Braves 'feel like our old selves again' after series sweep of Mets
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ATLANTA -- Less than two weeks since concluding a 3-14 stretch with their second seven-game losing streak of the season, the Braves have swept the first-place Mets, won seven of nine and put themselves back within 5 1/2 games of the National League’s third and final Wild Card spot.
“I kind of feel like our old selves again,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said.
It took nearly three months, but as the Braves swept the Mets with a 7-1 win on Thursday night at Truist Park, it felt like they might finally be clicking on all cylinders. The rotation can seemingly once again depend on Spencer Strider, and the offense is finally delivering key hits, like Matt Olson’s three-run double in this series finale.
“The biggest thing I hope we take from this is we can compete with anybody,” Braves third baseman Austin Riley said. “I hope we can take some confidence away from that and keep it rolling.”
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It felt like the Braves were lost on June 8, when they lost for the 14th time in 17 games. They won four of their next six, but Sunday’s loss to the Rockies created some doubt entering this week.
Everything changed on Tuesday night, when Marcell Ozuna delivered a game-tying, two-out hit that propelled Atlanta to a series-opening 5-4, 10-inning win over the Mets.
Ozuna’s clutch three-run double stands as the early favorite for the potential season-altering moment. Chris Sale responded on Wednesday by finishing one out shy of a shutout, and Strider followed suit on Thursday by allowing one run over six innings.
“I feel that’s as close as we’ve been to playing a complete series,” Strider said. “We know what we’re capable of.”
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The Braves entered August with a losing record during their 2021 World Series-winning season. They were seven games behind the Mets with 50 games to play in ‘22, when they won a fifth straight division title.
So yeah, there’s at least a chance they could erase the 10 games that separate them from the first-place Mets and Phillies. And there’s definitely a chance they could garner one of the Wild Card spots. But they now have to prove this strong one-week run has created more than just false hope.
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“The struggles we've had up to this point and whatever we might encounter the rest of the season is all in preparation for what we're ultimately trying to accomplish,” Strider said. “It's going to make us better. We’ve just got to continue to believe that and keep working.”
It’s easier to believe in the Braves after watching Strider look much more like himself in his past two starts. As he retired 12 of the final 13 batters he faced on Thursday, he legitimized what he had done five days earlier, when he notched a season-high 13 strikeouts against the Rockies.
Strider entered Saturday’s matchup against Colorado having posted a 5.40 ERA through his first five starts since undergoing right elbow surgery two starts into the 2024 campaign. His four-seamer didn’t average higher than 95.4 mph during any of those starts, and he got between three and eight whiffs with his slider during those outings.
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Strider certainly didn’t look like the same guy who produced an MLB-best 281 strikeouts while averaging 97.2 mph with his four-seamer in 2023.
But Strider’s heater averaged 96.2 mph against the Rockies and 96 mph against the Mets. The improved fastball velocity and command played a big part in him getting 17 whiffs with his slider on Saturday and 14 more on Thursday.
“Step one is making guys swing, and then everything plays off that,” Strider said. “So if guys get in the box super comfortable, and they're able to sit there and take and wait to get what they want, it's going to be tough.”
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Strider’s resurgence will aid a rotation that is tied with the Yankees for MLB’s best starters’ ERA (3.10) since the start of May. An underperforming offense and bullpen woes have prevented the Braves from taking full advantage of this consistent success.
But Ronald Acuña Jr. is off to one of the best starts of his career, and the offense scored five runs or more in six of the past nine games, including each of the past three against the Mets. It tallied five runs or more just five times while losing 14 of 17 from May 20-June 8.
“At some point, you’ve got to let it go, let the game come to you and relax,” Riley said. “I think you’re seeing that, and other guys are able to feed off of it.”