Braves Briefing: Eddie Rosario channels the 2021 postseason with his performance against San Francisco

Eddie Money has destroyed the NL West in his career

Eddie Rosario will always be beloved in Atlanta for his time with the team following the 2021 trade deadline. 

The left fielder, acquired from the Guardians for Pablo Sandoval, become a legend during the postseason when he smashed his way to a NLCS MVP, going 14-25 with 3 homers, six runs, and 9 RBIs against the Los Angeles Dodgers to propel Atlanta to their first World Series berth since the 1990s. 

But he's always been really good against the NL West as a whole (be on the lookout for that story later today) and channeled some of that dominance against the Giants. Rosario went 4-4 last night, giving him six hits in eight at-bats in the series, and clubbed what ended up being the game-winning home run in the bottom of the 8th inning off of submariner Tyler Rogers, the first home run Rogers gave up to a lefty all season. 

Some 2out, late inning magic for the #Braves who finally get to Tyler Rogers. Ozuna single CF & the 1st pitch Rosario sees he drives 441ft to CF to give Atlanta the lead again! 6-5 ATL over SFG as we move to the 9th on @BallySportsSO, enjoy the dugout celebration & curtain call👇🏼 pic.twitter.com/eHfgakSDYA

— Kelly Crull (@Kelly_Crull) August 20, 2023

Take that curtain call, Eddie Money. You deserved it. You're never buying a drink in the city of Atlanta for the rest of your life.

Divisional Standings as of Sunday, August 20th

Not a lot of drama left here, as Atlanta seems pretty locked into cruising to another division title.

Team	Record	Games Back	Action Today
Atlanta	80-42	--	vs Giants
Philadelphia	67-56	13.5	@ Nationals
Miami	64-61	17.5	@ Padres
NY Mets	58-66	23.0	@ Cardinals
Washington	56-68	25.0	vs Phillies

We Wrote It

I usually like to highlight something we wrote from last night's game here, but in the wake of another shorter Yonny Chirinos outing, I'd like to answer some of the questions about why Atlanta isn't using Michael Soroka as a 5th starter right now: 

The date to watch for here is September 13th. Calling Soroka up before then and not sending him back down means he'd tick over into a 5th year of service and Atlanta would then lose him to free agency after 2024. Anything after that date and he wouldn't log enough service time (remember, he needs roughly twenty days). Call him up after that and you're good, because the season has less than twenty days left at that point and no one gets service time for the postseason. 

Go read the entire thing, trust me. 

READ: Explaining the "Michael Soroka service time manipulation" rumors

Highlights from last night's game

What's next for the Atlanta Braves? 

Atlanta's eying a sweep on Sunday, with Max Fried (4-1, 2.57 ERA) on the mound. As of the end of Saturday's game, San Francisco is going with RHP Jakob Junis (3-3, 4.10 ERA) in what appears to be a bullpen game. Game time is scheduled for 1:35 PM ET from Truist Park, closing out Alumni Weekend. The game broadcast is available locally on Bally Sports Southeast and on MLB.tv outside of Braves Country. The radio call is available in the Atlanta Metro area on 680 The Fan, regionally on the Atlanta Braves Radio Network, and nationally on MLB.tv.

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