The Atlanta Braves used some clutch pitching and timely hits to take down the Washington Nationals 4-2 on Saturday night from Truist Park, officially winning the series and positioning themselves for a sweep.
Here’s what you need to know about from the contest.
Charlie Morton rights the ship against Washington
In today's game preview , we told you how Morton has struggled against Washington - a 2-2 record with a 5.63 record in his last five starts, but an awful 10.53 record this season in two starts against the Nationals. Morton allowed 13 runs (12 earned) on 19 hits in just 10.2 innings across those first two outings of 2024.
Tonight's start should bring the ERA down somewhat.
Morton went five full innings, coming one out shy of six. He had to navigate through traffic, walking two and allowing eight hits, but held the Nationals to just two runs (both earned) while striking out six. Both runs came on a 2nd-inning homer from younger José Tena, his first career homer in MLB after being called up earlier this month.
It wasn't a very efficient outing from a swing-and-miss perspective - of Morton's 95 pitches (65 strikes), Uncle Charlie got just eight whiffs - but he got through the outing thanks to getting plenty of called strikes (21), giving him a 31% CSW.
Morton was replaced by lefty Aaron Bummer, who came in solely to strikeout Joey Gallo, stranding a runner on 3rd in the 6th inning.
Atlanta got the Jacob Young monkey off their back
Also in the game preview (you should really read those) were stats about the amazing start to the season that Nationals pitcher Jacob Young has had against the Braves. In two outings this year, covering twelve innings, Young had yet to allow a run to Atlanta, striking out 15 while walking only four and allowing six total hits.
Not anymore.
Atlanta tagged Irivn for two earned runs, with Orlando Arcia finally breaking through in the 5th inning thanks to a solo homer that should probably be classified as lucky - off the bat at only 93.4mph and going 363 feet, it had an expected batting average of just .130 but cleared the Truist Park wall to end up in the visitor's bullpen.
Atlanta added a second run charged to Young when a Matt Olson double went just off the top of the right field wall, scoring Whit Merrifield from 2nd.
Olson was then driven in by Travis d'Arnaud, with the run being charged to reliever Robert Garcia (who came in after Young got Marcell Ozuna out).
Still a frustrating night for the Braves offense, who hit into two double plays (both by Marcell Ozuna), stranded eight runners, and went just 3-for-7 with runners in scoring position, but it was enough to get the dub.
Whit Merrifield has been ELECTRIC
One guy who is not frustrated about his night, however, is second baseman Whit Merrifield.
Designated for assignment by the Philadelphia Phillies after signing this offseason for $7M and then hitting just .199, Merrifield quickly joined the Braves to help replace the injured Ozzie Albies (broken wrist) and has shown that he's better than what he gave the Phils.
Getting on base four times tonight with two hits and two walks, Merrifield scored a pivotal run on the Olson 6th-inning double and has been a noteworthy performer both with the bat and with the glove. He's up to a .257 average with Atlanta and has played a key part in several of Atlanta's ten double plays turned just this week.
More on Merrifield and the other midseason additions tomorrow.
New look bullpen usage tonight
This team has a proven late-inning formula: Pierce Johnson for the 7th, Joe Jiménez for the 8th, and Raisel Iglesias coming in to close it out. Per a stat passed along from the Braves comms staff, those three players are perfect when throwing those three innings in that order this season.
But Atlanta has ridden closer Raisel Iglesias pretty hard recently, and for good reason - he's been excellent, just having his streak of retiring 35 consecutive batters come to an end last night . But he's also thrown three times in the last four games, using 47 pitches to cover four innings, so the team wanted to give him the night off. Joe Jiménez has 27 pitches in the last three days, so ideally he would get the night off as well. Oh, and A.J. Minter, one of the franchise leaders in both holds and relief appearances, is out for the season after hip surgery.
Who was going to take these high-leverage innings?
The Braves used the combination of Aaron Bummer, Dylan Lee, and Grant Holmes to bridge from Morton to the 9th inning. The trio allowed two hits but otherwise kept Washington's bats at bay, getting Atlanta to the 9th with the lead intact. But with Iglesias out, who would get the save?
Enter Pierce Johnson.
Atlanta's resident curveball-loving reliever got his second save of the season on just four pitches, inducing two groundouts and a lazy fly ball.
The offseason investment that the organization has put into the bullpen has proven to give the coaching staff tons of options, and very few of them have failed this season. While only four Braves players have saves on the season, the team currently has four relievers with ERAs under three, another under 3.50, plus lefty Aaron Bummer, who has one of the largest FIP-to-ERA differences in all of baseball (3.63 ERA, 1.92 FIP). There are plenty of options here, and that doesn't even count Daysbel Hernández, currently in Triple-A.
What’s next for the Atlanta Braves?
Having already won the series, Atlanta is looking for a sweep. Game three is a different schedule from normal: Being a national broadcast on Roku, it's scheduled for a 12:05 PM ET first pitch. Reynaldo López (7-4, 2.05 ERA) will take on lefty DJ Herz (2-6, 4.15).
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