The Braves spent most of Sunday night looking like a team that had to squeeze every last ounce out of the game just to stay alive. Then, in the 11th inning, Austin Riley ripped a go-ahead RBI double, and Atlanta somehow walked away with a 3-2 win over the Orioles after a game that felt on the edge from the start.
This one opened as a true pitchers’ duel. Runs were hard to find, and both lineups spent the early innings fighting for scraps while the starters handled most of the work. Atlanta, though, managed to piece together the first two runs while Reynaldo López and the defense kept Baltimore from answering.
The Braves got on the board in the second inning thanks to a defensive mistake. Michael Harirs II started the frame with a single, then moved to second when Colton Cowser booted the ball in the outfield. Mauricio Dubón advanced Harris to third with a flyout, and Dominic Smith followed with an RBI single through the left side past Christian Encarnacion-Strand at third base to make it 1-0.
López then worked through a brief second-inning jam with help from his defense, as Jim Jarvis helped turn an inning-ending double play. That was a welcome sight for Walt Weiss, whose trust in the rookie shortstop paid off on that play.
Atlanta added a little more breathing room in the fourth. Matt Olson led off with a double, and after the next two hitters were retired, Smith came through again.
He lined a shallow ball to left that Dylan Beavers nearly caught with a diving effort, but the ball was trapped instead. Olson scored easily, and the Braves were up 2-0.
For López, that was enough. He finished with 5.2 innings, allowed five hits and one walk, and struck out six without giving up a run. More than anything, he kept the Orioles off balance and out of real trouble, a sharp bounce-back after two rough outings in his previous starts.
Dylan Dodd handled four outs after that, covering the bottom of the sixth and the seventh without incident. Dylan Lee took over in the eighth and did give up a blast, hanging a slider to Pete Alonso, who launched it into the seats in left field to cut the lead to 2-1. Lee settled in after that, retiring the next two batters to keep Atlanta in front.
The ninth, though, turned messy in a hurry. Raisel Iglesias came on with a one-run lead and immediately put the tying run on base by walking CES. Then Leody Taveras hit a grounder straight to Ozzie Albies, but Albies let it slip through his legs, turning what could have been two outs into runners on the corners.
Jackson Holliday followed with a productive out that brought home pinch-runner Coby Mayo to tie the game at 2-2. Iglesias avoided further damage, but the Braves had let a save chance slip away and were headed to extras.
The 10th inning nearly went sideways, too. Atlanta went quietly in its half, then Danny Young walked a trying-to-bunt Dylan Beavers and the Orioles intentionally put Pete Alonso on to load the bases with nobody out.
Walt Weiss responded by going to a five-infielder look, but the biggest play came from Matt Olson at first. Gunnar Henderson lined one right at him, Olson stepped on the bag, and then beat Pete Alonso back for a stunning double play.
Tyler Kinley then came in and got Taylor Ward to pop out in shallow right, somehow getting Atlanta out of the inning still tied.
The Braves made Baltimore pay immediately. In the 11th, Riley doubled home pinch-runner Jorge Mateo to put Atlanta back in front. Riley’s hustle turned it into a double, and the Braves again had just enough to work with.
Kinley returned for the bottom of the inning and retired the first two hitters before walking Leody Taveras. Weiss then made another bold move, intentionally walking Jackson Holliday to force the Orioles to go to Sam Huff, who has a wRC+ of -11 across 13 games and 33 plate appearances this season.
The gamble worked. Huff hit a grounder to Riley, who handled it cleanly and fired to Olson at first to end it.
It gave the Braves their third straight series win to open the second half, and this one was the wildest of the bunch. Atlanta now heads to New York to face the Mets after a victory that had just about everything except a comfortable finish.
In Other News...
Braves May Have A Deadline Answer To Their Yastrzemski Problem
The Braves have been looking for a cleaner answer against left-handed pitching, and the trade deadline is giving them a chance to find one without overhauling the roster. Mike Yastrzemski has helped stabilize the outfield mix, but Atlanta still has to think about the best way to maximize him in a part-time role, especially if the goal is to keep the lineup balanced into the stretch run.
One name that fits the discussion is Spencer Steer, a versatile Reds utility player whose profile makes him an appealing platoon fit and a useful piece beyond this season. He has handled lefties well enough to stand out in that kind of role, and his team control gives any acquiring club a longer runway to justify the move. The real question now is what Cincinnati would ask for, and whether Atlanta is willing to pay that price for a deadline solution that could matter well past this year. [Read more 🡒]
Bryce Harper Just Validated What Braves Fans Are Starting To Believe
The Braves have spent much of the season trying to patch together a pitching staff that has had to absorb far more than its share of adversity, yet the club remains right in the NL East race. A big reason for that resilience has been Jeremy Hefner, whose work with pitchers has drawn notice for getting useful innings from arms that were not supposed to carry this kind of load in the first place.
Bryce Harper added another layer to that reputation this week when he weighed in on Hefners move from the Mets to Atlanta, a nod that only sharpened the sense around the division that the Braves may have landed one of the more respected pitching minds in the game. For a staff still searching for stability, and for fans watching the rotation survive on improvisation, that kind of outside validation matters even if the bigger question remains how far Hefner can keep pushing this group. [Read more 🡒]
Braves May Already Have A Trade Deadline Problem They Feared
The latest trade between Boston and Washington is the kind of move that can quietly reshape the market before the deadline even fully arrives. A controllable starting pitcher changed hands for a promising right-handed bat, and for clubs hunting offense, it offered a reminder that even a one-for-one swap can come with a meaningful price tag when the player on the other side is viewed as useful and under team control.
For the Braves, that matters because they have been circling the same kind of upgrade: a right-handed bat that can help stabilize a lineup still searching for more from several spots. If the market is already asking for a return that looks closer to a top-tier prospect package, names like Lane Thomas, Taylor Ward, and Spencer Steer suddenly become less about fit and more about how far Atlanta is willing to go to solve a problem it has been trying to avoid making bigger. [Read more 🡒]