Tyler Mahle gave the Braves exactly what they were after at the Trade Deadline: innings, composure and a chance to win. Atlanta didn’t get the result it wanted, though, as the Yankees rallied for a 3-2, 10-inning victory Friday night at Yankee Stadium to end the Braves’ eight-game winning streak.
Mahle, making his Braves debut after Atlanta acquired him from the Giants on Sunday for Minor League right-hander Anthony Molina, worked deep into the game and kept the Yankees quiet for most of his outing. He did not allow a hit until the fourth inning, when Heliot Ramos opened with a double to right field. From there, Mahle settled back in and retired nine of the next 11 batters he faced, leaning on a mix of four-seam fastballs, splitters and cutters.
“I was making good pitches. My fastball was a little hoppy today. I used some good splits,” Mahle said.
Atlanta gave Mahle a 2-0 cushion on solo home runs from Austin Riley and Matt Olson, and it looked for a while like the Braves were headed for a ninth straight win. But Raisel Iglesias couldn’t finish it off in the ninth, and the game flipped fast.
With one out, George Lombard Jr. reached on an infield single, then chaos followed when Iglesias tried to throw him out at first and sailed the ball past Olson. Lombard ended up at third on the two-base error, and the inning kept unraveling from there.
Ryan McMahon struck out, but Austin Wells doubled to right to score Lombard. Amed Rosario drew a walk, and Ben Rice tied the game with a single off the wall that brought Wells home.
“The walks - there was a swinging bunt in there, also,” Braves manager Walt Weiss said. “[Iglesias] doesn’t walk guys. The Rosario walk was a big one there.”
The Braves also had a chance to add to their lead in the first, and that missed opportunity loomed large. With two outs and Max Fried on the mound, Drake Baldwin thought he had scored on Mauricio Dubón’s single, but replay showed Ozzie Albies was thrown out at third before Baldwin touched home plate.
“It ended up being a big play. There were a couple of plays here and there where things turned. There was a lot of game to play, but not getting the run is a tough one,” Weiss said.
In the 10th, Tyler Kinley inherited the pressure with the bases loaded, and McMahon ended it with a sacrifice fly that scored Luis García Jr.
Mahle’s first day in Atlanta was unusual before he ever threw a pitch. He learned of the trade after boarding a plane to Dallas with the Giants, then got a call from Buster Posey, San Francisco’s head of baseball operations, telling him he’d been dealt. Mahle said the whole thing was hectic, with text messages piling up and a call to his wife among the tasks he had to handle before linking up with his new club.
“It’s exciting to come [to the Braves], who are in first place and play so well,” Mahle said. “… They made me feel really welcomed.
They have a great group of dudes. It was another day at the office.”
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