Braves News: Austin Riley Goes Deep, Bryce Elder returns to Atlanta, more

The Braves started off their series against the Washington Nationals in convincing fashion with a 5-2 victory. Kyle Wright was effective enough to put together another quality start and earn his 19th win, and seven of the Braves nine starters in the lineup had a base hit.

Perhaps the most encouraging news was that three of the hits came off the bats of Austin Riley and Matt Olson. Riley hit his 37th home run of the year, and only his second in his past 13 games. Olson produced his first multi-hit game since August 27th, and perhaps will use last night as a starting point to get out of his recent slump.

While the hope is that both Riley and Olson can continue finding success at the plate, the Braves continue to put wins in the win column. They now have four straight wins, and are keeping pace with the Mets as they remain one game behind New York in the NL East.

BRAVES NEWS

• Bryce Elder was recalled to Atlanta as William Woods was sent back down to the minors.
• Spencer Strider continues to make plenty of history with each start. Check out the latest from Battery Power TV on his incredible rookie season.
• R.J. Anderson of CBS Sports looks at how Strider has done so well with his pitching arsenal to generate success.

MLB NEWS

• Though the Braves are keeping pace with the Mets in the NL East, New York did earn an official playoff spot (wherever that may eventually be) on Monday. Max Scherzer returned from the injured list and looked quite good against the Brewers.
• The Astros also enjoyed some official news on Monday, as they clinched the AL West and a first-round postseason bye on Monday.
• The Marlins have ended the season of young southpaw Trevor Rogers due to a lat strain.
• The Tigers have hired San Francisco Giants general manager Scott Harris as their new President of Baseball Operations.