Now, it’s more like it.
After being dominated by Zack Wheeler on both sides of the ball last Saturday, the Braves wiped him and the Phillies out for a big win in the home side. Ronald Acuña Jr. was the master of ceremonies for the lucky occasion, and was 4-for-5 with an epic lead and a saving catch, while Charlie Morton hacked through the Philadelphia bats all night.
For a brief moment, this game looked like it would be more of the same as the Braves endured while being swept in Philadelphia to start the season. After Morton threw just two balls into a 1-2-3 top of the first, the Braves ran themselves out of a rally: Wheeler ran out both Freddie Freeman and Marcell Ozuna with two, but on a field in the dirt to Travis d ‘Arnaud, catcher JT Realmuto, shoots Freeman with a quick throw to the second. A lead walk to d’Arnaud lapsed in the second half, and the Phillies struck first against Morton in the third with a fairly uninspiring offense. Jean Segura got on an inside shot by kicking Dansby Swanson’s throw from barely. Wheeler tried to bundle him out with one and failed to do so, but then struck a helicopter back at Morton that functioned as a bundle anyway. This prompted Andrew McCutchen to blow a Morton basket ball at 66 mph in the left field (the second weakest contact of the game) and scored Segura. Acuña doubled with one out at the bottom of the innings, but was left stranded – see: definitely “more of the same” vibes at this point.
The bottom of the fourth was even worse in this regard, as the Braves got three forwards but again failed to score. Ozuna’s lead single was erased during a doubles match, and a walk followed by a single was erased when Cristian Pache’s poor contact (the only ball hit worse than McCutchen’s RBI) was rolled to Segura on second base. .
Meanwhile, Morton just keeps going. He only allowed three singles through five, but still trailed 1-0. But hey, everything’s good that ends well, right? The bottom of the fifth was when Wheeler and the Phillies turned on the tables.
It all started with a very specific reversal: Morton led from the frame by making good contact (97 km / h from the bat) and grounding a single to the right by keeping the ball inside the fault line. What happened next, well, words fail me. Just look. Again and again, if you need to.
Wheeler had an extraordinarily hard time finding everything all night, but especially his slider, and this one, well, you really could not put it in a worse place. Acuña evaporated the baseball, and just like that the Braves had a lead. Oh, but they were not done. Ozzie Albies followed by tearing a fast ball into the pipe for a double, and three batsmen later d’Arnaud selected another poorly placed slider by hitting it in the left midfield to leave the Braves 3-1 lead.
After that, the game got a little silly. With two out and a 2-0 score at Swanson, Joe Girardi went out to talk to Wheeler. But to his apparent surprise, the pitching coach had already paid a hill visit in the frame (to Albies’ two bag), and Wheeler came out in a technical way. The new pitcher Brandon Kintzler has struck a blow, but there are your rules with consequences for the night.
Morton was left at the top of the order a third time in sixth place, and it went almost badly. He quickly got two outs, but Bryce Harper walked in and conceded a single to Realmuto, putting runners on the corners. Morton dug a first sinker after Alec Bohm which could have been difficult … but Acuña secured him, no sweat.
After a whole series of the Phillies pushing the Braves down to defeat, it was pretty sweet to see one of their 100+ km / h drives in an important, potentially game-changing situation snatched away by a defender.
Bohm’s misery, and the misery of the Phillies, will grow just below the sixth. Both Austin Riley and Pache made the Bohm fouls from back to back, one that each threw and hit the field. It hit Ehire Adrianza like a pinch, and after he could not get the bundle under (why would he do that anyway?), He did it, and everyone went wild:
The Braves have Panda Power, they have the Adrianza Assault, and unless someone else has a knockout hit tonight, they have three of the eight hits so far in 2021. Well, baseball!
The rest of the game was mostly just cruise control. Acuña reached the base twice more, and although he was wiped out by the selection of a fielder, he contributed to the seventh run of the Braves as Freeman hampered a two-stroke from former team-mate David Hale in the eighth club. . Nate Jones set up a pointless frame despite two frontrunners and Luke Jackson sealed the victory by letting Segura pass in a doubles match. With that, the Braves improved to 3-4, got a glorious revenge on Wheeler and the Phils, and oh yes, they remained unbeaten in home openers at their current ballpark. Good times, good night.
It was a happy homecoming for Morton, who in turn had a 7/1 K / BB ratio and just the lone, cheap run in six innings of his job, in his first home team in Atlanta since 2008. outing for Wheeler, who had a poor 4/4 K / BB ratio, was taken to outer space by Acuña and was pulled out of the match due to rules. It was his worst start with virtually any account since August 2019, which also came against the Braves (6 IP, 5 R, 2 HR, 3 K, 4 BB), and his shortest outing since June 2019.
Meanwhile, Acuña currently has a 245 wRC + and 0.6 fWAR in 30 PAs. Good times. See you tomorrow, when the Braves try for similar lucky results, as Ian Anderson and Zach Eflin will wrap up in another game.