Atlanta Braves Clippings Monday, September 21, 2020 Braves.Com
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Atlanta Braves Clippings Monday, September 21, 2020 Braves.com Wright baffles Mets in 6 1/3-inning, 1-hit gem By Mark Bowman Ronald Acuña Jr. was bound to right himself before the postseason arrived. But the fact Kyle Wright has also started the regular season’s home stretch on a good note gives the Braves even more reason to be excited about what October might bring. Acuña’s solo homer provided all of the necessary support for Wright, who constructed a career-best start in the Braves’ 7-0 win over the Mets on Sunday afternoon at Citi Field. The right-hander’s confidence has grown significantly as he’s used his past two starts to show he has the potential to lessen concerns about the postseason rotation. “He’s been tremendous,” said catcher Travis d’Arnaud, who hit a two-run double in the eighth inning. “His demeanor on the mound and his demeanor in between innings, he’s been carrying himself really well. He’s just been attacking guys.” The Braves’ magic number to clinch a third consecutive National League East title has been reduced to six with seven games remaining, four of which will be played against the second-place Marlins this week. Looking ahead to the postseason, the Braves’ rotation will likely include Max Fried, Ian Anderson, Cole Hamels and Wright, who had essentially been a candidate by default before he produced two of the strongest starts of his young career over the past eight days. Wright earned his first career win with six strong innings at Nationals Park last weekend. The 24-year-old hurler showed his tremendous potential as he limited the Mets to one hit and did not issue a walk until the end of his 6 1/3-inning, 98-pitch effort. He had completed more than five innings in just two of nine career starts before this road trip began. “I’ve been getting back to a good routine and back to what I guess I used to do,” Wright said. “That’s allowing my confidence to come from my preparation.” Mets starter Rick Porcello was cruising until Acuña lined a first-pitch sinker over the right-field wall in the sixth. The opposite-field shot gave the 22- year-old outfielder 13 homers, despite spending two weeks in August on the injured list. Entering Sunday, his 10.4 at-bats per home run rate would have ranked fourth among those who have hit at least 10 homers this year. Acuña, who added a three-run double in the ninth, entered this series finale having hit .133 (4-for-30) with 15 strikeouts and a .700 OPS through the first nine games of this road trip. So while his timely homer was welcomed, the most encouraging development was seeing Wright produce a second strong start. “You can have a bad outing, but it doesn’t mean you’re a bad pitcher,” Acuña said through an interpreter. “So even when he was struggling, you could tell his stuff was there and he has the potential. He’s a tremendous baseball player and he’s just bringing that all together.” Wright consistently commanded his fastball and displayed a highly effective curveball while recording six strikeouts. After walking J.D. Davis with one out in the seventh, he took a seat and watched Will Smith get Dominic Smith to ground into an inning-ending double play. This is the efficiency the Braves have been seeking from Wright, who issued at least three walks in each of his first four starts in 2020, only one of which lasted longer than 3 1/3 innings. His improved command has added to the value of both of his breaking balls. His slider has long drawn attention, but his curveball has been the more effective pitch recently. Wright got a called strike or a whiff on six of the 13 (46%) curveballs he threw against the Nationals on Sept. 13. He garnered a similar percentage (44%) while throwing 18 curves during this latest outing. Braves manager Brian Snitker has long said Wright’s stuff is too good for him to not be successful. The value of that stuff has been enhanced as the confidence has finally grown over this past week. “I don’t know if there is ever a bad time for a kid like that to find himself, get that confidence and get himself going,” Snitker said. “I’m happy for him.” Anderson labors, 'a little out of whack' vs. NY By Mark Bowman Every remaining game is important as the Braves are in a division battle with the Marlins. But now that the rotation at least feels a little more whole, losing a game started by Max Fried or Ian Anderson does not feel as potentially detrimental as it did just a little more than a week ago. Still, the Braves will be looking to see how Anderson bounces back after laboring through a 7-2 loss to the Mets on Saturday night at Citi Field. The rookie righted himself after a 33-pitch first inning, but he completed less than five innings for the second time in five career starts. “He shows you those signs of maturity when things aren’t going well,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said. “I think that is just another situation he’ll learn from. He just got a little out of whack [in the first inning].” It was an odd night for the Braves, who are just 2 1/2 games ahead of the Marlins with eight games remaining. Their bid for a third consecutive National League East title has been fueled by top NL MVP Award candidate Freddie Freeman and Shane Greene, who has been one of the game’s best relievers this year. But as the Braves lost for the third time in their past five games, they saw Freeman go 0-for-5 with four strikeouts and a crucial double play with the bases loaded to end the seventh inning. His 11th career four-strikeout game was completed after the Mets tallied four runs and five hits in the eighth against Greene, who entered the game having allowed just three runs through his first 23 2/3 innings of the season. “Those days we’re doing it, it’s really fun,” Snitker said. “But it is what it is.” A sense of normalcy was provided by Adam Duvall, whose two-out homer in the sixth accounted for the only run allowed by Mets starter David Peterson, who recorded 10 strikeouts over six innings. The solo shot was his 16th homer, tying him with Mookie Betts and Manny Machado for the NL lead. Duvall has hit 11 homers this month, matching the franchise’s September record Eddie Mathews set in 1959. The Yankees’ DJ LeMahieu was the only other big leaguer who entered Saturday having hit at least eight homers in September. But the solo shots hit by Duvall and former Mets catcher Travis d’Arnaud weren’t enough to bail out Anderson, who allowed three runs over 4 2/3 innings. Anderson walked three consecutive batters to begin his 99-pitch outing and then allowed Robinson Canó’s two-run single in the first. After minimizing the damage in that opening frame, the 22-year-old hurler limited the Mets to what proved to be a decisive Robinson Chirinos RBI double in the fourth. Though Anderson retired the first two batters in the fifth, he was lifted before having to face Canó again. He had limited the Nationals to one hit over seven scoreless innings last weekend. “Obviously, you’re not going to have it every night,” Anderson said. “But to still try to find a way, battle and keep the team in a game, you learn a lot through those outings. I’ve had five outings so far and they’ve all been different, some good and some bad.” Braves bash 6 HRs in Fried's strong return By Mark Bowman Max Fried’s much-welcomed return from the injured list was celebrated by the Braves powering their way toward yet another double-digit run total in their 15-2 win over the Mets on Friday night at Citi Field. The Braves produced yet another six-homer game in this latest victory and tallied their MLB-high ninth double-digit run total of the season. “It was a good night,” manager Brian Snitker said. “Getting Max back, I think it made everybody feel good to see him back out on the mound.” There has always been plenty to like about this offense, which was strengthened by the recent return of Ozzie Albies, who backed Fried with his fifth career multihomer performance. But the Braves’ World Series hopes rest on the success of Fried, who allowed one run over five innings while making his first start before his lower back tightened during his Sept. 5 start against the Nationals. The lefty has a stellar 1.96 ERA through 10 starts. Here are three takeaways from a win that featured plenty to digest. Fried’s velocity: In keeping the Mets scoreless until the fifth, Fried showed that he can continue to be effective without his normal velocity. But it’s still necessary to point out that his four-seam fastball averaged 92.1 mph -- higher than the 90.9 average he produced during the Sept. 5 outing, but lower than the 93.4 mph average generated through his first eight starts. “I thought his velocity was fine,” Snitker said. “He pitched. I’d rather he pitch at 92 or 93 than just throw at 98.