Braves vs. Nationals: Hey, another comeback that leads to a 3-2 win

The Braves scored twice in the eighth and then Raizel Iglesias slammed the door for their sixth straight win.

• by
  
  Ivan the Great
  

• on Jun 9, 2023 10:36 PM

Coming into tonight’s series opener vs Washington Nationalsthe Atlanta Braves He had a five-game winning streak with all of the last four matches being straight wins. After trailing two separate times this time, the running backs saddled again and chained two runs in the bottom of the eighth in order to run the streak to six, with five consecutive home runs.

The big story heading into this game was the rotation debut of AJ Smith-Shawver, who moved up the minor league ladder in the spring. Overall, Smith-Shawver’s start might have been a little different than most people expected, but it was enough in the end to keep the Braves in the game and pull off a late win. The game started in unfortunate fashion for a right-handed rookie, as a bloop popped off Michael Harris’s second glove on a dunk, a throwing error on a steal, and a second solo error made it 1-0 for the Nationals before Smith Schover even retired the batter. From there, he sailed for a while, facing the bottom line through the third inning, allowing only an erased walk on a double play.

Smith Schover had trouble in the fourth. Luis Garcia reached a one-hit leadoff, and Smith Schover fell behind Joey Meneses before powerlifting him to the ground for the score 3-1. He then walked five pitches, but managed to escape the jam by hitting two weak balls in the air. Then he recovered well in the fifth – inning 11th pitch with two hit-hitting pitches.

After starting on an error in the sixth field, García hit another batter. This time, the Braves were on a false shift, with Austin Riley playing near the traditional shortstop position. Riley finished second, and the relay went to first. On first, both runners were ruled out, but on the replay, the call was overturned on second, as Len Thomas who was running on the play paid Washington dividends. It was for Smith Schover’s debut that he gave way to Colin McHugh.

Smith-Shawver’s xFIP didn’t look great tonight, letting a bunch of balls in the air and only managing a 2/2 K/BB. However, only three balls in play against him were badly damaged (that is, above 95 mph), and two of those were the sequence that had him punting in the sixth. Smith-Shawver struggled to control his slider, and his fastball was more than a dangerous provocateur, but he did well against a dwindling lineup. It’ll be interesting to see what happens with him going forward – there’s no reason he won’t start it up again, and there will be an xFIP vs. xwOBA battle for his forward-looking success playing out before our eyes.

Unfortunately for the brave, this error and flipped call came about almost immediately. Minnes was McHugh’s first hurdle, and volleyed a double into the left-center gap to give the Nationals their second run and lead. McHugh exited sixth without further trouble, then also survived a two-jam jam in seventh without damage. Kirby Yates got a nice home run in the eighth inning, with two outs and hitting a ground ball.

While the pitching ran Washington’s offense just fine, the bat was hampered by Josiah Gray much early on. Although Gray threatened to walk the world (and walked, arguably, a continent, with four free passes in five innings), the Braves didn’t make good connections with him, particularly with the guys on base. They scored their first home run in the second, as Ozzie Alpes tied the lead, moved to second on a wild pitch, moved to third on a wild five-hole course, and eventually scored on a home run by Orlando Arcia.

That was all Gray’s scoring – the Braves missed many other opportunities.

• On the first down, Austin Riley and Shaun Murphy walked happily in the scoring position, but Eddie Rosario hit him by brandishing three rebounding straight tackles.
• In the fourth, two singles and a walk put Arcia up, but he struck out to end the inning.
• In the fifth, the Braves did nothing with Harris Leadoff’s single.

After the Nationals took a 2-1 lead, Mason Thompson continued to baffle the Braves. He gave up back-to-back singles with two outs, but Arcia rebounded to him to end the inning. Carl Edwards Jr. only allowed one out in the seventh.

But in the eighth, the Braves got the sequence running against Kyle Finnegan. Sean Murphy hit a ball again up the middle of Finnegan’s drive that went for a single when Jeimer Candelario could not overcome the rebound and Murphy threw. Rosario then rolled one run past García on second and into right field, ending up on second because Thomas passed the ball. A spin-off by the Albies has suggested that the magic of a Braves comeback may have run out, but not to worry…

… because Marcel Ozuna hit an ugly guard on first and ended up scoring pinch runner Sam Hilliard (who ran for Murphy) when Dom Smith hit the ball, only to be followed by Arcia hitting a ball up the middle that was booted by CJ Abrams shortstop. Just like that, the Braves had a bizarre, endless, mostly action-packed turn. Harris grounded to end the inning.

Then came Wysel Iglesias, and he had a lighting fast nine home runs. There was a four-pitch strikeout, all strikeouts. Then a triple hit. Then an easy two-story floor exercise for the first. Bada Bing, Bada Boom, a winning streak at six. The Braves keep rolling, and they did tonight behind a guy who made his first career start, and without the usual offensive MO.

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