Braves Today

TAKEAWAYS: Strider cooks early, offense cooks late to lead Atlanta to a 4-2 win over Philly

A series featuring two of the hottest teams in baseball gets off to a great start for the Braves

Will Moon

It was a lot of fun to watch the Braves just absolutely bludgeon the hapless Rockies over the weekend, but we all knew the degree of difficulty was about to increase with road series at surging Phillies and Reds teams. Game one of that trip went well for Atlanta, though, and here are some takeaways.

Back In Stride

Spencer Strider had been scuffling coming into this start. Going back to mid-May, he'd been allowing more and more hard contact even as his strikeout rate stayed high. This all came to a head in consecutive poor outings against the Mets and Tigers in his last two starts. (The Braves did rally to win both games, though.) His fastball velocity was down, and he was missing out over the middle of the plate way too often.

But fear not, Braves fans. Facing a team he's largely dominated in his brief career, Strider returned to form tonight.

He wasn't dominant like he was, say, in that start against Miami where struck out 13 in eight innings, but this looked so much more like the Spencer Strider we've come to know and love (and give a lucrative contract extension to). And we must acknowledge that the Phillies are a good team with a lot of firepower in their lineup. Yeah, he allowed eight hits, but he punched out nine and only allowed one run in a game that was a classic pitchers' duel in the early innings.

Offense Keeps Rollin'

Ranger Suarez is a problem for the Braves. Let's just go ahead and say it now. He doesn't have the overpowering velocity or electric movement of Strider, but his old-school pitching style has given Atlanta fits now for four consecutive outings. And when the Phillies pushed across that two-out run off Strider in the fifth, it looked like the Braves might be in trouble with the way Suarez was cruising tonight. But Austin Riley had other ideas.

That was the only run the Braves got off Suarez, but it set a tone for the remainder of the contest. And it was a great sign for Riley, who's been scuffling of late while the rest of the offense has blossomed. He always hits well in Philly, and tonight was no exception.

The Phillies went to their bullpen in the seventh, and the game quickly got away from them. A Ronald Acuña RBI single and an Ozzie Albies RBI groundout pushed two across in the seventh, and then Matt Olson continued his tradition of hitting bombs in Philadelphia in the eighth.

That bomb really seemed to take the crowd out of it. The Braves would get a few more baserunners on from there, but the lead stayed at 4-1.

Night Shift

With Strider exiting after six innings and the Braves now in front, Brian Snitker went to his high-leverage guys in the 'pen. AJ Minter was first out of the chute, and he vaporized three batters in the seventh. His early-season struggles (which had a lot to do with bad luck and subpar defense) appear to be distant memories. 

Nick Anderson came on in the eighth, and he put up a zero, but it was a dramatic zero. I have no idea idea what JT Realmuto was thinking trying to take second base down three in the eighth, but Money Mike Harris made him and the Phils pay for that blunder.

Raisel Iglesias came on for the ninth and also made things a little tense. Bryson Stott led off the frame with a double that Eddie Rosario almost made a great play on (maybe that should've been Sam Hilliard out there, but I digress). He came around to score a meaningless run on a groundout. With two out and a two-run lead, Brave-killer Brandon Marsh extended the game with a single, which gave Kyle Schwarber a chance to tie it with a dinger. Iglesias, however, struck the slugger out and ended matters.

On Deck

The series continues tomorrow night, with young AJ Smith-Shawver (1-0, 2.03 ERA, 4,48 FIP) going for the Braves against scuffling Phillies ace Aaron Nola (6-5, 4.66 ERA, 4.17 FIP). First pitch is set for 6:40 PM Eastern at Citizens Bank Park.

The game broadcast, with Voice of the Braves Brandon Gaudin, is available inside Braves Country on Bally Sports South and is available on MLB.TV outside of the broadcast area. The radio call, with Ben Ingram, is available locally on 680 AM/93.7 FM The Fan or outside the Atlanta market on the Atlanta Braves Radio Network or MLB.com.

Stories from the Philadelphia Phillies Series
WATCH: Spencer Strider returns to form against the Phillies
WATCH: Matt Olson annihilates slider, extends Braves' lead in the eighth
WATCH: Ronald Acuña Jr. puts the Braves in front late in Philadelphia
WATCH: Austin Riley sends one into orbit, ties it up in Philly
Lineup, how to watch Atlanta's series opener against the red-hot Philadelphia Phillies

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Will Moon
WILL MOON

Former Auburn radio personality, writes about pop culture and other topics at octopus-man.com and covers the Braves for bravestoday.com

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