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. He feels great. We had some long innings offensively, and he had to work a lot. But I think more than anything, he sat in the dugout a lot. So it was good to get him through five innings.”

Cole Hamels is accelerating his preparations for the postseason, and the Braves are hoping that both Ian Anderson and Kyle Wright will continue to grow over the next couple weeks. But this rotation will continue to rely on Fried, who will make one more regular-season start before likely getting the ball in Game 1 of the Wild Card Series.

Albies’ impact: Throughout the franchise’s long history, the Braves had never hit six or more homers in a game twice in one season. They have now done so in two of the nine games played since Albies returned from missing a little more than a month with a right bone bruise.

Albies has hit .378 with four homers and a 1.167 OPS since being activated from the injured list. The Braves scored 29 runs the night he returned, and they have tallied at least seven runs in five of the nine games played with him occupying the ninth spot in their deep lineup.

“When you have the reigning NL hits leader hitting ninth, your lineup is pretty deep,” Fried said. “He’s had some time off, so he’s just getting back into it. But you’re seeing what he can do at any given time. He’s an extremely special player.”

Acuña halts skid: Marcell Ozuna’s two-run shot off Steven Matz in the second inning was his 15th homer. Freddie Freeman has continued to strengthen his MVP candidacy. The Braves' lineup is filled with potent weapons, but there’s no doubt this offense is at its best when Ronald Acuña Jr. is in one of his grooves.

Acuña's leadoff double off Matz in the first inning halted a skid in which he had gone 1-for-21 with 13 strikeouts over the past six games. The 22- year-old outfielder also increased his homer total to 12 when he went back-to-back with Albies in the sixth.

“Maybe [Thursday’s off-day] was good for him because he just let his mind rest a little bit,” Snitker said. “From the first at-bat, he was a lot more aggressive and on the attack. That was good to see.”

Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Playoff watch: Where the Braves stand entering final week

By Tim Tucker, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

The Braves enter the final week of the regular season in good position, but with some work remaining, to clinch a third consecutive National League East title.

Fittingly, a week-long homestand opens with a visit from the Braves’ closest pursuer in the NL East, the surprising Miami Marlins, beginning Monday night.

A look at where the Braves stand in the playoff picture with seven games to go:

The NL East: The Braves (31-22) are in first place by three games over the second-place Marlins (28-25) and four games over the third-place Philadelphia Phillies (27-26). The first- and second-place teams in each division will make the expanded playoffs, as will two “wild card” teams in each league (the teams with the league’s next-best records).

This week: The Braves-Marlins game Monday (7 p.m., Fox Sports South) starts a pivotal four-game series at fan-less Truist Park. The series continues Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday nights. Then the Braves will wrap up the regular season with three games against the Boston Red Sox at Truist next weekend, while the Marlins will close with three in New York against the Yankees. The injury-ravaged Phillies also have seven games remaining, all on the road – four at Washington (single games Monday and Wednesday, a doubleheader Tuesday) and three at Tampa Bay next weekend.

Braves-Marlins pitching matchups: Braves RH Huascar Ynoa (0-0, 5.30) vs. Marlins LH Trevor Rogers (1-1, 6.00) Monday; Braves LH Cole Hamels (0- 1, 8.10) vs. Marlins RH Jose Urena (0-2, 6.00) Tuesday; Braves TBA vs. Marlins RH Sixto Sanchez (3-2, 2.75) Wednesday; Braves LH Max Fried (7-0, 1.96) vs. Marlins RH Pablo Lopez (5-4, 3.96) Thursday.

Magic number: Calculating the magic number has been clunkier than usual because of the tiebreakers MLB is using this season for division championships. But to clinch a third consecutive NL East title without the possibility of tiebreakers being needed, the Braves' magic number is five against the Marlins and four against the Phillies. That means any combination of Braves wins and Marlins losses totaling five and any combination of Braves wins and Phillies losses totaling four will clinch first place outright for the Braves.

Tiebreakers: If there are ties for division titles or playoff seeding, they’ll be resolved with mathematical tiebreakers. The first tiebreaker is head-to- head record. The Braves are 3-3 against the Marlins and 5-5 against the Phillies. The second tiebreaker is intra-division record. The Braves are 21-15 vs. the East, while both the Marlins and Phillies are 20-16. Potentially significant: If the Braves win two of four from Miami this week, they’ll clinch the second tiebreaker over the Marlins.

Seeding: The playoff teams will be seeded 1 through 8 in each league, with first-round matchups pitting No. 1 vs. No. 8, No. 2 vs. No. 7, etc. The top three seeds will be the division champs in order of record. The next three seeds (4-6) will be the second-place teams in order of record. The final two seeds (7-8) will be the wild-card teams in order of record. The NL West champion (the Los Angeles Dodgers lead the San Diego Padres by four games with a 38-16 record) will be the NL’s top seed, while the East and Central leaders (the Braves and the Chicago Cubs are both 31-22) are neck and neck for the No. 2 seed.

Check back each morning this week for the latest on the Braves' playoff watch.

Kyle Wright earns second win as Braves down Mets

By Sarah K. Spencer, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Kyle Wright kept hitters off-balance and pitched a one-hit shutout through 6-1/3 innings, nabbing his second career victory as the Braves (31-22) beat the Mets 7-0 Sunday afternoon in New York.

One week after his first career win, Wright gave up just one hit, while walking one and striking out six, as the Braves scored six runs off the Mets' bullpen. Wright was pulled in the seventh inning, after walking J.D. Davis — just his second base runner of the game.

Wright is finding a rhythm at the right time, as the Braves make their final push of the regular season.

“It’s big for me, just being able to go out there and execute and do the things that I want to do," Wright said. "So hopefully keep this going into the next one, too.”

Prior to his consecutive wins, Wright largely struggled, beginning the season in the Braves' rotation and making four starts (going 0-3 with a 7.20 ERA, giving up 12 earned runs in 15 innings pitched) before being optioned on Aug. 20 and then recalled from the alternate training site Sept. 8.

After two good outings, though, success is becoming easier for him to replicate.

“Once you have a little success, you kind of realize that you can do this and at the end of the day it’s baseball," Wright said. "The guys you’re playing against are really good, but it is baseball and you’ve just got to go out there and compete and have fun with it.”

The Braves' bullpen of Will Smith, Chris Martin, Mark Melancon helped complete the shutout.

Braves manager Brian Snitker was happy with Wright’s outing, especially considering who he was facing.

“It’s very encouraging to see him kind of get that confidence and that was impressive today," Snitker said. "That’s a really good-hitting ball club that he faced with some dangerous left-handed hitters and I was really impressed.”

Ronald Acuna went 2-for-3 and carried the Braves' offense with four RBI.

The game remained scoreless until Acuna’s solo shot gave the Braves a 1-0 lead in the top of the sixth inning. It was the only run they scored off Mets starter Rick Porcello, who struck out 10 and walked two, giving up three hits in seven innings pitched. In the eighth, an RBI double by Travis d’Arnaud, the former Met who has gone 26-for-70 (.371) this month, plated Acuna and Freddie Freeman, who had both drawn walks, as the Braves went up by three. They loaded the bases in the top of the ninth and Acuna capitalized with a three-run double scoring Ozzie Albies, Ender Inciarte and Dansby Swanson. A double by Marcell Ozuna later scored Acuna.

Eleven of Acuna’s 14 hits this month have been extra-base hits (three doubles, eight homers).

Mets relievers Jeurys Familia and Chasen Shreve combined to give up six runs (five earned) on three hits, and four walks.

“That’s kind of the key, really, I think, is you try to keep a game manageable, especially if you’re getting strapped by a starter," Snitker said. "Keep the game manageable and let’s try somebody else. Got some big hits today, Travis, added on by Ronnie, that was those two really, really nice at- bats.”

After going 0-for-11 with runners in scoring position in Saturday’s loss, the Braves went 3-for-10 in Sunday’s win. The Mets rarely got that far, going 0-for-3.

Sunday’s win marked the Braves' final away game of the regular season.

The Braves will begin a four-game series Monday against the Marlins as Huascar Ynoa (0-0, 5.30) matches up with Trevor Rogers (1-1, 6.00). They have no days off for this final stretch of the regular season, which ends Sept. 27. There’s no denying sports, as Sunday proves

By Steve Hummer, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Three months ago, you wouldn’t have bet a farthing that there’d be a day like Sunday. A day in which your big screen sprained multiple pixels trying to keep up with all the games being played. A day that pushed the local couch-bound fan to the brink of exhaustion while flipping channels, making more course changes than a shark on the hunt.

As the coronavirus shut down everything, we were right to wonder about the immediate future of sport. How could any sort of close competition get the least bit of traction before a vaccine was available and the herd was on the move toward immunity?

How wrong the pessimists and amateur virologists among us were to doubt the combined, primal needs to compete and to keep the direct deposits flowing. Properly motivated, our games have powered through every formidable obstacle.

We have gone from wondering if there’d be any sports at all to having almost too much in one day to digest.

Here we were Sunday afternoon, the Falcons and Braves exploring the opposite poles of competence. In New York where the long grass appears to grow teeth, the world’s best golfers at a September U.S. Open were engaged in hand-to-hand combat with par and not faring particularly well. On deck was even more NFL, and another evening for LeBron James to demand that every call go his way.

Surely, Sunday was not a day to experience the rainbow of emotions available to the Atlanta fan. The Braves get a second fine outing from Kyle Wright and stoke optimism toward the postseason. While the Falcons found yet another seemingly impossible way to lose in the state of Texas, where, lest we forget, the legend of 28-3 was born.

Satisfaction and revulsion, the local teams had it all covered Sunday. At least we were feeling something.

It also was time to take a more panoramic view and appreciate the mural of all that was happening Sunday in the midst of so much uncertainty and angst.

To see such a rich variety of diversions would make even a Big Ten administrator hopeful.

You say sport is unimportant in the grand scheme, yet look at the mountains moved in order to keep it going forward. The testing. The protocols. The discipline of all those involved needed to make this work. What emerges is impression of our athletes — a most privileged class — doing such a better job working within the confines of the virus than many other segments of a splintered society.

It was only on July 24 when the Braves went to New York to open a truncated season with much trepidation. Now they have just finished their last road swing of the irregular season — again to New York. And from here can see the end of a trip that that held so many potholes and speed traps along the way. Just a week away from the playoffs, which will render the prior 60 games nothing but a pot sticker before the main course.

How clever and adaptable our sports have been to get us just to this point. Before Hollywood rolled a camera and before Broadway printed another playbill, the show of sport returned to divert us. Sports is the cockroach of entertainment, you can’t kill it.

No, it isn’t perfect, but perfect is a lost concept in 2020.

Now, we’ll simply celebrate better than nothing.

In some small way through sports we all persevere. The scene of 11,000 fans gathered at Georgia Tech for a football game Saturday, for instance, was heartening. Even if they were ill-tempered for much of the day, feeling wronged by the rules-keepers with whistles, they still showed it possible to spectate safely and wisely.

Still their boos sounded like sweet music, because the noise was real.

And for all the trouble gone through these last few months, we get in return scenes of Sunday like the Falcons Calvin Ridley flying to the pylon in poetic movement, the kind for which slow-motion was invented. Like the happy feet on Ronald Acuna during a home run trot. Like an onside kick spinning on the turf aching to be claimed by a Falcon, only none thought to do it. Like Wright sending another Met back to his dugout unfulfilled. Like Bryson DeChambeau attempting to turn the nation’s golf championship into a body building contest.

And I’m exhausted. But it’s a good tired.

Braves offense can’t capitalize on opportunities in loss to Mets

By Sarah K. Spencer, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

In his fifth MLB start, Ian Anderson’s first inning was shaky. He minimized the damage, but the Braves' normally potent offense going quiet combined with one rough outing by reliever Shane Greene handed the Braves a 7-2 loss to the Mets Saturday night.

The Braves were 0-for-11 with runners in scoring position.

“Just to kind of figure out what it’s going to take up here, and obviously you’re not going to have it every night,” Anderson said of what he’s learned through his first few starts. “And to still try and find a way and battle and keep the team in the game, you learn a lot through those outings. And I’ve had five outings and they’ve all kind of been different, some good, some bad, so it’s like I said last week it’s definitely a learning experience every time you go out there and you learn something about the other team, you learn something about yourself.”

Anderson walked the first three batters he faced to load the bases. The Mets capitalized, with Robinson Cano’s RBI single putting the Braves down, 2-0, heading into the second inning, and an RBI double by Robinson Chirinos made it 3-0 in the fourth.

That wasn’t the start Anderson was looking for, but he simplified things and settled down after getting out of the first inning.

“There were a couple pitches that I decided to throw that maybe weren’t in the right situation or I put a little bit too much pressure on myself to execute them, but tried to simplify things,” Anderson said. “I think my stuff was pretty good, so just get back in the zone and try to get guys out.”

Anderson was pulled in the fifth inning, allowing three earned runs, walking four and striking out eight in 4 ⅔ innings.

“He got kind of on a roll there after the first inning,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said. “He did a good job of just allowing the two runs, really, that he kind of got locked in and got on a little roll and he did a nice job after that. He kept the game manageable, I mean, even in the first inning.”

On a normal night, the Braves' offense could overtake a three-run deficit. It nearly did, making an appearance in the sixth inning courtesy of a solo homer by Adam Duvall — the home run was his 11th in September, which ties a Braves franchise record for the month set by Eddie Mathews in 1959.

Another solo shot by Travis d’Arnaud narrowed it to 3-2 in the eighth, before the Braves pulled reliever Will Smith in favor of Shane Greene, who gave up back-to-back home runs to Dominic Smith and Cano. All in all, Greene, who hadn’t allowed multiple runs in an outing since Sept. 11 of last year, or 30 games, surrendered four earned runs on five hits, recording one out before getting pulled. At that point, the Braves couldn’t make up the lost ground.

“He’s had an unbelievable, spectacular year,” Snitker said. “Unfortunately, you keep going out there, that might happen every now and then. I just think on a couple changeups, it looked like they just ran right back into the middle of the plate.”

In one of a handful of missed opportunities, Dansby Swanson, who entered the game with one hit in his last 30 at-bats (which amounts to seven games), doubled in the seventh inning. Tyler Flowers and Ronald Acuna drew walks, loading the bases, but Freddie Freeman grounded into a double play, concluding the inning. Freeman had hit safely in 30 of his last 31 games, batting .419 (49-for-117) over that stretch, but went 0-for-5 with four strikeouts in Saturday’s loss.

“Seventh inning, Freddie hits a bullet there to end that inning," Snitker said. "I mean, that ball’s up a little bit, it clears the bases. He put a good swing on it, unfortunately, it was right at him. But we had a couple other opportunities that we just couldn’t get a productive out. But it’s kind of what we are. We came back. I had a good feeling after Travis' homer, that we get a homer right there, we’re down one with three outs left, we’ve still got a pretty good chance.”

Snitker also gave credit to Mets starter David Peterson, who tallied a career-high 10 strikeouts. Peterson gave up one earned run and four walks in six innings pitched.

Kyle Wright (1-4, 7.20 ERA), coming off his first career win, will start as the Braves face the Mets at 1:10 p.m. Sunday in New York.

Kyle Wright eager to build on first win

By Sarah K. Spencer, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Kyle Wright isn’t feeling much different after getting his first career win Sept. 13 against the Nationals and Max Scherzer, but passing that milestone certainly was a boost for the 24-year-old right-hander.

“I think I’ve just got a little extra confidence, more so than anything,” Wright said Saturday, with the Braves set to face the Mets. “I just still feel like it’s another week, and just try to prepare for this one. ... For me, I just want to continue to try and get better and I just want to give us a chance to win every time I get the ball. So for me, not too much is going to change, I’m just to continue to try to get better.”

In his first win, Wright allowed three earned runs on eight hits in six innings, striking out four and walking two. He got out of a tough situation and prevented the Nationals’ 4-2 lead from growing, giving the Braves’ offense a chance to turn things around, which it quickly did. He will start Sunday vs. the Mets for the chance to nab his second win. The performance a week ago was big for Wright, who hasn’t had the smoothest outings in this shortened season, and big for the Braves, who have had their fair share of starting pitching woes. Overall, Wright is 1-4 with a 7.20 ERA (25 innings pitched). Amid his struggles, he was optioned to the alternate training site Aug. 20, but he was recalled Sept. 8. Wright was averaging four walks per game, but has given up only two walks his past two outings.

Braves manager Brian Snitker said he’s excited to see Wright pitch again Sunday.

“Excited about the next two days, Ian (Anderson) tonight and obviously Kyle again tomorrow, and these guys can be big for us," Snitker said. "So you kind of get excited when their day comes and like I was (Friday) getting Max (Fried) back out there. So it’s going to be fun tonight and looking forward to tomorrow, also.”

Wright is happy to have Snitker’s confidence as the Braves enter into their final stretch of the regular season.

“It’s huge for me, to know that they believe in me, it’s another big confidence boost," Wright said. "Being a pitcher, confidence is everything, I would think, so it’s definitely cool to hear that, and I just want to do whatever I can to help us win.”

Braves hit six homers, win Fried’s return

By Gabriel Burns, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

After a quiet series in Baltimore, the Braves offense unleashed its frustrations in Queens.

The Braves slugged six homers and dismantled the Mets, 15-2, in the series opener Friday night. The run support supplemented Max Fried, who returned from the injured list to allow one run over five innings.

Friday again proved the Braves' bats might be the most menacing in the majors. The Braves were held to seven combined runs while dropping two of three to the Orioles. They doubled that total in one night against the Mets.

“There was some energy in the air tonight,” manager Brian Snitker said. “It was a nice, cool night. … It was good to see the guys come out and swing the bats like that.”

The Braves ambushed Mets starter Steven Matz, who allowed six runs on eight hits in 2-2/3 innings. They tagged the next pitcher, Franklyn Kilome, for another half dozen. They scored in each of the first four frames, which included a four-run second and six-run fourth.

Marcell Ozuna, Austin Riley, Travis d’Arnaud, Ozzie Albies and Ronald Acuna each homered. Albies did so twice to bring their total to six. It was the second time in nine games the Braves reached that mark – they homered seven times in their 29-run onslaught against the Marlins.

The Braves lead the majors with 42 homers this month and would be on pace to shatter the franchise record (set last season) in a normal season. Their lineup itself makes them World Series-caliber. And it helps lessen the pressure on their pitchers.

“They have a tendency to do that,” Fried said of the offensive outbursts. “As long as you can just go out there and get us back in the dugout as quickly as possible, and have those guys keep swinging the bat, that’s kind of where my head is at.”

Notes from Friday:

- While Fried’s velocity sat around 92 mph, which was still a tick below his average, he was effective. He held the Mets to one run on three hits. The run came in his final inning, when Amed Rosario led off with a single and scored on Jeff McNeil’s double.

“I’m not looking at my velocity all that much,” Fried said. “I’m looking at it more for my off-speed stuff to see if there’s a good enough separation. It felt like I was getting some uncomfortable swings and I was able to keep get some soft contact. I haven’t looked to see how my velocity was throughout the game, but if I go out there and keep guys off balance, execute my pitches, I know that’s where I need to be.”

D’Arnaud added: “He was able to locate his fastball, inside, outside, up, down. Both his breaking balls were there. He even had his change-up today, which I think is his secret weapon and definitely an equalizer.”

It’s paramount that Fried is fully healthy for the postseason, when he’ll be relied upon as the team’s No. 1 starter. In his breakout season, Fried is 7- 0 and owns a 1.96 ERA with 50 strikeouts against 19 walks across 10 starts (55 innings).

- Consider the Acuna slump snapped. The Braves' All-Star outfielder entered the night on a 1-for-21 run across his past six games. He went 2-for-4 with an RBI and three runs scored Friday, looking much more like his dynamic self.

“The off day (Thursday) was really good for him,” Snitker said. “Just let his mind rest a little bit. From the first at-bat, he was a lot more aggressive and on the attack. That was good to see.” - There was only one Brave who didn’t record a hit or walk: the slumping shortstop Dansby Swanson, who went 0-for-6 with three strikeouts. Swanson’s promising season has been in a lull over the past week.

In his last seven games, Swanson is 1-for-30 with nine strikeouts. Before this skid, Swanson was 13-for-38 (.342) with four extra-base hits and five RBIs in September.

- “I really like Ozzie down there,” Snitker said of Albies hitting ninth. It worked well for the player and club, with Albies homered twice and knocking in three runs. Albies has hit .378 with four homers and eight RBIs in nine games since returning from a wrist injury.

Snitker also singled out Riley for his at-bats. The third baseman went 2-for-5 with a home run.

- First baseman Freddie Freeman didn’t join the homer parade, but he did strengthen his MVP candidacy with three hits, including two doubles. One of his doubles scored two runs, extending his league-leading RBI total to 48. He’s reached base in 33 consecutive games.

- Ozuna and Adam Duvall have 15 homers, tying them with San Diego’s Fernando Tatis Jr. for the second most in the National League. The Dodgers' Mookie Betts homered Friday for his league-leading 16th.

- Ian Anderson will make his fifth start Saturday against Mets lefty David Peterson. The Braves are 6-2 against the Mets, clinching the season series with Friday’s win.

Freddie Freeman gaining national recognition as MVP candidate

By Gabriel Burns, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Freddie Freeman’s National League MVP case is gaining traction as the regular season winds down.

“I’ve seen on some of the shows they’ve done, talking about how Freddie is warranting all this attention,” manager Brian Snitker said. “And he probably hasn’t gotten the credit and attention he deserves for the elite player he is. He’s definitely in the same breath as all those guys.”

The Braves' first baseman entered Friday with a 32-game on-base streak. Since having a day off Aug. 5, he’s hit .401 with 10 homers, 39 RBIs and 33 runs scored in 37 games. He’s posted a 1.255 OPS in that span.

It’s easy to see why Freeman’s campaign has reached the national level. Consider his overall numbers: He leads the National League in average (.352) and RBIs (46). He’s tied for first in doubles (18) and second in hits (63). He’s second in runs (43), on-base percentage (.465) and slugging percentage (.648). He’s fourth in walks (36).

And Freeman is doing it for a team that has led the NL East in 44 of 56 days since the season began. Freeman has long been on the peripherals of MVP races, but if he continues surging over the final 10 games, this might finally be his breakthrough.

“He’s just a special player,” said rookie starter Ian Anderson, who’s seen Freeman up close for the past few weeks. “He loves the game. That’s the biggest thing. Obviously he’s a really good player, but he loves being out there. I didn’t realize how vocal he was with some of the guys on other teams. It just goes to show you how much fun he’s having out there.”

The Padres’ Fernando Tatis Jr. and the Dodgers' Mookie Betts join Freeman among the NL MVP front-runners. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution will have more on Freeman’s MVP candidacy next week.

Notes from Friday:

- Left-hander Max Fried returned from the injured list to start Friday in New York. Fried won’t have any limitations moving forward, Snitker said. He missed one start because of a muscle spasm in his lumbar spine.

- Huascar Ynoa pitched four scoreless innings in his last start, against the Orioles, but left early with back tightness. Not only is he healthy, but the Braves would like to give him another start before season’s end.

“You’d kind of like to get him back out there, the way he’s throwing,” Snitker said. “I saw him walking around the halls and he looked fine. We need to get him back on the mound.”

Ynoa, 22, has made eight appearances (four starts). He has a 5.80 ERA with 16 strikeouts and 12 walks in 18-2/3 innings. He could potentially earn a spot on the team’s postseason roster.

- Since debuting in late August, Anderson has established himself as one of the Braves' best starters, earning a 1.64 ERA with a 27:10 strikeout-to- walk ratio in four starts (22 innings). He’ll be relied upon in the postseason, when he’ll have no more than six career starts under his belt. “I feel ready,” Anderson said. “I think it’s part of the whole progression, having the confidence to come up here and be ready to perform. That’s the next step (pitching in the playoffs). Just go out there and keep the mindset I’ve had this whole time. Give the team their best chance to win knowing the other guys are going to do the same.”

- Outfielder Ronald Acuna is on a cold streak entering Friday. He’s 1-for-21 across his past six games and hitless in his past four. He’s struck out 13 times in those 21 at-bats while drawing only three walks.

There’s certainly no reason to panic – Acuna has been a streaky player across his early career – and he has 10 games to settle in before the postseason. The Braves played the Mets three times this weekend before hosting the Marlins for four and the Red Sox to end the regular season.

“It’s just something these guys go through,” Snitker said. “They’re still figuring this whole thing out on a day-to-day basis. They’re all trying to achieve that consistency that a Freddie Freeman has.”

The Braves in October: Might they get it right this time?

By Mark Bradley, Atlanta Journal-Constitution

The Braves almost certainly will start the playoffs at Truist Park on Sept. 30. If it seems only yesterday that the same Braves played their 2020 opener … well, that’s because it almost was. They began July 24 in New York. They’re schedule to finish this irregular season Sept. 27. Two months and three days, soup to nuts. Let the crap-shoot commence.

The Braves would have to err mightily over this next week not to win the National League East. Of the other four division members, only the Marlins – yes, the Marlins – were above .500 as of Friday noon. Finishing first over 60 games doesn’t bear the weight of finishing first over 162, but it’s not nothing. It’s more than the Yankees and Astros are apt to do.

We can’t say the Braves have made it easy on themselves. Over 50 games, the Braves used 12 starting pitchers. Over the full 162 last year, they used 11. Until Cole Hamels – at last! – made his debut Wednesday, their rotation was without all six of the men who, when summer camp commenced, figured to claim those five spots. The upshot: Their starters' ERA was 6.01, third-worst in the majors. Only one other team with a starters' ERA above 5.00 was above .500, that being the Giants at 25-24.

The Braves' last day below .500 was July 28; they were 2-3. Still, we can’t say they’ve cruised to a truncated division title. Almost everything that could go wrong has. Freddie Freeman tested positive. Ronald Acuna and Ozzie Albies spent time on the injured list. Mike Soroka tore his Achilles. Mike Foltynewicz and Sean Newcomb were again demoted. And yet: This team led the NL East by three games with 10 remaining. That’s more than not nothing.

The Braves are where they are for two reasons. Their bullpen, which was the object of much of Alex Anthopoulos' offseason work, has been great. As of Friday, its ERA was the third-lowest among the 30 MLB clubs.

Also: They’ve hit like crazy – third in the majors in runs, second in slugging percentage, first in RBIs. Freeman ranked No. 1 in baseball in offensive WAR, per Baseball Reference, and No. 1 in on-base percentage. He and Marcell Ozuna stood 1-2 in the NL in RBIs. Adam Duvall, back from oblivion, was tied for the NL lead in home runs. Seven Braves have hit at least seven homers. Dansby Swanson, who needed to have a big year, ranked 10th in the majors among position players in overall WAR. They’ve more than made do without Josh Donaldson.

Let’s face it, though. Nobody’s going to recall this 60-game season as anything more than a tune-up for the 16-team tournament. The Braves haven’t so much tuned up as plugged holes, but this much is self-evident: The rotation looks better than it has in a month. Max Fried was activated Friday after 10 days on the IL with back spasms. Hamels made it through 3-1/3 innings without his arm falling off. Of Ian Anderson’s first four starts, three were excellent.

In some postseasons, you could get by with three starters, maybe even two. The dynamics of this postseason changed with MLB’s announcement of its intentions to bubble up. The Braves are on track to play Round 1, which is best-of-three, in Cobb County. Should they advance, every other game will be staged in Texas – either in Houston (possible Round 2) or Arlington (possible Round 2, plus NLCS and World Series). Because no travel days will be needed, there’ll be no off-days. Round 2 is best-of-five; everything beyond is best-of-seven.

This means that a team will need a fourth starter, and maybe a fifth. It’s hard to imagine Fried getting more than two starts even in a best-of-seven. (Starting Games 1 and 5 would put him on three days' rest, down from the customary four.) The bad news: The Braves aren’t loaded in the No. 4/5 starter department. Better news: Nobody else is, either. Here’s where relievers redeployed as placeholding “starters” loom large.

This smushed-together postseason – were the Braves to play every possible game, they’d work 22 times in 28 days – ladles another layer of unpredictability atop that which already defied prediction. Josh Tomlin, who can start and relieve, could be a big man this October. With 28-man rosters, nobody should run out of pitchers. At issue will be who runs out of good pitchers.

A postseason threesome of Fried, Anderson and Hamels is better than the Braves could have hoped in the dark days of August. (Back then, it was Max and pray for monsoons.) If the starters, even if they’re relievers by trade, can keep games close, this bullpen can win them. Over time, this franchise has suffered many playoff indignities because it got out-relieved. In this strangest of years, it might be fitting if the club that invariably flops in October is the last team standing BECAUSE of its bullpen.

No, that’s not a prediction. It’s also possible the Braves could be done after two games. Cram 16 teams into one postseason and four bubbles, and nobody can know anything. This much I do know: I like the Braves' chances much more than I did on Labor Day.

The Athletic

Big day for Ronald Acuña Jr. and for Kyle Wright, who changed Braves’ outlook

By David O'Brien

Barely a week ago, when the Braves and their fans thought about putting together a starting rotation for a postseason series, it was with a sense of dread. It was at that time, and this is not hyperbole, a cringe-worthy proposition.

But the outlook has changed considerably.

One reason for increased optimism regarding the rotation is Kyle Wright, who had a career-best performance Sunday in a 7-0 road win against the New York Mets. It came in a game that scoreless through five innings and a one-run game until the eighth.

A pitchers’ duel, in other words. And a game that served as a stage for a famous Braves phenom as well as another rising Atlanta rookie pitcher. Ronald Acuña Jr., that phenom, drove in four runs with a go-ahead homer and a bases-loaded double, and Wright pitched 6 1/3 scoreless innings of one-hit, one-walk ball to win his second consecutive start since losing his first seven MLB decisions.

Wright retired 19 of the first 20 Mets, including the first eight, then 11 in a row between Wilson Ramos’ two-out double in the third inning and J.D. Davis’ one-out walk in the seventh.

“It’s very encouraging,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said. “To see him get that confidence. That was impressive today. That’s a really good-hitting ballclub that he faced, with some dangerous left-handed hitters. I was impressed.”

The NL East-leading Braves (31-22) have a three-game edge over second-place Miami entering a four-game series against the Marlins starting Monday at Truist Park. It will be the beginning of a season-ending homestand, and with seven games left for both teams, the Braves’ magic number is down to five to clinch their third consecutive division title. Any number of Braves wins or Marlins losses totaling five will do it.

The Braves close the season with a series against the Boston Red Sox. The Marlins face the resurgent New York Yankees after leaving Atlanta.

Asked if it weren’t the perfect time for Wright to put things together, with the postseason set to begin in less than two weeks, Snitker said, “I don’t know that there’s ever a bad time for a kid like that to find himself and get the confidence, get himself going. I’m just happy for him.”

Snitker replaced Wright with Will Smith with one out in the seventh inning, with a runner at first base and the Braves leading 1-0 on the strength of Acuña’s sixth-inning homer off Rick Porcello. Smith has been prone to giving up homers this season, but he induced an inning-ending double play from Dominic Smith, preserving the lead and keeping Wright in line for the win.

The Braves stretched the lead to 3-0 on Travis d’Arnaud’s two-run double in the eighth inning, as he continued to haunt the team that released him in May 2019. They blew the game open with a four-run ninth that featured Acuña’s three-run double.

En route to collecting two road wins in eight days against division rivals Washington and New York, Wright reduced his ERA from a bloated 8.05 to 5.74 while allowing nine total hits and three earned runs in 12 1/3 innings with three walks and 10 strikeouts, including a career-high six strikeouts Sunday.

“He’s been tremendous,” veteran catcher d’Arnaud said of Wright’s improvement. “His demeanor on the mound, his demeanor in-between innings — he’s carrying himself really well and has just been attacking guys. And his ball moves so much and is so explosive that I think he’s starting to realize he doesn’t need to be too fine.”

Wright threw 60 strikes in 98 pitches and set the tone early by establishing his fastball, as he did against the Nationals a week earlier, but even more effectively.

“Yeah, again my fastball was really good, both two-seam (sinker) and four-seam,” Wright said. “I was able to throw everything else off that. Whenever you establish your fastball it makes your other stuff a lot better, and I was able to get that going early.”

His mid-90 mph fastball has such good movement that it had frustrated team officials when Wright would get away from it in some games and rely too much on his slider. He hasn’t done that the past two times out. “Got that fastball going … I thought that was going to be the key earlier in the year,” Snitker said. “The curveball was really good, too. But I just liked how he attacked. It looked like he was running balls in on them. That was really nice to see.”

Snitker added: “You’d always go back, and I’d watch his games and just see the action on that fastball. And I was like, ‘My God.’ The command, that’s the key to these kids being successful, is commanding their pitches, especially their fastball.”

Or, as d’Arnaud put it, “Guys have got to respect it if someone’s throwing a 94-mile-an-hour two-seamer that’s barreling in on your hands. And then also a 95-mile-an-hour four-seam that’s going right over the bat of guys that are trying to match the plane of the sinker. But yeah, that ultimately opens up everything, because guys have to respect the heater.”

Ian Anderson has been the buzzed-about Braves rookie starter for several weeks, for good reason. The 22-year-old Anderson moved past Wright on most prospect lists after last season, and Anderson was 3-0 with a 1.64 ERA in his first four big-league starts before taking his first loss Saturday. He gave up three runs in 4 2/3 innings against the Mets, after walking the first three batters of the game.

Anderson recovered well from that rocky first inning. While he gave up more than two runs in a game for the first time, the fact that he limited the damage to three runs checked another box for the pitcher many believe could join Max Fried and Mike Soroka in a big three of sorts next season. That’s assuming Soroka returns at or close to full strength from the ruptured Achilles tendon that ended his season in early August.

Now, enter Wright. If he continues making strides, the Braves might well have a young rotation that could stay together for some time. One that would make the recent weeks of scrambling to fill out a patchwork rotation seem like some foggy dream from a strange season.

“Even in the times that (Wright) was struggling, you could tell that the stuff was there and he has the potential and has the pitches to be there,” Acuña said through Braves interpreter Franco García. “So any of the bad outings that he had before didn’t signify to me that he was a bad pitcher. It’s the opposite — I knew he had the stuff, I knew he was a good pitcher.

“He’s a tremendous baseball player, and it’s good to see him kind of bring that all together.”

The Braves haven’t announced postseason pitching plans and obviously won’t until they’ve clinched a spot. But one can deduce from this week’s plans how the Braves are lining up their pitching. After starting rookie Huascar Ynoa in Monday’s series opener, they will pitch Cole Hamels on Tuesday and push back Fried one day to Thursday, leaving Wednesday’s starter to be determined.

It gives Hamels two more regular-season starts to build arm strength and stamina, while Fried will have an extra day of rest before his Wednesday start and then have two extra days’ rest before a Sept. 30 wild-card-round opener. Anderson presumably would start Game 2, and Hamels would be in line to start Game 3 if the first-round series went the distance.

Wright’s back-to-back strong starts give the Braves a backup plan and also would make him the likely favorite to be the fourth starter in a best-of- five NL Division Series if the Braves get that far.

For now, the Braves can at least stop stressing as much as they might have otherwise before Hamels’ debut and Wright’s ascendance. Particularly if they were to advance to the second round, which would be in a neutral-location “bubble” with no off days, meaning five games in five days if the series were to go the distance.

“We feel very confident,” d’Arnaud said, speaking in general about the team’s chances. “Our pitching has done a tremendous job. They’re the reason why we’re winning all these games, especially as of late. Obviously the offense has been great, but for the pitching to be great as well, just makes us so dangerous.”

Ten days ago, the Braves couldn’t have felt confident about fielding even three competitive starters for a short playoff series, much less a five- or seven-game series with no days off. But that was before Wednesday’s long-awaited season debut by Hamels. And before Friday’s strong return by the staff ace, Fried, from a 12-day stint on the injured list for back spasms, and before Wright’s showing Sunday.

Wright got his first win Sept. 13 with a quality start (six innings, four runs, three earned) against the Nationals that was actually better than the line indicated — his eight hits allowed included two bunt singles and a broken-bat bloop — and left the Braves hoping he could follow it up with another start as good against the Mets.

He did so much more than that at New York on Sunday, not only exceeding his previous start but also living up to the kind of expectations people had for Wright after the Braves selected him out of Vanderbilt with the fifth overall pick of the 2017 draft.

The Alabama native made his MLB debut just 15 months later. But it took 17 games including 10 starts for Wright to get a win.

But it only took another week for him to get his second win, and to begin making some folks admit they might’ve been wrong for wondering aloud (and on social media) whether he had what it took to be a big-time major-league pitcher.

Until these past two starts, he had been prone to displaying one- or two-inning flashes of brilliance, only to have his command suddenly abandon him during crooked-number innings that led to early exits from games and inevitably to Braves losses. After making some physical adjustments, most notably a move to the far left side of the pitching rubber at the suggestion of Braves veteran Josh Tomlin, and doing plenty of work on his mental approach and how to maintain the focus on his game plan, Wright has begun to fully realize his potential. He has found out how to keep things between the rails when an inning might’ve come unraveled on him in the past.

“Definitely a mixture of everything,” he said. “Moving on the mound has helped, but I think for me, it’s just kind of been more mentally than anything, just kind of getting back to good routines. I’ve been working with our mental performance coach, Zach Sorenson, a lot, just kind of get back into good routines and things that I guess I used to do but just got away from.

“For me, that’s just kind of allowing the confidence to come from my preparation and then just go out and compete.”

It has taken a little longer than he and others thought it might, but Wright, who’ll turn 25 in October, now realizes he can succeed at the major- league level much as he did in college and throughout his minor-league career, that he need not make it out to be even bigger than what it is.

“Once you have a little bit of success, you realize you can do that,” he said. “At the end of the day, it’s baseball. The guys you’re playing against are really good, but it is baseball. You’ve just got to go out there and compete and have fun with it.”

Max Fried sharp in return from IL; MVP candidate Freddie Freeman keeps going

By David O'Brien

There are many things to like about Freddie Freeman the person and Freddie Freeman the baseball player, but for the purpose of this story, we’ll focus on his on-field exploits rather than charitable work, including his recent $150,000 donation to coronavirus pandemic relief, which helped make Freeman the Braves’ finalist for the annual Roberto Clemente Award.

On the field, the Braves’ 31-year-old face-of-the-franchise first baseman has gone from being a perennial MVP award contender — a standout often mentioned in the top five but never a top-three finisher — to a leading candidate to win the award this season and become the Braves’ first MVP since his mentor, Chipper Jones, won the award 21 years ago.

San Diego’s Fernando Tatís Jr. and the Los Angeles Dodgers’ Mookie Betts are the other consensus front-runners for NL MVP, and along with Freeman, those three also are the top favorites among Las Vegas oddsmakers.

Freeman went 3-for-5 with a two-run double in the Braves’ 15-2 dismantling of the New York Mets in Friday’s series opener at Citi Field, where Ozzie Albies had two of Atlanta’s six home runs and Max Fried improved to 7-0 with five innings of three-hit, one-run ball in his first start since a 12- day stint on the injured list.

Freeman raised his NL-leading batting average to .359 and his league-leading RBI total to 48 and improved his majors-leading totals in doubles (20) and extra-base hits (32). He also finished the night ranked second in the majors in on-base percentage (.471), slugging percentage (.658) and OPS (1.128). The leader in all three of those was Washington star Juan Soto, who has played 36 games to Freeman’s 51.

Freeman also could be the first Braves player to win a batting title since Jones hit .364 in 2008. Freeman holds a 10-point lead over Soto (.349) with nine games left in the Braves’ season.

Braves catcher Travis d’Arnaud, who homered Friday against the team he played for from 2013 until the Mets released him in May 2019, is among those who have developed a deeper appreciation for Freeman’s talent playing alongside him and watching him from the dugout.

“He’s impressed me even more,” d’Arnaud said. “Getting to spend all day with him, too. He’s so intelligent in the (batter’s) box. A lot of stuff he says, I couldn’t have imagined him thinking that way when I was calling a game against him. I know I sleep a lot better at night knowing I don’t have to call a game against him, as well.”

Fried showed no lingering effects from back spasms, firing 57 strikes in 80 pitches, including some 94-95-mph fastballs, back to his normal velocity after it was down a couple of ticks in his past two starts before the IL stint. He had two walks and three strikeouts and trimmed his ERA to 1.96 in 10 starts, perhaps reigniting his Cy Young Award bid.

While the Braves hit six homers, Fried once again allowed none. He hasn’t served up a homer in 68 1/3 innings, dating to Aug. 11, the longest active streak in the majors.

The only qualified pitcher in the majors this season to not allow a homer, Fried also is the first Braves starter to open a season with at least 10 homer-free starts since Zane Smith’s streak of 13 to begin the 1986 season. Fried said he had no soreness or stiffness despite a couple of long innings spent in the dugout on a cool night as the Braves pounded away at Mets pitching.

The recently slumping Ronald Acuña Jr. had two hits, including his 12th home run. The phenom had gone a career-high 18 consecutive at-bats without a hit before Friday and struck out 12 times in that span, but he started Friday’s game with a double, reached base three times, including a walk, and scored three times, including on Freeman’s second-inning double that pushed the early lead to 3-0. Austin Riley and Marcell Ozuna also homered for the Braves, with Ozuna’s 15th homer tying teammate Adam Duvall and the San Diego duo of Tatís and Manny Machado for second place in the NL home-run race, one behind Betts, who hit his 16th on Friday.

Freeman is five off the lead with 11 homers, on pace for 34-35 in a normal (162-game) season. Freeman had a career-best 38 homers last season and 34 in 2016, which was the first season he posted a .400 OBP. He followed that with a .403 in 2017, but this season he’ll blow away that mark, albeit in a season shortened to 60 games after starting four months late due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The first-place Braves (30-21) have a 3 1/2-game lead over the Miami Marlins, who play in Atlanta next week during the Braves’ final homestand, and a four-game lead over Philadelphia. The Braves’ magic number is down to seven to clinch a third consecutive division title, and if they were to go 7-2 the rest of the way, it wouldn’t matter what the Marlins or Phillies do, the title would belong the Braves.

For Freeman, Friday was typical in that he had a major impact, but wasn’t the star of the game for the Braves. He’s not been the star of the game as frequently as a couple of teammates, but Freeman has been one of three or four stars of a game more times than anyone else. He has been a remarkably steady top-tier performer this season, a trait that also happens to pretty much define his 11-year career.

That was what Braves manager Brian Snitker noted when asked before Friday’s game whether the team’s day off Thursday might have come at a good time for Acuña, who had been 2-for-24 on the trip and had gone a career-high 18 consecutive at-bats without a hit, striking out 12 times in that drought before his first-inning leadoff double Friday.

“Yeah, maybe just let him detox a little bit and rest his mind,” Snitker said a few hours before first pitch. “I just saw him in the hall, and he was like he is, just laughing, bouncing around pretty good. It’s just something these guys go through. They’re still figuring this whole thing out on a day-to- day basis. They’re all trying to achieve that consistency that a Freddie Freeman has, and it’s really hard to get to that point.”

The consistency of Freeman really has been something to behold.

In eight of his 10 full seasons before this one, he hit between .282 and .309. He had an on-base percentage of .386 or higher in six of the past seven seasons prior to this one, with the outlier in that span being a .370 OBP in his injury-shorted 2015 season.

He hit 23 or more homers in six of the past eight seasons, including 28 in 117 games in 2017, the other of his two injury-shortened seasons. And he had an OPS above .840 in seven consecutive seasons before this one, including .968 in 2016, .989 in 2017 and .938 in 2019.

Freeman avoided significant injuries in four of the past six seasons and had more than 690 plate appearances and at least 158 games in each of those four, including playing all 162 games in 2014 and again in 2018.

Cole Hamels, a 15-year veteran and first-year Braves pitcher, was in his fifth season with the Phillies in 2010. That was the year Freeman was a September callup and hit his first major league homer at Philadelphia off Roy Halladay, who won 21 games and his second Cy Young.

Hamels faced Freeman on a regular basis for four seasons and handled him better than most — Freeman is 11-for-50 with two homers against the lefty — but said it was never easy. He, too, has developed a greater appreciation watching Freeman as a teammate.

“It’s almost like he doesn’t try to do too much, and that’s very frustrating for a pitcher,” Hamels said. “When you think you can put him away, he’s then just going to fight and he’s not going to just give up an at-bat. That says a lot about a hitter. Those are the guys you don’t want up in the big situation when you’re facing them because they’re going to grind you down until you make the mistake.

“And if you don’t make the mistake to them, you’re most likely now going to make the mistake to the next hitter, because all of a sudden you’re just totally exhausted from that battle. That’s when Freddie helps out the next guy behind him. And that’s awesome to see. And that’s how you’re able to have a really good lineup.”

Batting behind Freeman in his first season with the Braves, Ozuna is enjoying the best year of his career, hitting .318 with a .404 OBP, .605 slugging percentage and 1.010 OPS. Those all would surpass the stats from his personal-best slash line (.312/.376/.584) with the Marlins in 2017 when he had career-highs of 37 homers and 124 RBIs with a .924 OPS — the only season in which his OPS was above .800 until this year.

Hitting behind Freeman is probably going to help Ozuna make a whole lot of money in a multi-year contract this winter after he signed a one-year, $18 million deal with the Braves to help restore his free-agent value following two good-not-great years with St. Louis.

As formidable as Ozuna has been behind him, opposing teams still pitch carefully around Freeman or intentionally walk him at times with runners on base in tight games. For good reason: With runners in scoring position, Freeman is a .323 career hitter with a .980 OPS in 1,490 plate appearances, and this season he has hit .455 (20-for-44) in those situations with 10 extra-base hits, 33 RBIs and 18 walks.

In those plate appearances with runners in scoring position, Freeman leads the majors with a stunning .619 OBP and 1.483 OPS.

When asked why Freeman isn’t mentioned more often among the game’s biggest stars, Braves shortstop Dansby Swanson said, “I’m not going to sit here and give you a theory why I think that is.

Then Swanson did exactly that, explaining why Freeman sometimes gets overlooked. “I think it’s the absolute model of consistency, and sometimes consistency can be taken for granted,” Swanson said. “Because you get the same out him every day, every season. No matter if he’s hurt or not hurt.”

Or sick. As Swanson noted, Freeman missed most of the summer restart camp with a nasty case of COVID-19. He began the season looking thinner and after only five days of intrasquad and exhibition games upon returning from the illness. And after a slow first week or so by his standards, Freeman heated up at the plate and hasn’t cooled.

Freeman has reached base in 33 consecutive games, the longest active streak in the majors, and hit safely in 30 of the past 31 games, batting .419 with 22 extra-base hits and 36 RBIs during the latter stretch.

“It’s the same (results) every single year,” Swanson said. “And sometimes you can take it for granted, like, ‘Oh, there’s Freddie, hitting over .300, gonna have close to 100 RBIs, close to 30 homers in a regular (full season) year.’ But it’s not too often that you can pencil in somebody in your lineup every single day and get the same thing out of them — offensively, defensively, on the bases, in the clubhouse. And do it a superstar level.

“I tell you, I don’t take him for granted, and nobody else around here does. We’re very appreciative of him, how he carries himself. It’s remarkable.”

ESPN

Everything you need to know for final week of the MLB season

By David Schoenfield

Did you think we would get here? With one week remaining in this shortened, 60-game season, without the benefit of a bubble to keep the players completely isolated from the COVID-19 virus, the 30 teams and 1,295 different players who have worn a major league uniform in 2020 are going to make it to the end. With a mandatory quarantine date set for Wednesday, some teams will leave for the road this week -- packing for a trip that could extend to 50 days if they reach the World Series.

It didn't look like we would get here after the first weekend of the season, when the Miami Marlins had an outbreak in the organization and then the St. Louis Cardinals had one a few days later. The Marlins didn't play for eight days, the Cardinals for 16, and doubleheaders piled up for those two clubs and their opponents who had their own schedules interfered with. Remarkably, both the Marlins and Cardinals enter the final week in a playoff position.

With the 16-team postseason tournament looming next week, we still have a few things to decide -- most notably, which teams, especially in the National League, will actually get in. Here's what to watch these final seven days:

The National League playoff race

The Dodgers, Cubs, Braves and Padres are in. After that, it's a fight between six teams for four spots; sorry, Mets fans, your squad is seventh in this sprint, and its odds are slim. Look, this is a race to a .500 record, and it's not exactly reliving the NL West race from 1993. With the recent talk about keeping the postseason at 16 teams, hopefully this will serve as a guide as to why that's a bad idea. Of course, if your team is one of those scrambling to get in, enjoy the games. The teams and their remaining schedules:

Miami Marlins (28-25, 83.4% playoff odds): at Atlanta (4 games), at Yankees (3). After a slew of doubleheaders over the past two weeks, it's seven games on the road. They'll miss Gerrit Cole the final weekend, since he'll be set up for New York's first game of the playoffs. But they still have the toughest remaining schedule with the Braves and Yankees and a pitching staff that has been prone to blowout games (like Sunday's 15-0 loss).

St. Louis Cardinals (26-24, 80.4%): at Kansas City (3), vs. Milwaukee (5): The Milwaukee series includes a Friday doubleheader. The Cardinals will have played 53 games in 44 days -- thanks to 11 doubleheaders -- and that only gets them to 58 games played. A final doubleheader against the Tigers will be played on Monday if it affects the playoff race -- which is likely.

Philadelphia Phillies (27-26, 73.7%): at Washington (4), at Tampa Bay (3): The good news is the Rays will be setting up their rotation for the playoffs, so the Phillies will probably miss both Tyler Glasnow and Blake Snell. The Phillies also are battling injuries, without Rhys Hoskins and hoping J.T. Realmuto makes it back into the lineup on Monday. Their two aces, Zack Wheeler and Aaron Nola, are scheduled to go Monday and Tuesday, so they would be ready to go on Saturday and Sunday if needed. The Phillies hope Nola won't have to make that final start and instead be ready for the first game of the postseason.

Cincinnati Reds (27-27, 52.2%): vs. Milwaukee (3), at Minnesota (3): A six-game winning streak last week got the Reds back into the mix, but there are no Pirates matchups left on their schedule. Luis Castillo will start Monday, so he'll get two starts in the final week, but Trevor Bauer won't pitch again until Friday -- lining him up for Game 1 of the wild-card round if the Reds make it. Milwaukee Brewers (26-26, 58.6%): at Cincinnati (3), at St. Louis (5): Your fun fact of the day: The Brewers might make the playoffs despite not being over .500 at any point of the season. They started 0-1 and have been 1-1, 2-2, 3-3, 5-5, 10-10, 11-11 and now 26-26 after winning four in a row.

San Francisco Giants (26-26, 42.7%): vs. Colorado (4), vs. San Diego (4): They get four at home, including a Friday doubleheader against the Padres. They're 6-16 against the Dodgers, Padres and A's, but they went 8-2 against Arizona and 4-0 against Seattle.

The Marlins are the surprise story of the season, given their 57-105 record last year and how they had to scramble just to fill their roster; they've used an incredible 61 players this season -- 11 more than they employed last year in 162 games.

The Reds are the team the Dodgers don't want to face in the best-of-three first round, even though they're hitting just .212. Bauer and Castillo can shut down any lineup and send even the Dodgers home early. The Brewers also struggle at the plate, but they suddenly have a formidable one-two punch, as well, in Corbin Burnes and Brandon Woodruff, plus the one-two bullpen punch of Devin Williams and Josh Hader.

The American League playoff race

The eight teams are pretty much set here; it's just a matter of what order they finish. The Rays, White Sox and A's lead their divisions, with the Rays and White Sox sitting on 19 losses and the A's at 20, so any of them could get the No. 1 seed. That's not necessarily a big factor since everybody will be playing on the road after the initial wild-card series; but with the Indians the likely No. 7 seed, you really don't want to finish with the No. 2 seed and have to face Shane Bieber in your first playoff game.

The Yankees and Twins look like they will face each other, as well, which is bad news for the Twins. The Twins have lost 16 playoff games in a row going back to 2004, 13 of them to the Yankees. No, the 2020 Twins don't care what happened in 2004, but many will remember last year's sweep or the loss in the 2017 wild-card game. The Yankees also are getting hot again at the right time, with Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton both back, Gerrit Cole back in a groove and J.A. Happ on a roll (1.93 ERA over his past six starts). For what it's worth, the Yankees (21-7) and the Twins (21-5) have both been excellent at home, and that first-round series is played at the higher seed's home stadium.

The NL MVP race

A couple of weeks ago, Fernando Tatis Jt. had this one locked up; but over his past 12 games, he has hit .125 with no home runs and two RBIs. It now looks like a four-player race:

Tatis: .275/.366/.565, 15 HR, 40 RBI, 47 R, 2.55 WAR, 1.1 WPA Manny Machado: .316/.378/.607, 16 HR, 46 RBI, 41 R, 2.8 WAR, 0.8 WPA Freddie Freeman: .346/.464/.634, 11 HR, 48 RBI, 46 R, 2.7 WAR, 2.1 WPA Mookie Betts: .303/.376/.597, 16 HR, 39 RBI, 42 R, 2.85 WAR, 2.1 WPA

WAR here is the average of FanGraphs and Baseball-Reference flavors of wins above replacement, and WPA is win probability added from Baseball- Reference. Both are the totals entering Sunday.

Tatis might still be the favorite since he has received the most attention this season: Sometimes the storyline trumps the stats, especially in an otherwise close race, and Tatis owns the storyline with his blend of youth, excitement, style and power-speed combo.

What jumps out, however, is that Freeman and Betts have the much higher WPA than the two Padres hitters. Here is each player's performance in high-leverage situations, when games are closest:

Tatis: .306/.375/.694, 3 HR, 15 RBIs in 40 PA Machado: .263/.362/.605, 4 HR, 17 RBIs in 47 PA Freeman: .333/.500/.633, 2 HR, 16 RBIs in 40 PA Betts: .314/.385/.543, 2 HR, 11 RBIs in 39 PA

That doesn't really seem to separate anyone. Tatis has performed his worst in medium-leverage situations, while the others all raked. Betts hit .429 against the Padres, the team the Dodgers battled for the NL West title. Tatis, meanwhile, hit just .205 against the Dodgers; he cleaned up against the Padres' two worst opponents, the Diamondbacks and Rangers. Machado also struggled against the Dodgers, while killing the AL West (.414, 24 RBIs in 17 games). Freeman has hit .395 or better against three of his NL East rivals, struggling only against the Mets.

I think Tatis probably remains the slight favorite. But Freeman is surging late, a lot of the clutch statistics go in his favor and that big edge in batting average over Tatis could help -- and the two Padres could split the vote.

The AL MVP race

This feels like a three-player field and is made more complicated by the fact that one of them is a pitcher and two of them are teammates:

Jose Abreu: .335/.381/.651, 18 HR, 53 RBIs, 39 R, 2.7 WAR, 1.6 WPA Tim Anderson: .360/.395/.601, 10 HR, 21 RBIs, 43 R, 2.45 WAR, 0.7 WPA Shane Bieber: 8-1, 1.74 ERA, 72.1 IP, 44 H, 112 SO, 2.95 WAR, 2.8 WPA Anderson would have a better case if he hadn't spent time on the injured list. As is, he still leads the AL in runs scored and has a chance to win his second straight batting title. Abreu could lead the AL in RBIs for the second straight year -- he is driving in Anderson much of the time -- and is second to Luke Voit in home runs and slugging percentage. Abreu also is the team leader of the young and improved White Sox and an important mentor to the Latino players such as Luis Robert, Eloy Jimenez and Yoan Moncada.

As good as Abreu has been, you have to really dominate as a first baseman. And no player in the AL has dominated quite like Bieber. He has had to be this good because the Indians don't score many runs. He has won three games by 2-0 scores, hasn't allowed more than three runs in any start and has held batters to a .171 average with a 40.6% strikeout rate that would be the all-time record for a starting pitcher. (My take is that even though Bieber will qualify under 2020 standards, his record shouldn't stand as the single-season mark.)

Anyway, because of the schedule, Bieber has faced the White Sox just once, getting a no-decision when he allowed three runs in six innings. In fact, Abreu hit one of the two home runs off him that game. The teams do play this week, and Bieber is scheduled to pitch on Tuesday. Maybe that contest will determine the MVP race.

Tim Anderson chasing another batting title

The White Sox shortstop was one of the most unlikely batting title winners in history last year, hitting .335 after entering the season with a career mark of .258. Absolutely nobody predicted him to win again, considering his ultra-aggressive approach at the plate (he walked 15 times all of 2019) and a .399 BABIP.

Well, he's doing it again, with his .360 average trailing only DJ LeMahieu's .361 mark. And he is doing it his way. His walk rate ranks 134th out of 143 qualifiers. His .412 BABIP ranks third in the majors. Anderson doesn't have elite exit velocity, but he hits line drives, his ground balls find holes and he is tied for the MLB lead with 11 infield hits. He is a little bit like Ichiro -- though Anderson hits the ball harder and has more power -- in that he has a unique style and approach that might not work for anybody else.

MLB Power Rankings: The 2020 MVP for all 30 teams

As we enter the final week of the regular season, the playoff field is taking shape, as are ESPN's Power Rankings. After a period of slipping out of our top five (and nearly slipping out of a playoff berth), the Yankees righted the ship and have looked like the powerhouse most expected to see all along. The Bronx Bombers ran off 10 consecutive wins and check in at No. 5 in this week's rankings.

Also bumping up are the White Sox, who have clinched their first postseason berth since 2008 and move up two notches to No. 3 in the Power Rankings.

As part of this week's rankings, David Schoenfield weighs in with his picks for every team's individual most valuable player of 2020.

Previous: Preseason | Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4 | Week 5 | Week 6 | Week 7

1. Los Angeles Dodgers

Record: 38-16 Playoff probability: Clinched Week 7 ranking: 1

With some of last year's stars struggling, Mookie Betts has been the one constant in the offense. His power hasn't suffered in moving from Fenway Park to Dodger Stadium and he has a shot at National League MVP honors. Shoutout to Clayton Kershaw for his 6-2 record and 2.15 ERA.

2. Tampa Bay Rays

Record: 35-19 Playoff probability: Clinched Week 7 ranking: 2

It's been a team effort for Tampa Bay, but Brandon Lowe has been the team's best hitter, leading the Rays in home runs, runs, RBIs and OPS while trailing only the Yankees' DJ LeMahieu among MLB second basemen in WAR. His versatility also has helped as he's started seven games in right field and four in left field.

3. Chicago White Sox Record: 34-19 Playoff probability: Clinched Week 7 ranking: 5

Luis Robert has been a revelation, Eloy Jimenez has slugged and Tim Anderson has been even more amazing than he was last season, but first baseman Jose Abreu led all American League position players in bWAR and RBIs entering Sunday while hitting above .300 with an 1.000 OPS. He and Anderson both have a shot at AL MVP honors.

4. San Diego Padres

Record: 34-20 Playoff probability: Clinched Week 7 ranking: 3

A couple of weeks ago, shortstop Fernando Tatis Jr. looked like a lock for NL MVP. He's slumped since then, however, and third baseman Manny Machado has passed him in OPS, home runs and RBIs, so now it looks like a four-man race for MVP honors among Tatis, Machado, Mookie Betts and Atlanta's Freddie Freeman.

5. New York Yankees

Record: 31-22 Playoff probability: Clinched Week 7 ranking: 9

Most Yankees fans would likely go with first baseman Luke Voit, who is having a monster power and RBI season, leading the majors with 21 home runs. We could go with that, although right-hander DJ LeMahieu has the edge in WAR (fielding and baserunning count) and Gerrit Cole, despite some home run hiccups, is 6-3 with a 3.00 ERA.

ICYMI: Could new Mets owner Steve Cohen lure Brian Cashman away?

6. Oakland Athletics

Record: 33-20 Playoff probability: Clinched Week 7 ranking: 4

The bullpen has been Oakland's strength so let's go with closer Liam Hendriks, who is 3-0 with 13 saves, a 1.23 ERA and a 32-3 strikeout-to-walk ratio. In a season when so many teams have struggled to find a closer, Hendriks has been the best in the game.

7. Minnesota Twins

Record: 33-22 Playoff probability: Clinched Week 7 ranking: 6

Nelson Cruz, who turned 40 on July 1, is on pace for the best OPS+ of his career, beating his previous best set last season. Yeah, he's a designated hitter, but given the Twins have been unable as a team to match last year's offensive prowess, Cruz has carried the lineup. He is now ninth on the all-time list for home runs for players 30 and older.

8. Atlanta Braves

Record: 31-22 Playoff probability: 100% Week 7 ranking: 8 Bill James tweeted the other day that Freddie Freeman will be a Hall of Famer. The first baseman needs a few more big seasons, but he is better than ever at age 30 and in the running for NL MVP. His most similar player on Baseball-Reference.com is Eddie Murray, and that's a good comp. They called Murray "Steady Eddie." We can call Freeman "Steady Freddie."

9. Chicago Cubs

Record: 31-22 Playoff probability: 100% Week 7 ranking: 10

Given the struggles of most of the Cubs' hitters, Yu Darvish is an easy call. The right-hander is in the Cy Young race at 7-2 with a 1.86 ERA and 79 K's in 63 innings entering Sunday's start. Since the second half of 2019, Darvish has made 23 starts and is 11-6 with a 2.36 and an incredible 197-9 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 144⅔ innings.

10. Cleveland Indians

Record: 29-24 Playoff probability: 100% Week 7 ranking: 7

Shane Bieber is a lock for the AL Cy Young and might even rate as the MVP favorite. He's 8-1 with a 1.74 ERA and an incredible 112 strikeouts in 72⅓ innings. Cleveland can't hit, but it will be fun to see if Bieber and his rotation mates can carry the Indians to their first World Series title since 1948.

11. Houston Astros

Record: 27-26 Playoff probability: 99.8% Week 7 ranking: 11

How about "none of the above"? Shortstop Carlos Correa leads in bWAR, but that's thanks to some positive defensive metrics and not his bat. Outfielder Kyle Tucker has a case thanks to his high RBI total. Right-handers Zack Greinke and Cristian Javier have near identical WARs, although Greinke has the much better FIP. Outfielder Michael Brantley leads in win probability added, so he's been the most "clutch." So, yeah, there really isn't a good choice.

12. Toronto Blue Jays

Record: 27-26 Playoff probability: 98.0% Week 7 ranking: 12

The Jays invested heavily in a new rotation in the offseason and it would be a complete mess if not for the efforts of Hyun-Jin Ryu, who is 4-2 with a 3.00 ERA and has allowed two runs or fewer in eight of his 11 starts.

13. Philadelphia Phillies

Record: 27-26 Playoff probability: 73.7% Week 7 ranking: 13

Four players have carried the team: catcher J.T. Realmuto, outfielder Bryce Harper and right-handers Aaron Nola and Zack Wheeler. If we average Baseball-Reference and FanGraphs WAR, we get Wheeler at 2.15, Nola at 2.0, Harper at 1.55 and Realmuto at 1.5. Harper's .400-plus OBP has been big, even as he's struggled of late, plus he's played more games than Realmuto. Nola has a lot more K's than Wheeler, but Wheeler has limited home runs. Realmuto has excelled at a position where most teams have struggled to generate offense. Flip a coin. Harper has more big hits than Realmuto, so he wins the flip.

14. Cincinnati Reds

Record: 27-27 Playoff probability: 51.9% Week 7 ranking: 17

Trevor Bauer is only 4-4 due to a lack of run support, but he has a 1.80 ERA, has tossed two seven-inning shutouts and has dominated in the secondary stats as well with 88 strikeouts in 65 innings and an opponents' batting average of .161.

15. St. Louis Cardinals

Record: 26-24 Playoff probability: 80.8% Week 7 ranking: 14

Adam Wainwright is 5-1 with a 2.87 ERA while averaging nearly seven innings per start, including two complete games (one seven innings) that have helped save the bullpen as the Cardinals had to play all those doubleheaders. It's the best the right-hander has looked in six years.

16. San Francisco Giants

Record: 26-26 Playoff probability: 43.1% Week 7 ranking: 15

Outfielder Mike Yastrzemski was a surprise as a 28-year-old rookie last year and has been an even bigger surprise in 2020, ranking near the top of the WAR leaderboard among other categories all season. He's led the way for an offense that has improved from one of the worst in the majors to one of the best.

17. Miami Marlins

Record: 28-25 Playoff probability: 70.5% Week 7 ranking: 19

Nobody stands out, so we're going to default to win probability added -- and shortstop Miguel Rojas is the clear leader here. Entering Sunday, he's hit .588 in high-leverage situations (10 for 17) with two home runs and 13 RBIs.

18. New York Mets

Record: 24-29 Playoff probability: 6.9% Week 7 ranking: 16

The only knock against Jacob deGrom is he's averaged just 5⅔ innings per start, but he's been as dominant as ever, going 4-1 with a 2.09 ERA in his 10 starts. The offense has led the way, but deGrom has a shot at a third consecutive Cy Young Award. He will start Monday and possibly once more if the Mets are still in the hunt later in the week.

19. Milwaukee Brewers

Record: 26-26 Playoff probability: 58.2% Week 7 ranking: 18

Corbin Burnes has rebounded from a brutal 2019 campaign (1-5, 8.82) to go 4-0 with a league-leading 1.77 ERA. Entering Sunday, the right-hander led the NL not only in ERA, but FIP, K's and fewest hits per nine innings, and he's allowed just one home run in 56 innings. As a starter (eight outings), his ERA is 1.25.

20. Colorado Rockies

Record: 23-29 Playoff probability: 1.9% Week 7 ranking: 20

With Nolan Arenado having a bad year, especially at the plate, shortstop Trevor Story is the easy choice in what has been a disappointing season for the Rockies after their 11-3 start (at which point their playoffs odds were about 75%).

21. Washington Nationals

Record: 20-32 Playoff probability: 0.0% Week 7 ranking: 21

It obviously has been a lost season for the Nationals, but outfielder Juan Soto picked up where he left off last October and has arguably been the best hitter in the game, hitting .338/.463/.677 with 11 home runs, 11 doubles and 32 RBIs in 37 games entering Sunday. If he hadn't missed the start of the season, he'd be right up there in the MVP discussion.

22. Baltimore Orioles

Record: 23-31 Playoff probability: 0.7% Week 7 ranking: 22

Right fielder Anthony Santander is out for the season with an oblique strain, but he showed impressive power numbers in his 37 games, with 11 home runs and 13 doubles, while also improving his strikeout and walk rates from 2019.

23. Los Angeles Angels

Record: 23-31 Playoff probability: 0.5% Week 7 ranking: 24

Baseball-Reference hates Mike Trout's defensive metrics, so it gives the bWAR edge to Anthony Rendon. FanGraphs had Rendon tied with Tim Anderson for the AL lead in WAR among position players entering Sunday (although just barely ahead of Trout). So maybe it's Rendon, except Trout has a big edge in home runs, runs and RBIs. We're going with Trout.

24. Detroit Tigers

Record: 22-30 Playoff probability: 0.2% Week 7 ranking: 23

Jeimer Candelario is the pretty easy selection for a team devoid of any star talent right now. The switch-hitting first baseman might be for real, as his advanced metrics such as hard-hit rate and expected slugging percentage line up with his numbers.

25. Seattle Mariners

Record: 23-30 Playoff probability: 0.9% Week 7 ranking: 27

Kyle Lewis is right up there with Luis Robert in the AL Rookie of the Year race, hitting for power, drawing walks and playing a solid center field. He's cooled off after a hot start (.373 through his first 28 games), but still has had a nice all-around short season.

26. Kansas City Royals

Record: 21-32 Playoff probability: 0.0% Week 7 ranking: 26

Right-hander Brad Keller got a late start due to a positive COVID-19 test, but he's 4-2 with a 2.06 ERA in seven starts. Most impressively, he hasn't allowed a home run. Ground balls are your friend when you don't have a high strikeout rate. Second baseman Whit Merrifield has been solid and catcher Salvador Perez has mashed in his 30 games, but Keller gets the nod.

27. Arizona Diamondbacks

Record: 20-34 Playoff probability: 0.0% Week 7 ranking: 25

It's been a mess of a season for the Diamondbacks, who entered with high expectations after a winning campaign in 2019. Right-hander Zac Gallen has been the one player who has lived up to those expectations. He's just 2-2, but that's not his fault as he has a 3.00 ERA and has allowed two earned runs or fewer in nine of 11 starts.

28. Boston Red Sox

Record: 20-34 Playoff probability: 0.0% Week 7 ranking: 28

Outfielder Alex Verdugo has hit for average, hit for some power and played excellent defense. He's actually a pretty easy choice over third baseman Rafael Devers (slow start, bad defense) and shortstop Xander Bogaerts (good, but not as dominant as 2019) as Boston's best player in a miserable season.

29. Texas Rangers

Record: 19-34 Playoff probability: 0.1% Week 7 ranking: 29

Right-hander Lance Lynn has been outstanding for the second consecutive season and has pitched the most innings in the majors, with a 2.53 ERA. With one year left on his contract, he'll draw a lot of trade interest in the offseason.

30. Pittsburgh Pirates

Record: 15-38 Playoff probability: 0.0% Week 7 ranking: 30

Wow, third baseman Ke'Bryan Hayes actually leads the team in bWAR because he's played well in his 17 games. That probably doesn't make him the team MVP, but who else do you go with? Catcher Jacob Stallings, apparently. Ugh.

Wright, Acuña lead 1st-place Braves to 7-0 win over Mets

NEW YORK -- Kyle Wright allowed only one hit in the best start of his big league career, pitching into the seventh inning to lead the Atlanta Braves past the New York Mets 7-0 on Sunday.

Ronald Acuna Jr. homered off Rick Porcello to break a scoreless tie in the sixth and finished with four RBI. Travis d'Arnaud added a two-run double for his latest clutch hit against his former team. Wright went 6 1/3 innings and combined with three relievers on a three-hitter as the Braves took two of three in the series from the Mets, who entered Sunday leading the majors in batting average and on-base percentage.

The win was the second straight -- and second in the majors -- for Wright, who has allowed three runs and 12 baserunners over 12 1/3 innings in his last two starts after posting a 7.86 ERA and allowing 89 baserunners in his first 44 2/3 career innings.

"It's very encouraging to see him kind of get that confidence," Braves manager Brian Snitker said. "That was impressive today. That's a really good- hitting ballclub that he was facing."

Wright's recent surge has come at a key time for the Braves, who are looking for their third straight NL East title but have an uncertain back end of a potential playoff rotation. Atlanta is three games ahead of second-place Miami with seven to play after the Marlins split a doubleheader with Washington.

"I'm not too worried about it," Wright said about claiming a rotation spot in the postseason. "Whatever the team wants me to do to help the team out, that's what I'll do."

The loss damaged the postseason hopes of the Mets, who fell 2 1/2 games out of the final NL playoff spot with three teams to catch and only seven games remaining.

"Time is ticking away," center fielder Brandon Nimmo said. "We don't have many more (games) to try and recover."

Wright and Porcello were unlikely candidates for a pitchers' duel. They came in a combined 2-9 with a 6.45 ERA, but both entered the sixth working on a one-hit shutout.

Wright (2-4), who walked 20 batters over 25 innings in his first seven starts this season and had never pitched beyond the sixth in 10 career starts, retired the first eight batters before Wilson Ramos doubled down the left-field line. The 24-year-old right-hander set down the next 11 before walking J.D. Davis.

"I don't know that there's ever a bad time for a kid like that to find himself and get the confidence and get himself going," Snitker said.

Will Smith entered and got Dominic Smith to hit into an inning-ending double play.

The two-run double by d'Arnaud off Jeurys Familia provided insurance in the eighth. The catcher also singled in the sixth and finished the season hitting .479 (11 for 23) with three homers and 11 RBI this season against the Mets, for whom he played from 2013-19.

"You wish he was on your team," Nimmo said. "You wish you didn't have to play him."

The Braves added four more in the ninth, when Acuna delivered a three-run double and scored on Marcell Ozuna's double.

Chris Martin walked one in the eighth and Mark Melancon allowed consecutive hits to Ramos and Nimmo before wriggling out of a jam in the ninth.

Porcello (1-6) took the hard-luck loss despite allowing just three hits and two walks while striking out 10 over seven innings. The 10 strikeouts were his most since he whiffed 10 while pitching for Boston against Philadelphia on Aug. 14, 2018.

The start was the 350th of Porcello's career. Only three pitchers who have debuted in the last 50 years -- Felix Hernandez, CC Sabathia and Greg Maddux -- have reached 350 starts at a younger age than Porcello (31 years, 268 days).

UP IN SMOKE

A fire broke out just beyond Citi Field during the Braves' four-run ninth inning. The smoke briefly enveloped the diamond in a charcoal-scented haze before sirens began echoing in the distance.

ONE-HIT WONDERS

The singles by Ramos and Nimmo in the ninth cost the Braves a chance at another one-hitter against the Mets. Atlanta's last three one-hitters have come at the expense of New York, most recently on June 19, 2016, when Julio Teheran allowed a third-inning single to Michael Conforto in a complete game 6-0 win.

TRAINER'S ROOM

Mets: RHP Dellin Betances (lat) threw an inning in a simulated game Saturday. New York manager Luis Rojas said he was waiting to hear how Betances felt before considering what the next step might be. Betances last pitched on Aug. 29. ... The Mets sent INF Victor Gonzalez to Baltimore to complete a trade for reliever Miguel Castro, who was acquired Aug. 31. They also sent RHP Steven Villines to Texas to complete a deal for RHP Ariel Jurado, who was acquired Aug. 29.

UP NEXT Braves: RHP Huascar Ynoa (0-0, 5.30 ERA) is scheduled to make his second start since returning to the rotation and his fifth of the year overall when Atlanta heads home to begin a key series against the second-place Marlins.

Mets: RHP Jacob deGrom (4-1, 2.09 ERA), who is seeking a third straight NL Cy Young Award but lasted only two innings Wednesday due to a hamstring spasm, is expected to return as New York opens a series Monday against Tampa Bay.

Wall Street Journal

The Coronavirus Stormed the Marlins’ Clubhouse. The Team Returned as a Contender.

After a Covid-19 outbreak, Miami hasn’t just withstood the adversity—they have thrived in spite of it

By Jared Diamond

The Miami Marlins once represented everything wrong with baseball’s perilous attempt to operate amid a raging pandemic. But with the season’s finish line now in sight, they unexpectedly find themselves in prime position to advance to the playoffs—in part because of their mastery of the bizarre seven-inning games only made necessary after the coronavirus stormed through their clubhouse.

The July outbreak left 18 of the Marlins’ players infected and rocked the sport’s already fragile foundation, raising serious questions about whether the season could continue to proceed at all. The Marlins eventually returned after an eight-day layoff with a patchwork collection of 17 new players scrounged together from the waiver wire, desperate trades and their minor-league complex.

Then something shocking happened. After another surge of cases on the St. Louis Cardinals, baseball has seemingly brought the virus under control, with no new confirmed player infections for nearly three weeks. And the ravaged Marlins, baseball’s worst-case scenario, haven’t just withstood the adversity—they have thrived in spite of it.

The Marlins, a franchise long synonymous with ineptitude, entered Saturday’s action in possession of the No. 5 seed in the National League, comfortably in the playoffs for the first time since 2003. Their performance thus far would land them a spot not only in this year’s expanded tournament, but under the traditional postseason format as well, lending more credibility to their improbable rise to contention.

“We know that everybody just thinks we’re ‘the Marlins.’ It’s kind of like a stigma.” outfielder Corey Dickerson said. “We know how much talent we have. The depth is crazy, and people will start to realize it.”

To complete their ascension, the Marlins will need to earn it. Their coronavirus-induced shutdown forced them into a brutal September, concluding with a dizzying stretch of 28 games over 24 days that spans much of the East Coast. Their last day off came on Sept. 3. All told, even without another postponement, the Marlins will play seven doubleheaders, constituting nearly a quarter of their entire slate.

If their bodies can endure the journey, however, the Marlins appear particularly equipped for the abundance of twin-bills, thanks to a controversial rule implemented this season ripped from the minors: All doubleheaders feature two seven-inning games—a change somehow benefiting the Marlins.

Following Friday’s doubleheader split against the Washington Nationals, the Marlins own a record of 9-3 in the shorter contests. In all other games, they are under .500, meaning the doubleheaders—caused by an explosion of positive coronavirus tests on their roster—might ultimately help the Marlins. (They will play another doubleheader against Washington on Sunday.)

Given the composition of the Marlins’ roster, their success in seven-inning games actually makes sense. They lean heavily on their young starting pitchers, highlighted by 2019 All-Star Sandy Alcantara and the emergence of heralded prospect Sixto Sánchez, who boasts a 2.75 ERA through his first six outings. Their rotation entered Saturday with a 4.29 ERA, 12th-best in the major leagues. Their relievers, meanwhile, ranked 25th.

Miami’s relief issues matter significantly less in seven-inning affairs, as demonstrated in their doubleheader sweep over the Philadelphia Phillies last Sunday. In the first game, Sánchez went the distance on 90 pitches, right at his limit. In the second, rookie Braxton Garrett made his MLB debut with sharp strong innings, long enough for the Marlins to bypass their shaky middle relievers entirely.

“Whenever it’s a short game, your pitching takes more of an emphasis,” Marlins president of baseball operations Michael Hill said. “You go from starter to closer, which obviously can increase your probability of winning immensely.”

For Hill, the Marlins’ top baseball operations official since the 2014 season, the Marlins success comes as no surprise, even in the wake of a dismal 105-loss campaign in 2019. After the arrival of a new ownership group led by chairman Bruce Sherman and chief executive Derek Jeter in 2017, Hill orchestrated a total teardown to cut costs and rebuild a sustainable winner for the future. He traded sluggers Giancarlo Stanton, Marcell Ozuna and Christian Yelich in the span of six weeks and then dealt star catcher J.T. Realmuto a year later. Ozuna landed them Alcantara. Realmuto resulted in Sánchez and catcher Jorge Alfaro. So even though the Marlins haven’t enjoyed a winning season since 2009, Hill went into the year believing, “Our pitching is ready to lead us into the playoffs.”

“Derek Jeter and Bruce Sherman had a plan in place, and I bought in,” said Miguel Rojas, a Marlins infielder since 2015 and the primary team leader. “We made those moves to make the organization better, and you can see it now,”

Perhaps the biggest sign of change happened at the trade deadline late last month. In each of the previous three years, the Marlins acted as sellers, dumping whatever valuable assets they had for the future. One of those deals netted them starting pitcher Pablo López from the Seattle Mariners. Another with the Arizona Diamondbacks got them second baseman Jazz Chisholm.

This year, the Marlins took the opposite approach: They acquired arguably the best hitter available on the market, outfielder Starling Marté, giving their lineup a much-needed anchor. They added Marté with the intention of exercising his $12.5 million option for 2021, a signal that Sherman intends to increase the Marlins’ payroll.

But for now, the Marlins will focus on 2020 and their likely trip to playoffs—something they’ve experienced just twice before in a franchise history that dates back to 1993. In both of the years, 1997 and 2003, the Marlins stunned the baseball world by winning the World Series, only to dismantle their roster the next season and sink back to irrelevance.

This time, they expect to hang around a bit longer.

“At some point, you need to turn those prospects and all of the work you’re doing in the minor leagues into major-league wins,” Hill said. “This year was the year that we felt was the time to start that turn.”