseball loves to provide us all!
Tuesday, April 14
Braves 6, Marlins 5
At first, it sure looked like we were heading towards a disappointing repeat of the events that took place on Monday night. The Marlins got to Reynaldo López early and plated four runs at his expense across the first two innings to get things going. The good news is that Reynaldo ended up fighting through those struggles to finish up with five innings under his belt — something that ended up being crucial as his stint ended up helping to keep the Braves right in it as they attempted to claw their way out of another hole.
Dominic Smith got things going for the Braves in this one with an RBI single in the second (you’ll be hearing more from him, later) and then Drake Baldwin and Matt Olson went back-to-back with two-out doubles in order to make it a one-run game. It stayed 4-3 all the way until the eighth inning, which is when this game got really interesting. It sure started inauspiciously for the Braves, as the Marlins got what looked like an insurance run after picking up three straight singles off of Robert Suarez.
Then it was Atlanta’s turn to respond and boy, did they ever respond. Drake Baldwin led off the frame with a single and then the two-run magic began shortly after that. Mike Yastrzemski and Ozzie Albies joined Baldwin on the basepaths with a single and HBP, respectively. That set the stage for another Big Dominic Smith Moment and the big guy delivered in dramatic fashion. Smith hit an opposite-field line drive into the gap in left-center for a bases-clearing double that turned a two-run deficit into a one-run lead. Raisel Iglesias entered in the ninth and promptly sat down all three Marlins batters in short order to ensure that the Braves came away from this one with a memorable win.
Wednesday, April 15
Braves 6, Marlins 3
Folks, Bryce Elder just keeps making it happen. We really have to give it to the Guardians, apparently, because they’re the only team that’s figured out a way to even get a scratch on Elder so far. The Marlins certainly tried but they ended up failing as Elder sat down seven Miami batters on strikes and only gave up four hits and two walks. The Marlins just could not get a serious handle on what Elder was serving up. Elder now has an ERA of 0.77 through four starts — just like every single last one of us predicted coming into this season, right?
Thanks to some early runs and another big late-game flurry of offense, the Braves had a firm grasp on this game — for the most part. An Ozzie Albies long ball and another big RBI knock from Mauricio Dubón made it a 2-0 game in the second inning and then Atlanta added on four more runs across the sixth and the seventh innings. Austin Riley finally hit his first dinger of the season in the sixth inning, which was truly a sight for sore eyes. Drake Baldwin added on an RBI single in the seventh and then Matt Olson added another big fly to his tally to put the Braves ahead 6-0 at that point.
Remember when I said that the Braves had a firm grasp on this game for the most part? There was a slight wobble in the eighth inning when Osvaldo Bido ended up with three runs on his record. Fortunately, Robert Suarez was able to clean up the mess with a double play ball and then Raisel Iglesias finished things off to seal away another series win for the Braves.
I mentioned the standings in the opener for this series recap and while it’s always a perilous exercise to look at the standings this early in the season, it makes for really beautiful viewing at the moment. It’s not just the NL East, either — it’s the entire NL as a whole. While the Dodgers are currently off to the races doing Dodgers stuff that we all expected the Dodgers to be busy doing, the Braves aren’t that far behind them at 12-7 at the moment. The run differential is also a very lovely +44 as well. When you compare that to the rest of the NL East, it is night and day — the Marlins have the next-best run differential in the NL East at +2, and Atlanta’s next opponents are currently sitting on a run differential of -25.
Those opponents, of course, are the Philadelphia Phillies. While it’s just about impossible to make any grand statements about series taking place in April, it sure would feel nice to see the Braves keep this run of series wins going by going up to Philly and making that run differential just a little bit worse and getting even more of a gap going in the early portion of the season. It’s certainly a whole lot easier of a task to talk about than to actually do but with the way that this team is currently going at the moment, it’s tough to bet against the form that the Braves are in.
The confidence in the Braves’ clubhouse following this series against the Marlins has to be pretty high as well. The Marlins gave them a very good shot and honestly had the Braves on the mat during the first half of this series. However, the furious comeback in the second game led to a cool, calm and composed series win in the finale. It’s a vibe that’s similar to things felt for this ballclub not all that long ago. With standout performances from Dominic Smith, Bryce Elder, Matt Olson and more, it sure seems like the contributions are coming from enough sources that things feel somewhat sustainable.
Either way, I think we’re all rooting for this series-winning streak to keep rolling indefinitely. Keep banking those wins and keep things rolling for as long as possible, please!
