ATLANTA — The Braves have moved to the cusp of clinching a postseason berth by winning the past two nights against the Kansas City Royals, and for that they can thank starting pitchers Max Fried and Reynaldo López, and the guys behind the plate, Sean Murphy and Travis d’Arnaud.
One night after Fried was masterful for 8 2/3 innings of a 3-0 win that featured a two-run homer by Murphy, López came off the injured list Saturday to pitch six near-perfect innings with nine strikeouts, and d’Arnaud hit a bases-empty walk-off homer with one out in the ninth inning of a 2-1 win.
The resurgent Braves, winners of seven of their past eight games, can clinch a seventh consecutive postseason berth with a win Sunday against Kansas City or an Arizona loss to San Diego.
“I mean, this has been big here,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said of the late-season push by a team many had written off weeks ago when numerous injuries seemed finally too much to overcome. But here they are, silencing a whole lot of skeptics.
“This has been playoff baseball. A lot of emotions. It’s why we play this thing, to get in these positions and take it down to the end,” Snitker added.
Charlie Morton will start for the Braves in what could be the final game of the regular season, depending on whether the Braves’ scheduled makeup doubleheader with the New York Mets on Monday is needed for anything other than wild-card seeding.
“It’s great, especially when they’re so big right now,” d’Arnaud said of emotions he felt after his latest clutch hit, a one-out homer to center field off lefty reliever Sam Long that brought teammates pouring from the dugout to celebrate and thrilled a wet, raucous crowd at rainy Truist Park.
“To do it with a solo homer is pretty special,” d’Arnaud said of his fifth career walk-off RBI and second walk-off homer. “Any type of win is special at this time of the year. But I think what our pitchers did is better than what I did at the end, because I wouldn’t have that chance unless our pitchers kept us in the game like they did.”
Lopez said through an interpreter, “That was just such a big homer for us, and I feel like that’s given us a jolt of energy.”
Coupled with Saturday losses by the Mets and Arizona Diamondbacks, it left the Braves with a one-game lead over those other teams competing for the last two NL wild-card berths, and sets the potential stage for the Braves and Mets to both clinch Sunday and avoid having to play Monday — the day before the best-of-three wild-card series begin at San Diego and Milwaukee.
Since the Braves and Mets both have the head-to-head tiebreaker over Arizona, a loss by the Diamondbacks on Sunday, coupled with wins by both the Braves and Mets, would allow both of those teams to clinch Sunday and likely avoid playing Monday since in that case, the doubleheader would serve no purpose other than determining wild-card seeds for the Braves and Mets.
MLB has not said anything officially but has indicated it would have the Braves and Mets not play Monday if both have clinched and instead the Braves, who have a 6-5 record against the Mets, would be the fifth seed and face the Padres in an NLDS.
The Mets would be the sixth seed and face the Brewers. But that’s only if both the Braves (88-71) and Mets (87-72) win Sunday and the Diamondbacks (88-73) lose. If the Mets lose Sunday, they’ll need to play Monday to catch the Diamondbacks. The Mets have a head-to-head tiebreaker over Arizona.
The Braves considered all scenarios before deciding on Morton as their Sunday starter. If the Braves clinch Sunday, they could start ace Chris Sale in the first game of a wild-card series, with Fried or rookie star Spencer Schwellenbach available in either order after that.
It’s fortunate for the Braves that they’re starting pitching has remained so strong down the stretch, because their bats were largely silent the past two nights after the two-day pause for Hurricane Helene and the torrential rains that washed out Wednesday and Thursday games against the Mets.
“Our rotation might be, top to bottom, the best since I’ve been the manager here,” Snitker said.
One of the Braves’ three runs Friday scored on a throwing error, and their lone run through seven innings Saturday, when they were 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position, came on a throwing error by Royals reliever Paul Lorenzen in the fourth inning, allowing Jorge Soler to score after his two-out double.
López, pitching for the first time since leaving his Sept. 10 start with shoulder soreness, showed no lingering effects. He was terrific.
He retired the first six batters including four strikeouts. Then, after giving up a pair of singles to start the third inning, López recorded 12 outs in his last 11 batters, beginning with a double-play grounder by Dairon Blanco that brought in the only Royals run.
López was perfect in the first, second, fourth, fifth and sixth innings, and had two strikeouts in four of those five innings.
“It’s amazing what he does after (IL stints),” Snitker said. “It’s like when it came off against the Phillies.”.
After 3 ½ weeks on the IL for forearm inflammation, López faced the Phillies on Aug. 20 and had 10 strikeouts with one walk in five innings of a 3-1 win.
“Just try not to do too much,” López said through an interpreter. “And then just having the confidence in all my pitches, regardless if I’m coming off the IL or I’m healthy. I’m just trying to maintain that confidence in my ability and my arsenal.”
Even against a backup-dotted Royals lineup in a “hangover” game — the Royals’ clubhouse celebration had spilled onto the field in front of the visitor’s dugout two hours after their Friday night loss — the Braves were thrilled by what they saw from López since the All-Star could play a key role in the postseason.
“I think when he hit 99 in the first (inning), he was feeling okay,” d’Arnaud said, smiling as he recalled that peak-velocity fastball. “Even his bullpen (Thursday) was electric, too. I think for him to go six innings after missing that time is very confidence-building for us going forward, especially if we’re fortunate enough to advance. Having him along with all our other great starters is going to be a deadly weapon.”
It was just the sixth start in two months for López, due to the IL stints. This was a strong start, especially under the circumstances.
He threw just 24 innings in two months before racing the Royals, who had clinched the night before via a Minnesota Twins loss to the Baltimore Orioles and used a lineup with plenty of backups. Nevertheless, López impressed with his command and velocity, with a four-seam fastball peak velocity of 98.9 mph and an average of 95.5 mph, up 0.7 mph from his season average.
López threw almost as many sliders (34) as fastballs (36), and his slider velocity was also up 1.1 mph over his season average. He induced 18 swings and 12 misses with that slider, which befuddled Royals hitters.
It’s been an interesting second half for López, a reliever in recent years who signed a three-year, $30 million contract with the Braves in late November, partly because they promised he’d get a chance to start. Many speculated that wouldn’t last long and that López would be back throwing triple-digit fastballs in a bullpen role by June, if not sooner.
But he earned a rotation spot in the spring and never looked back on his way to becoming an All-Star and a key piece for Atlanta.
He finishes the regular season with a 2.00 ERA in 25 starts, second-lowest in the majors among pitchers with at least 100 innings, behind Pirates rookie sensation Paul Skenes (1.99 in 22 starts). López’s ERA is the lowest by an NL pitcher in 25 or more starts since Jacob deGrom’s 1.70 in 2015.
His 1.80 ERA in 14 starts at Truist Park is the lowest home ERA in Atlanta franchise history among pitchers with 80 or more innings, trailing only Hall of Famer Greg Maddux’s 1.76 in 1994.
Now, he and the Braves look ready for the postseason.
(Top photo of Travis d’Arnaud: Dale Zanine / Imagn Images)
