The Marlins got Elder in Atlanta, so Elder got the Marlins in Miami. His seven innings helped make sure the Braves got back in the winning column.
If last Wednesday’s contest was a night to forget for Bryce Elder, then night two’s game against the Miami Marlins was a memory bank. Elder pitched a solid seven innings against the Atlanta Braves in what ended up being a fairly comfortable series opener win in Miami.
Bryce Elder came to this guy who’s probably trying to set the record straight against the Marlins and boy, has he ever done that. Elder started the game with a 1-2-3 in the half against top of the standings Miami and it was basically smooth sailing for Elder from that point forward. No one was able to get past second base against an Elder on this base—the only time a runner has reached this base to Second base was when John Bertie got there thanks to first reaching on an error and then getting a free base thanks to a block by Elder.
Other than that, Bryce Elder was great at this one. If anything, it showed that the start in Cobb County against Marlene might have been an aberration and this was more than the usual we’re used to seeing from Elder. The Marlins had their fair share of hard calling but again when it came to Elder it was all for nothing as he was able to keep Miami inside the field with little to no trouble.
The only time Miami came close to doing some serious damage was in the bottom of the seventh inning, which is when Brian De La Cruz smoked one off the wall on center field for what looked like it was going to be a double. Instead, Michael Harris second played the ball perfect off the wall and then laser-fired Ozzie Albies at second base. Ozzie held the mark as De La Cruz slipped from the bag and instead of getting a double he only got one while being thrown out in the second. It was a great play and ended the Elder Night on a high note.
In terms of offense, the first half was also a sign of things to come for the rest of the game as Sandy Alcantara really had to work to make it through a scoreless first half. He only gave up one hit (a double from Ronald Acuna Jr.) but still needed plenty of pitches to get out of the first frame. Atlanta made it pay in the second half, though, as Ozzie Albez hit one into deep right field for a solo shot to start the Braves this game.
The Braves failed to add in the second half but kept pushing Sandy Alcantara’s pitch count higher and higher in the early stages of the game. This continued into the third inning, which is when the Braves loaded the bases with no one out to lead that frame. Unfortunately, Eddie Rosario and Ozzie Albies both swung at the first pitches they saw allowing Alcantara to escape a jam by giving up just one run in that frame, but it was still clear that the Braves gave Alcantara a lot of trouble on this one.
Atlanta had something going again against Sandy Alcantara in the fifth inning, which is when Matt Olson reached base with a one-out walk and then got second on a pass run with two out. Eddie Rosario came up with an RBI hit to make the Braves 3-0 and the hit came on Alcantara’s 94th pitch of the game. Alcántara never got past fifth and this continued a string of disappointing starts for the NL Cy Young Award winner. Two of those starts came against the Braves, which we’re certainly excited to see here.
Both teams were quiet (except for Ronald Acuna Jr. who steals second base via somersault in the seventh inning) until the eighth inning, which is when Marlins reliever Johan Quezada made his first major league appearance since 2020. It wasn’t good for him at all, because He gave up a double, a sacrifice fly and five (5) walks in only 0.2 innings of work. Two of those walks came loaded with the bases, so the Braves were up 6-0 at this point once the smoke cleared and the damage was done.
Kirby Yates pitched a scoreless eighth inning and then Joe Jimenez came on in the ninth. While Jiménez gave up a double that ended up being wedged into the chain-link fence in left field, he was still able to keep the Marlins off the scoreboard and preserve Atlanta’s second win over the Marlins already this season.
This was a remarkable rebounding performance for Bryce Elder, who continues to thumb his nose at the Baseball Savant with his success despite all signs pointing to failure. Hopefully it sticks and we also hope the Braves can get another series victory with a win tomorrow night.
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