CLEVELAND -- To say Sunday afternoon’s finale was an up-and-down affair for Jurickson Profar would be an understatement.
In the third inning, the Guardians scored their first run when Profar dropped a fly ball from Kyle Manzardo that allowed Steven Kwan to score the game-tying run.
But in the sixth inning, Profar earned some redemption by lining a go-ahead two-run homer to right field. And if that wasn’t enough, he punctuated the Braves’ 5-4 win at Progressive Field with a diving catch in the ninth inning.
The victory gives Atlanta its fifth straight win and its first series sweep since the club took three straight against the Mets' from June 17-19.
Profar’s home run ended up being the winning margin thanks to another herculean effort from Atlanta’s bullpen, as Aaron Bummer, Dylan Lee, Pierce Johnson and Raisel Iglesias combined to throw five straight scoreless innings in relief. Those five innings extended the bullpen’s scoreless innings streak to 21 frames and lowered their August ERA to 1.58.
But about an hour before they got a chance to take the game over, it looked like the Braves’ chances to win would be doomed by Profar’s missed catch, which came an inning after Atlanta took the lead on a fielder’s choice by Nacho Alvarez Jr.
“I tried to be a shortstop there and make a quick play,” Profar said.
While Kwan (39th percentile in sprint speed) still could have scored on the play had Profar caught the ball, the misplay guaranteed that the run scored. The Guardians took the lead a batter later on a Bo Naylor RBI double that landed in the right-field corner.
“[Plays like that] happen in baseball, and I know he felt bad about it,” manager Brian Snitker said.
While the Guardians tacked on two more runs off starter Erick Fedde in the fourth inning, the Braves responded with two runs in the fifth before Profar gave them the lead an inning later.
Profar’s blast is his fourth of the month and his seventh since he returned from his 80-game performance-enhancing drug suspension at the beginning of July. He also added a third-inning single, making him one of three Braves to record a multihit game on Sunday, along with Nick Allen and Ozzie Albies.
Profar has hit .250 in the 40 games he’s played since returning from his suspension, and perhaps most importantly, he’s been putting himself in a position to do damage at the plate.
On Sunday, his single came on a 3-1 count and his home run came in a full count.
“I had three months where I couldn’t play baseball or face a pitcher [because of my suspension],” Profar said. “It was a grind, and I’m still doing my best every day to try to help the team with the things that I can do.”
Cleveland’s best chance to score against Atlanta’s bullpen came in the eighth inning, when Johnson walked the Nos. 8 and 9 hitters (Nolan Jones and Angel Martínez) to lead off the frame. But he was gifted an out on the next batter when Kwan popped out on a bunt attempt.
“That bunt was huge,” Snitker said.
The Guardians ended up loading the bases with two outs after Johnson intentionally walked José Ramírez, but he was able to get out of the jam by getting Manzardo to fly out to center field.
“You’ve just got to focus on the next pitch; they’ve got a really good lineup,” Johnson said. “I really had to bear down and throw some good pitches.”
Johnson’s eighth inning set up a fairly harmless ninth inning, during which Raisel Iglesias worked around a leadoff single to nail down his 19th save. It was Iglesias’s 11th straight scoreless outing since he blew a save against the Rangers on July 26.
“It’s been an unbelievable stretch for him,” Johnson said. “He’s been the anchor at the back of the bullpen.”
The come-from-behind win closed out a 5-1 road trip that saw the Braves put a dent in both the Mets and Guardians’ postseason chances.
While the hot streak may be a case of “too little, too late” for Atlanta’s own postseason chances, it doesn’t change the fact that the team is finally playing to the best of its ability.
“We’ve been playing really good, and it’s kind of hitting on all cylinders for the first time all year,” Snitker said. “The guys came back and swung the bats. It was a good road trip.”