When did it first hit you that there were fans in the building?
During player introductions? The booing for Bryce Harper? The crowd pop when Ronald Acuña Jr. launched a ball into orbit that put the Braves up for good? The seventh inning stretch? When the final out of the 8-1 win over the Phillies was recorded?
For me, it was a really small moment in the first inning. Charlie Morton was getting ready to throw a 1-2 pitch to Harper to the tune of…applause? People rising to their feet? In early April? That kind of anticipation for a first inning pitch is usually reserved for game seven of a postseason series, not game seven of the regular season.
But even with two-thirds of the ballpark empty and nobody on base in the first inning of a 0-0 game, the crowd was ready for the strikeout. Morton obliged by dotting a fastball at the bottom of the strike zone that sent Harper back to the dugout, and it finally registered with me that fans were in the ballpark.
The phrase “back to normal†was thrown around a lot today with fans returning to the ballpark, but this was the opposite. That was an abnormal moment for an April game.
And in this case, the abnormal was a welcome sight.
Positives:
- Let’s be real. The Braves could have lost this game 8-1 and this positive would still stick. There was a baseball game at Truist Park with fans. I could spend 2,000 words just talking about all the little things I missed about watching baseball games with fans in the crowd, but there really is no need. You know why this was such a monumental night, and you are more than aware of how long you waited for it. Embrace it for everything it was.
- Charlie Morton allowed just four hits in six innings and struck out seven, but his biggest contribution of the game was on offense. The entire complexion of the game changed when he led off the fifth inning with a single. It was another night of frustration and bad BABIP luck through four and a half innings. But when Charlie turned the tables on Zack Wheeler from last Saturday and smoked a base hit into right? It was game on at that point. It was like he said “If I can hit this guy, y’all definitely can too†and the Braves ripped off eight unanswered runs from there.
- Remember last season when Acuña got off to a miserable start and everyone panicked? He clearly decided he was sick of that and isn’t even giving off the illusion of struggles this season. Four more hits for the phenom tonight, including a 456-foot blast in the fifth inning that ended up being the game-winning hit. He is currently hitting .393 with an OPS at 1.290. You might say that’s unsustainable for 162 games, but what I would counter with is that maybe these are his early season struggles and he’s about to hit .450 with 75 homers. It could happen!
- And I would be remiss not to mention Acuña’s running catch in the sixth inning that saved two runs. If that ball drops the game is 3-3, Morton leaves the game right there and it could have turned any number of directions. The Phillies had the go-ahead run at the plate there, and it was 6-1 next time they got another chance to hit.
- And how did it get from 3-1 to 6-1? Ehire Adrianza hit the third (!!!) pinch hit home run of the season. It’s also worth remembering he started that at-bat by failing to lay down a bunt. Let that be a lesson to managers everywhere: Don’t bunt. Hit Dingers.
- Morton has pitched 11 innings this season and only allowed 10 hits. He has struck out 12 batters and only walked three. His curveball flows as smoothly as the chocolate in Willy Wonka’s river. His fastball has a thumbtack sharpness through two starts. He also might be the third best pitcher in the starting rotation when Mike Soroka gets back. The dominoes are going to have to fall correctly for six months, but this has the potential to be the best starting rotation the Braves have had since the days of Maddux-Glavine-Smoltz if everyone stays healthy.
- There is something very satisfying about symmetry in baseball. Six days ago Morton faced Wheeler in a pitcher’s duel that was broken open when Wheeler got a clutch hit off Morton in the fifth inning. Tonight Morton got a clutch hit off Wheeler in the fifth inning to spur his team on to a win. Perfectly balanced, as all things should be.
- Freddie Freeman has now hit five home runs in home openers in his career, passing Dale Murphy for the most in Atlanta Braves history. He has gone deep in the home opener in 2013, 2016, 2018, 2020 and now 2021. It’s obviously an extremely niche stat, but it’s yet another leaderboard Freddie sits at the top of. Watch out for a charging Acuña though, who already has two homers in his three career home openers.
Negatives:
- I’m giving this segment an off night. We have 155 more games to pick apart every little thing that goes wrong. An 8-1 win in the home opener is grounds for just ignoring the bits and bobs that weren’t quite perfect and moving on.
Former Brave Of The Day:
Tonight was a monumental night in baseball history; the only team in the league without a no-hitter finally checked that box after 52 years thanks to San Diego Padres starter Joe Musgrove. His battery mate? 2013 Atlanta Braves draft pick Victor Caratini.
Quote Of The Game:
“Ray, people will come.â€
— Terence Mann, Field of Dreams
Tomorrow’s Goal:
Ian Anderson will pitch in front of fans in Atlanta for the first time in his career tomorrow night. Hopefully he can duplicate his results from the first time he pitched in the majors last season and keep the Phillies at bay.
Great recap, Alan. Not gonna lie, the CF camera shot of Acuna’s home run while wearing that ’74 uni gave me flashbacks.
The kid is really something.
Great recap, Alan. I do feel like the bats woke up after Morton’s hit.
Chris Martin to the IL. Jacob Webb re-called. Webb will be fine, and I like what I see from Nate Jones, and we all know that Luke Jackson is the late-inning reliever you can trust /sarcasm, so I think we’ll be ok for a little while.
Trevor Bauer
cometh the man, cometh the hour
only HIS balls have been sent away
performance checked they’re showing excessive sway.
I’m not going to shake the feeling that we’re still two middle relievers away from a dependable pen any time soon — and the fact that AA just acquired a reliever I’ve never heard of doesn’t give me additional confidence.
(Via MLBTR, in the last three years, he had Tommy John surgery followed by a PED suspension, so he essentially hasn’t pitched in three years. So he’s at least as good as Chad Sobotka!)
Plus Soroka’s hurt, Fried just got nailed on the ankle in his last game, and Smyly is the pitching equivalent of a shrug emoji right now. At least the bats started to wake up.
Watching DeGroms first inning just now. He really has taking his elite game to an even higher level it seems. How can you get a hit against this guy?
Great win by RAJ and the Braves last night. Morton looked great. Thank you for a great recap, Alan.
The Mets commentators are the best. Love listening to those guys.
@6 PESSIMIST
All I want is for the Braves to win the next two and bring the world back into harmony.
@6 – It seems like it would be easier to let the starters be their own middle relievers than it would be to find 14 good pitchers, but I’m old.
Haven’t been watching the Marlins-Mets game, just checked the box score, but I’m surprised Conforto hasn’t had a real HBP today, as we know Mattingly’s not shy about telling his pitchers to hit batters. Looks like the game situation (Marlins up 1-0 middle of the 6th) hasn’t lent itself to that. Maybe tomorrow.
Separate question – when did people start using “the league” to refer to MLB as a whole? I know the two leagues merged into MLB about 20 years ago, but it seems like I’ve seen “the league” used much more in the last year or so than ever before.
@6 – Agree. It was true on opening day and the recent injuries haven’t changed a thing – this pitching staff has to potential to be great, but equal potential to just fall apart like dollar store toilet paper.
It’s fun to see what Charlie Morton has become. Those of us that remember his Braves days and even early Pirates career will remember that he was (at the teams’ direction?) a middling sinker/slider guy. Once in Pittsburgh He even changed his mechanics to mimic Roy Halladay (still true). But he never had great success. Then he goes to Houston, they tell him to throw hard and use a 4-seamer and curve, and starts to dominate.
That shift from sinker/slider to 4-seam/curve happened all across baseball in the last decade, but the Braves didn’t really jump on board. Seemed like Braves, Pirates, Cardinals were still trying to develop pitchers like it was the 90’s and hitters hadn’t worked out this whole launch angle thing.
Anyway, long post short, it’s cool to see some of the modern power-pitching style on the Braves roster finally in Morton and Smyley.
Non-Support Dept.: The Jacob deGrom phenomenon is pretty amazing.
Today, 8 IP, 1 ER, 5 H, 14 K, 0 BB… but the Mets don’t score & he loses.
P.E.D. ?
well, rather you than me –
Wait! But performance enhancing??
does that include over 80’s romancing?
Ordinarily I would be happy that the fans are back and heckling Bryce Harper. However….
(Warning: obnoxious)
Game thread.
https://bravesjournal.mystagingwebsite.com/2021/04/10/game-2-phillies-braves/