<img alt="New York Mets v Atlanta Braves - Game Two" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/u97ELoNoaDNKxfiMvJ9vK_4KfoE=/0x0:7042x4695/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/73622964/2175096499.0.jpg">
Photo by Matthew Grimes Jr./Atlanta Braves/Getty Images
It wasn’t easy and they certainly took the scenic route but the Braves eventually got the job done! As usual for the Atlanta Braves in 2024, they did it the wacky, wild, and hard way. Just moments after losing the craziest game of the season to the New York Mets, there will now be two champagne celebrations in the Truist Park locker rooms after the Braves picked up a 3-0 win over the Mets to split this insane doubleheader.
If you saw that the Mets were starting Joey Lucchesi and figured that this was going to be easy, then I think you haven’t really been paying attention to this team and this lineup in particular. Atlanta in 2024 has had a horrible habit of playing up-or-down to their competition and today was no different as Lucchesi gave the Braves everything they could handle today.
However, Atlanta did break through for a run in the second inning of this one. Jorge Soler led off the second with a double and after Lucchesi uncorked a wild pitch. Gio Urshela eventually cashed in the runner from third by blooping one out to shallow left-center field to put the Braves on the board. Atlanta went down quietly after that and that was the only real type of offense that they delivered while Joey Lucchesi was out there.
Fortunately, this was one of those days where the pitching staff stepped up to save the day. Grant Holmes was called upon with extremely short notice to start today’s game after the Braves chose not to have Chris Sale push himself through a start with back spasms. Grant Holmes ended up being up to the task and delivered a strong performance against a Mets lineup that (while obviously not their best) was still strong enough to put up a fight after they clinched in that wacky game earlier. Holmes struck out seven Mets batters and didn’t give up a single run while he was out there for four innings.
However, Holmes immediately found himself in a jam once the fifth inning rolled around and it was up to Daysbel Hernández to clean up that mess. Hernández came up big in this situation, as he struck out Tyrone Taylor and Harrison Bader before getting Luis Torrens to hit a grounder to third in order to force out Pete Alonso at the hot corner. Hernández then went another 0.2 innings and he left the game in the sixth inning with a man on first. Dylan Lee entered the game and gave up a hit to Brandon Nimmo right away but Lee clamped down as well, as he induced a ground ball from Pete Alonso to end the inning right there.
Once Lee was done with his outing, Reynaldo López was called upon to return to his old job of reliever. The Braves indicated that López would be used out of the bullpen when he was reactivated from the IL recently and sure enough, he went out there and retired the Mets in order in the seventh inning. It’s a good thing that he did because Atlanta’s lineup returned to life once their half of the seventh inning rolled around.
By this point, the dominant Joey Lucchesi had exited the game and Huascar Brazobán was called upon to make his second appearance of the day. It didn’t go well for him — Sean Murphy coaxed a leadoff walk out of him and then the Braves got a rally going with two outs that started with Brazobán attempting to make a play on a grounder that he had no business trying to make a play on.
Ozzie Albies reached on the error and made it to second, joining Sean Murphy in scoring position. Marcell Ozuna was the next to come to the plate and he hit the first pitch he saw and looped it over the leaping Eddy Alvarez in order to bring home both Albies and Murphy. Just like that, the Braves had some breathing room and this bullpen had another chance at making a 3-0 lead stick.
It was redemption time for two pitchers in particular. Joe Jiménez was called upon for the second time today to pitch the eighth inning and this appearance went much, much better than his first appearance did. This time, Jiménez retired the Mets in 1-2-3 fashion in order to ensure that Atlanta would have the lead heading into the ninth inning.
After Atlanta went down quietly in their half of the eighth inning, Raisel Iglesias went back out there to attempt a good ol’ fashioned three-out save. Raisel Iglesias gave up a single to José Iglesias because the BABIP Gods demanded that his streak continued. However, Iglesias got Brandon Nimmo to ground into a double play and then he got Pete Alonso to ground out to end the game and put the Braves into the Postseason for the seventh season in a row.
This was an absolutely insane day of action where Atlanta could’ve saved themselves (and us fans) a lot of consternation and annoyance by finishing off the Mets in Game 1 but ultimately, they were able to get the ultimate job done in Game 2. In a way, this day was truly a microcosm of the entire season: They’re still absolutely dreadful in games where the other team scores at least four runs, the starting pitching was excellent, the fill-ins got the job done when called upon, they lost a player due to injury and when it eventually mattered the most, the offense scraped together enough runs in order to make sure that a strong all-around pitching performance didn’t go in vain.
At the end of a long day, the Braves can celebrate tonight. They’ll have to hop on a plane and take on the San Diego Padres in front of what will surely be an absolutely intense Postseason atmosphere at Petco Park but at least the Braves are in the tournament. Anything can happen and we just about saw anything and everything happen over these final two games of the regular season.
<img alt="New York Mets v Atlanta Braves - Game Two" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/u97ELoNoaDNKxfiMvJ9vK_4KfoE=/0x0:7042x4695/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/73622964/2175096499.0.jpg">
Photo by Matthew Grimes Jr./Atlanta Braves/Getty Images
It wasn’t easy and they certainly took the scenic route but the Braves eventually got the job done! As usual for the Atlanta Braves in 2024, they did it the wacky, wild, and hard way. Just moments after losing the craziest game of the season to the New York Mets, there will now be two champagne celebrations in the Truist Park locker rooms after the Braves picked up a 3-0 win over the Mets to split this insane doubleheader.
If you saw that the Mets were starting Joey Lucchesi and figured that this was going to be easy, then I think you haven’t really been paying attention to this team and this lineup in particular. Atlanta in 2024 has had a horrible habit of playing up-or-down to their competition and today was no different as Lucchesi gave the Braves everything they could handle today.
However, Atlanta did break through for a run in the second inning of this one. Jorge Soler led off the second with a double and after Lucchesi uncorked a wild pitch. Gio Urshela eventually cashed in the runner from third by blooping one out to shallow left-center field to put the Braves on the board. Atlanta went down quietly after that and that was the only real type of offense that they delivered while Joey Lucchesi was out there.
Fortunately, this was one of those days where the pitching staff stepped up to save the day. Grant Holmes was called upon with extremely short notice to start today’s game after the Braves chose not to have Chris Sale push himself through a start with back spasms. Grant Holmes ended up being up to the task and delivered a strong performance against a Mets lineup that (while obviously not their best) was still strong enough to put up a fight after they clinched in that wacky game earlier. Holmes struck out seven Mets batters and didn’t give up a single run while he was out there for four innings.
However, Holmes immediately found himself in a jam once the fifth inning rolled around and it was up to Daysbel Hernández to clean up that mess. Hernández came up big in this situation, as he struck out Tyrone Taylor and Harrison Bader before getting Luis Torrens to hit a grounder to third in order to force out Pete Alonso at the hot corner. Hernández then went another 0.2 innings and he left the game in the sixth inning with a man on first. Dylan Lee entered the game and gave up a hit to Brandon Nimmo right away but Lee clamped down as well, as he induced a ground ball from Pete Alonso to end the inning right there.
Once Lee was done with his outing, Reynaldo López was called upon to return to his old job of reliever. The Braves indicated that López would be used out of the bullpen when he was reactivated from the IL recently and sure enough, he went out there and retired the Mets in order in the seventh inning. It’s a good thing that he did because Atlanta’s lineup returned to life once their half of the seventh inning rolled around.
By this point, the dominant Joey Lucchesi had exited the game and Huascar Brazobán was called upon to make his second appearance of the day. It didn’t go well for him — Sean Murphy coaxed a leadoff walk out of him and then the Braves got a rally going with two outs that started with Brazobán attempting to make a play on a grounder that he had no business trying to make a play on.
Ozzie Albies reached on the error and made it to second, joining Sean Murphy in scoring position. Marcell Ozuna was the next to come to the plate and he hit the first pitch he saw and looped it over the leaping Eddy Alvarez in order to bring home both Albies and Murphy. Just like that, the Braves had some breathing room and this bullpen had another chance at making a 3-0 lead stick.
It was redemption time for two pitchers in particular. Joe Jiménez was called upon for the second time today to pitch the eighth inning and this appearance went much, much better than his first appearance did. This time, Jiménez retired the Mets in 1-2-3 fashion in order to ensure that Atlanta would have the lead heading into the ninth inning.
After Atlanta went down quietly in their half of the eighth inning, Raisel Iglesias went back out there to attempt a good ol’ fashioned three-out save. Raisel Iglesias gave up a single to José Iglesias because the BABIP Gods demanded that his streak continued. However, Iglesias got Brandon Nimmo to ground into a double play and then he got Pete Alonso to ground out to end the game and put the Braves into the Postseason for the seventh season in a row.
This was an absolutely insane day of action where Atlanta could’ve saved themselves (and us fans) a lot of consternation and annoyance by finishing off the Mets in Game 1 but ultimately, they were able to get the ultimate job done in Game 2. In a way, this day was truly a microcosm of the entire season: They’re still absolutely dreadful in games where the other team scores at least four runs, the starting pitching was excellent, the fill-ins got the job done when called upon, they lost a player due to injury and when it eventually mattered the most, the offense scraped together enough runs in order to make sure that a strong all-around pitching performance didn’t go in vain.
At the end of a long day, the Braves can celebrate tonight. They’ll have to hop on a plane and take on the San Diego Padres in front of what will surely be an absolutely intense Postseason atmosphere at Petco Park but at least the Braves are in the tournament. Anything can happen and we just about saw anything and everything happen over these final two games of the regular season.
Link to original article
