Braves play up to expectations in 6-0 win over Diamondbacks

The Braves needed a clean and smart performance with no silly miscues while picking up at the plate where they left off last night. That’s exactly what they delivered today, as a three-run homer from Austin Riley was the centerpiece of a 6-0 shutout win over the Diamondbacks.

Atlanta wasted very little time getting on the board in this one, as Dansby Swanson and Marcell Ozuna were the first two Braves batters to reach base this afternoon. RISP disappointment was averted, as William Contreras continued what’s been a pretty good season at the plate for him. His two-out double put the Braves on the board and Kyle Wright’s shutdown first inning set the tone for what was coming later on in this game.

The Braves picked up where they left off in the first inning with more hard contact in the second inning. Atlanta’s first three batters in this frame all hit the ball very hard, with Adam Duvall’s leadoff double and Michael Harris’ first career double translated to the second run of the game for the Braves. Following the one-out RBI double from Harris, the Braves went down in order to end that inning and then it was on Kyle Wright to protect the lead.

As far as Wright’s start went, it was another one of those starts where here didn’t exactly look dominating or in complete control at all times. In another example of his maturation as a big league starter, Wright once again powered through and turned it into a good start. Despite walking five Diamondbacks batters and giving up three hits, Wright was able to pick up some crucial outs whenever he needed them the most. It also helped that his defense was reliable today and outside of a throwing error from Dansby, Kyle Wright responded in great fashion by clamping down to keep the Diamondbacks off the scoreboard.

By the time Kyle Wright was out of the game following the sixth inning, the Braves were still up 2-0 on Arizona. This changed shortly as the bats made another appearance and got loud in a hurry. Ozzie Albies led off the seventh with a single and then Marcell Ozuna picked up a single of his own that allowed Ozzie to unleash his speed in order to go first-to-third. Austin Riley then came up to the plate and wasted absolutely no time introducing himself to Noé Ramirez — Riley sent the first pitch he saw from Ramirez deep into the seats in left field for a three-run shot that broke the game open.

Instead of clinging on to a two-run lead, the Braves suddenly had a nice amount of breathing room to play with. It certainly helped when Collin McHugh responded to this by sitting down the Diamondbacks with just 16 pitches over two innings — including an out coming from another amazing catch from Michael Harris. The additional help came when Matt Olson walked with the bases loaded to add on another run of insurance. This set the stage for Jesse Chavez to bring the game on home in the ninth inning,

While the win by itself was nice and we’ll always take those any way that the Braves can get them, the way in which the Braves won was very encouraging. Atlanta’s offense has been showing some actual signs of sustained life recently, so it was nice to see that continue. Additionally, the bullpen had a bounce-back performance which is also something that you could expect with the quality of this particular unit. The best part was that the Braves didn’t beat themselves with any silly mistakes on the base paths or in the field. It was a nice, comprehensive, clean win. They’re going to need a lot more games like this in order to get back to being a serious contender, but this game was definitely a step in the right direction.