Atlanta Braves 2024 National League Divisional Series vs Arizona Diamondbacks
How Arizona Got Here: A strong offense (seventh in runs scored) was led by Corbin Carroll (.884 OPS, 33 HR, 111 RBI, 38 SB, 5.1 WAR), Ketel Marte (.911 OPS, 22 HR, 5.4 WAR), and Chistian Walker (.821 OPS, 25 HR, 4.5 WAR) carried a pitching staff that only ranked 18th in baseball in ERA, as all the starters regressed and even the bullpen wasn’t great. But the combo was still enough for a 91-71 record to take the top wild card spot in the NL. In the Wild Card round, the Diamondbacks defeated the Chicago Cubs in two games by scores of 5-2 and 7-3.
Game One (in Atlanta): Things got off to an excellent start for the Braves, as a Michael Harris walk would lead to a stolen base and eventually getting knocked in by Austin Riley to give the Braves a 1-0 lead after the first inning. With Spencer Strider on the mound, the 2024 Cy Young winner had only given up 10 homers the entire season, but then gave up two in three pitches as Joc Pederson and Lourdes Gurriel went back-to-back in the second inning. The score would remain until the seventh inning, where Tyler Matzek would strike out two before walking a batter. Reynaldo Lopez would enter and give up two singles to load the bases, when he would make a mistake with a hanging curveball in a 2-2 count to Geraldo Pedermo, who would put it in the bleachers for a 6-1 lead they would never relinquish as the Braves just could not find grass in this game.
Result: Diamondbacks win 6-1 and go up 1-0 on the series.
Game Two: This was essentially a must win for Atlanta, and they came through when they needed to. Max Fried was a dog on the mound, working through trouble over six innings. He did leave the game down 1-0, as the offense worked counts really well but struggled to find a rhythm against Merrill Kelly. Things would change finally, as an Ozzie Albies homer tied the game in the bottom of the sixth and Michael Harris joined him in the next inning with a two-run bomb to give Atlanta a 3-1 lead. As the bullpen continued to work against a tough Arizona lineup, Atlanta got to work again and got the bases loaded before Jarred Kelenic and Sean Murphy each drew walks to bring in a fourth and fifth run. The Braves would hold on for a 5-1 win.
Result: Braves win 5-1 to tie the series at 1-1.
Game Three (@ Arizona): A huge swing game in a five game series, this was obviously a massive game for both teams. Things got off to a great start for Arizona, as despite Albies hitting a homer that was followed by one for Marcell Ozuna right after in the top of the second, the DBacks were up 4-2 after two innings with them finding holes against Chris Sale. The lefty settled down though, working into the sixth inning without allowing another run. Albies would reach the bleachers again with a solo shot off of Eduardo Rodriguez in the fourth to make it 4-3 in favor of Arizona. Both teams would be held scoreless through the seventh inning as the starters and bullpen kept finding ways to work out of trouble. Harris tied the game off of Mantiply with a massive shot in the eighth inning to tie it at 4. In the bottom of the ninth, Chris Martin would walk Eugenio Suarez before Jordan Lawler smacked a double with no outs. With guys on second and third, Tyler Matzek came in from the bullpen and got Ketel Marte to fly out to Acuna to hold the runner. Matzek then got Perdomo to lineout to Matt Olson, and with two outs would strike out Gurriel on four pitches to send it to the 10th inning. Arcia would deposit the first pitch from Kyle Nelson in the bleachers for a homer, with Riley joining him two batters later with a homer of his own. Raisel Iglesias would then come in and work a save in one of the most dramatic wins for Atlanta all season.
Result: Braves 6-4 in 10 innings. Atlanta up 2-1 in the series.
Game Four (@ Arizona): The drama of game three did not carry over here, as the emotional loss appeared to have took its toll on the Diamondbacks as Atlanta throttled them in an 11-1 win here. Charlie Morton (5.1 IP, 7 K, 0 ER) was lethal with his slider, while Ronald Acuna and Ozuna each went deep and combined for five RBI. The Braves totaled three walks and 15 hits, with Albies, Murphy (2), and Kelenic each joining the above with RBIs themselves. Dylan Lee gave up a homer to Joc Pederson in the ninth, but this was well in hand as Atlanta moves on to the NLCS.
Result: Braves win 11-1 and win the series 3-1.
Up Next: The National League Championship Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers
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That game three was absolutely thrilling. When I brought Matzek in, I just knew there was no way I was going to be able to get out of that hole and I was going to have to win two games in a row. The curveball that struck out Gurriel will forever be etched in my sports game memory.
05-02-2024, 10:14 PM
