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The Atlanta Braves win again. That’s three straight following a 6-2 win over the Washington Nationals at Truist Park on Friday night.
A night earlier, the Braves played their third consecutive one-run game. They won 5-4 and started a win streak, after winning 1-0 over the Mets in New York on Wednesday. This was not a one-run game. It was an offensive explosion in comparison.
On Friday, Bryce Elder was on the mound for Atlanta, and with him came an opportunity to go over .500 on the season. Elder has had an up-and-down season to say the least. At 6-6 with a 3.96 EA through 20 starts, Elder needed an easy night to go his way.
He got one with a six-inning, three strikeouts, one earned run gem. Elder went six innings, giving up one earned run in the process.
Atlanta manager Walt Weiss credited Elder’s performance for helping the Braves get the win. He also said of center fielder Michael Harris (2-4 with three RBI tonight), “Mike is becoming one of the Frontline players in this game.”
Matt Olson hit his 29th home run of the season to get things started in the first inning. The 394-foot solo home run went down the first base line and into the Chop House. The lead helped Elder, who had given up a hit during both the first and second inning, but hadn’t given up a run. he had another run to work with when he started the third inning after rookie shortstop Jim Jarvis drove a run in the second inning to make it 2-0.
The Washington Nationals have some of the best young hitting talent in the game and shortstop CJ Abrams and James Wood are two of those players. Born and raised in Alpharetta, Abrams has always played well when he returns home to metro Atlanta and his solo home run in the forth inning got Washington within a run of the Braves at 2-1.
Through five innings, Elder had 75 pitches, struck out three Nationals, and had a 1-2-3 third inning. He was pitching well, but was it well enough for Braves manager Walt Weiss to keep him in the game through the sixth inning?
With Abrams on third base and Brady House on second with two outs, Elder got Nationals catcher Harry Ford to pop out to Olson in foul territory. Crisis averted.
Michael Harris II has been having a career year and that stellar season continued in the sixth inning when he put the Braves ahead 5-1 with a three-run blast into the same spot Olson hit his home run five innings earlier. The home run, his 20th, tied his career high.
Atlanta went ahead 6-1 when Jarvis drove in another run on a base hit upon the middle. All six runs were charged to Nationals starter Foster Griffin.
The Braves bullpen, which went deep in Thursday game, didn’t have to do as much tonight. Elieser Hernandez started the seventh inning and pitched into the ninth inning. He struck out two Nationals, James Wood and Jarbi Vivas, during the ninth. His only blemish was giving up a solo home run to Andres Chapparo that made the score 6-2 and a single to Dylan Crews.
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