Reynaldo López’s return to the mound was a successful one, as he pitched five innings while striking out ten batters and only giving up one run. Between his efforts and the bullpen putting up yet another great performance, the Atlanta Braves were able to put up enough offense eke out a 3-1 win over the Philadelphia Phillies.
As you would expect with Zack Wheeler and the 2024 version of Reynaldo López on the mound for this one, this one was a low scoring affair where the two pitchers set the tone right from the get-go. López sat down the Phillies in order with a pair of strikeouts to kick things off and then Wheeler struck out the side (with a one-out single from Ramón Laureano sandwiched in there). López found himself in a bases loaded situation with two outs in the second but he was able to strike out Johan Rojas to end the scoring threat right there.
While the Braves didn’t immediately make the Phillies pay for leaving them loaded in the second inning, López pitched another scoreless frame in the third and that was when Atlanta finally struck. Whit Merrifield led off the third by hitting a liner down the right field line that bounced away from Nick Castellanos while he tried to field it. The bounce allowed Merrifield to make it into third with a leadoff triple and then Michael Harris II got a middle-middle cutter from Zack Wheeler and promptly smacked it into the weird-looking outfield to plate Merrifield and put the Braves on the board first. Wheeler clamped down from that point forward and sat down the Braves in order to end the third but the offense had shown signs of life.
Sadly, the lead didn’t last long at all for the Braves as the Phillies immediately got to working on getting that run back. Alec Bohm and Nick Castellanos both hit back-to-back singles to kick off the fourth inning and then J.T. Realmuto continued to be a constant annoyance for the Braves as he hit a one-out RBI single right up the middle to plate Bohm and tie the game up at one run apiece. López sat down the Phillies in order from that point forward but by then, the ballgame was all square once again.
Both teams went scoreless through the fourth and the fifth inning and the fifth inning in particular saw Reynaldo López end his night with a flourish as he struck out Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper to finish his start with 10 strikeouts over five innings with just one run allowed. This was the type of start that we’ve come to expect from López this season and it was very encouraging to see him hit the ground running upon his return from injury.
Grant Holmes took the baton from López in the sixth inning and kept the good vibes going for the next two frames. Holmes pitched two scoreless and hitless innings while racking up a pair of strikeouts in order to pick up exactly where López had left off with his start. Holmes absolutely mowed through Philadelphia’s lineup when he was out there and once again, “encouraging” was the first word to come to mind while watching him pitch against the Phillies tonight.
Meanwhile, Atlanta’s offense came to life once again in the sixth inning and it came from the guy who has been quite easily the most consistent man in Atlanta’s lineup this season. After getting two pitches from Zack Wheeler that were low and outside of the zone, Ozuna got a fastball that was 95-mph and right down the middle. Ozuna made no mistake with it, as he sent it flying through the Georgia night sky and into the wooded area in the center field batters’ eye to put the Braves back in front with a solo shot. Atlanta went down in order after that and that was also the end of Wheeler’s night. It was another strong start for Wheeler but thanks to López’s performance being even stronger, Atlanta’s offense had done just enough to make sure that Wheeler was on the wrong end of this particular’s pitcher’s duel.
After Joe Jiménez took the baton from Grant Holmes and pitched a scoreless eighth inning, things got a bit interesting for Atlanta in their half of the eighth. José Alvarado came on for the Phillies and ran into a bit of trouble. He walked Marcell Ozuna to lead off the frame and then got a pair of outs that ended up with Matt Olson on first base. Jarred Kelenic was scheduled to come up with two outs but instead of getting Kelenic, he got Jorge Soler as a pinch hitter.
Before Soler got his at-bat underway, the Phillies had a mound visit with Alvarado to likely go over the scouting report. It didn’t matter much though, as Soler ended up walking on five pitches. Five pitches later, Matt Olson was on third base, pinch runner Adam Duvall was on second and Orlando Arcia was on first after another walk from Alvarado. Five more pitches later, Matt Olson was crossing home plate and Gio Urshela was on first base after Alvarado walked his third straight batter and got the hook from Rob Thomson. Whit Merrifield had a chance to continue his good night once Max Lazar entered the game, but Lazar beamed in some really good pitches to strike out Whitfield and end Atlanta’s scoring threat with just one run given up.
However, that still meant that Raisel Iglesias now had a little more breathing room to play with in the ninth. Iglesias sat down the Phillies in order but Ramón Laureano certainly made things interesting as he made three adventurous-looking catches. Nonetheless, the most important part of that last sentence was “Iglesias sat down the Phillies in order,” which means that the Braves picked up a precious win over the Phillies.
Considering how the past couple of days have gone, this was a fantastic win for the Braves at this particular time. If the Braves are going to continue staying alive, they’re probably going to have to win the vast majority of these low-scoring affairs. Tonight, the Braves were up to the task — Reynaldo López’s return was great, the bullpen continues to be excellent and the team was able to outlast Philadelphia on their way to victory. It’s not going to be any easier going forward but it’s still great that they’ve started off this series on the right foot. Hopefully it’ll continue tomorrow night at 7:20 P.M. E.T. as they play the middle game of this series.
