Braves Today

Takeaways: The Braves walk it off over the Padres to open the series

Braves starting shortstop Orlando Arcia is the hero of the night.

Matthew Jacobs

Braves country has waited a very long time to have their beloved Braves back in the friendly confines of Truist Park. A week into the season they finally got their chance. After all the pomp and circumstance was done, Spencer Strider took the mound to face the Padres’ Blake Snell in the 2023 Home Opener in front of a packed-out, loud, and engaged crowd. What do you need to know?

This just in: Spencer Strider is good

Spencer Strider started off dealing smoke with two strikeouts to begin the inning. The Braves struck in the bottom of the first, which, stop me if you have heard this one, Ronald Acuña Jr starts off the offense with a leadoff double. Austin Riley barely misses a yard dog and instead gets a sacrifice fly to push the run across. Braves were up 1-0 after one.

Orlando Arcia pops his second homer of the season

Strider keeps dominating the Padres and got a little more run support as Orlando Arcia drilled a 3-0 gift fastball over the left-field wall. The Braves continue to just terrorize opposing pitching in the early innings of games and now have not trailed for twenty-nine straight innings of baseball. They had a chance to break this one open in the bottom of the third after Arcia’s bomb with Matt Olsen and Austin Riley playing the ducks on the pond. Travis d'Arnaud was up and hammered a ball that would have been trouble had it not been for a brilliant defensive double play. Braves lead 2-0 after three.

Strider gets himself in bit of trouble/ Harris injured

Michael Harris wasn’t on the field to start the fourth inning as he was having some lower back tightness and the Braves decided to err on the side of caution. Hillard took his place in center field. Strider gets in a little trouble to start the fourth. Allowing a lead-off double, a walk, and then let a fastball drift high to Matt Carpenter, who hit scraper over the right field wall. The Braves ended up playing behind for the first time in a long time as the Padres took the lead 3-2. 

It didn’t last long.

The Braves don’t like being behind

In the bottom of the inning, Snell allowed Sean Murphy to start the inning by smoking a double into the right field wall after which Kevin Pillar hit a blooper to left center to drive him home. Snell kept struggling, walking Orlando Arcia, to have runners on first and second then walked Ronald Acuña Jr to load the grill. Snell, losing his composure and with a pitch count approaching ninety, throws four balls nowhere near the strike zone to walk Olsen and in the process, walks in a run. Just like that, Braves are into the Padres’ bullpen. Reliever Domingo Tapia comes in with two outs, bases loaded, and promptly strikes out Riley to end the inning. Braves retake the lead, 4-3 after four.

Strider completes his night after five full innings

Strider throws 101 pitches through five innings, striking out nine. With another solid outing, he has his five innings in and the lead, in line for the win with the Braves coming up to bat. The offense managed to get the bases loaded with two outs, but Arcia popped stranding three. The Braves head into the sixth up 4-3.

Luetge enters the game

The Braves sent in relief pitcher Lucas Luetge to start the sixth. Luetge threw two pitches before giving up a solo shot to Jake Cronenworth, which closes the book completely on Spencer Strider. Luetge quickly walked the next batter and threw a wild pitch before settling down and closing out the sixth with no more damage. In the bottom of the inning, the Braves went down one, two, three on five pitches as the top of the order got nowhere. Going into the seventh all tied at four.

Things liven back up in the eighth

Braves reliever Kirby Yates came in and looked uncomfortable from the first pitch in the eighth inning. He walked two straight batters before getting a fly out that advanced runners to second and third. He followed that up by bouncing a ball up to the plate that even the Braves outstanding defensive catcher Sean Murphy couldn’t get behind, wild pitch, scoring one more. Following that Jose Azocar laid down an incredible bunt for a single to drive in another run for the Padres. The Braves went into the bottom of the eighth trailing 6-4. Bottom of the inning, Orlando Arcia continues his hot game with a stand-up double. Matt Olsen quickly sent a worm-burner into right field scoring him. Riley then hustles out a base hit to first. With runners on first and second, Travis d'Arnaud blooped a single into right field scoring Olsen, tying the game up. The Braves and Padres were locked up again, 6-6 heading into the ninth.

Heroics

Dream scenario. Bottom of the ninth, Eddie Rosario doubles as a pinch hitter, he hammers a line drive to right field for extra bases. Hero of the night, Orlando Arcia steps up to the plate. A man that wasn't even an afterthought before he was named the starter out of spring training, laces a single on a line drive to center field that drives in Eddie Rosario as the Braves walk it off:

The Braves give Brian Snitker’s one thousandth career game as skipper a memory cherry on top. The Braves finished with 7 runs on 13 hits and one error to the Padres’ 6 runs on 7 hits. This team, through seven short games in this young season, has shown it can win in any fashion it wants to.

Once again, the Braves won in walk-off fashion over the Padres 7-6. For all the Braves updates and news, open your Braves Daily tab and keep clicking refresh!

The Braves will continue to enjoy home cooking as they play game two of this four game set with the San Diego Padres on Friday night, with the first pitch scheduled for 7:20 ET. Braves Today will be the go-to site for everything a Braves’ fan would want to know. Braves Today Podcast will fill you in on anything else you could possibly want to know about the Braves. The game broadcast will be exclusively on Apple TV this time around. The radio call, with Ben Ingram, is available locally on WIFN 1340 AM/103.7FM or outside the Atlanta market on the Atlanta Braves Radio Network or MLB.com.

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Published
Matthew Jacobs
MATTHEW JACOBS

Author/Writer. Staff contributor for Sports Illustrated's @TheAuburnDaily and @Braves_Today Auburn Tigers (WDE) and Braves fan.  Christian The previous host of the Zen Shark Blog, Author of Needs No Translation, previously covered the Memphis Grizzlies, The Tennessee Titans, and Manchester City.

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