TalkingChop 17 hours ago
Braves look to jumpstart offense behind Jared Shuster in Oakland
Photo by Todd Kirkland/ Atlanta has scored just three runs combined over the first two games of the series. After another disappointing loss Tuesday night, the Atlanta Braves will try to avoid a sweep Wednesday when they wrap up a three-game series against the Oakland Athletics. The Braves dropped their second straight game Wednesday night as Raisel Iglesias walked the bases loaded, before the winning run scored on an error by Austin Riley. Atlanta will turn to rookie left-hander Jared Shuster Wednesday while the A’s will go with right-hander James Kaprielian....
TalkingChop May 31, 2023
Braves fade quietly in frustrating series loss to Athletics
Neville E. Guard-USA TODAY Sports If this is a blip, then this is one nasty-looking blip! The Atlanta Braves are now one game away from getting swept by the Oakland Athletics. With help from an error on a ground ball from Austin Riley, the A's picked up their second straight win after having lost 11 straight games, with both wins coming against the Braves. This was another night where it ended up turning into The Bryce Elder Show on the mound despite his overall stuff not being obviously imposing. Instead, Elder continued what’s been his M.O. for this season where he...
TalkingChop May 29, 2023
Braves @ Athletics GameThread: 5/29/2023
Photo by Matthew Grimes Jr./Atlanta Braves/ Michael Soroka vs. Paul Blackburn Happy Michael Soroka Day. He’s making his 2023 debut and return to the majors after close to three years away, and is facing another 2023 debutee in Paul Blackburn. The Athletics are also taking this chance to grant a 2023 debut to another player, Jonah Bride, who is hitting ninth and playing third base today. Here’s the Statcast graphic for tonight. Again, that’s not a happy set of xwOBAs for the Athletics. For the Braves, it’s nice to see Austin Riley’s xwOBA keep...
TalkingChop May 27, 2023
Braves News: Braves fall to Phillies in game two, AJ Smith-Shawver strong in Triple-A, more
Photo by Matthew Grimes Jr./Atlanta Braves/ Your daily roundup of Atlanta Braves news and notes is here. Friday marked an anticlimactic day for the Atlanta Braves, who dropped game two of a four game series to the Philadelphia Phillies, 6-4. The Braves’ bats were hot, out-hitting the Phils 11-7. Austin Riley extended his hitting streak to nine games, while Marcell Ozuna and Michael Harris II each went deep. The pitching staff, however, issued seven walks. Three were issued by starter Jared Shuster, and Joe Jimenez, Lucas Luetge, and Collin McHugh each surrendered a...
Minneapolis Star-Tribune May 25, 2023
Riley, d'Arnaud lead Braves to 8-5 win over Phillies in rematch of 2022 playoffs
Austin Riley hit a pair of monstrous homers and pinch-hitter Travis d'Arnaud came through with a tiebreaking, two-run single in the eighth inning that carried the Atlanta Braves to an 8-5 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies on Thursday night.
TalkingChop May 25, 2023
Austin Riley, Travis d’Arnaud lead Braves past Phillies
Photo by Matthew Grimes Jr./Atlanta Braves/ Atlanta scored three in the eighth to pull away in a back-and-forth affair Austin Riley homered twice and Travis d’Arnaud came through with a big pinch hit late to help the Atlanta Braves outlast the Philadelphia Phillies 8-5 on Thursday night. The Braves’ offense got started quickly against Aaron Nola in the first. Matt Olson singled and then came all the way around when Austin Riley lined a 459-foot home run to left center to give Atlanta a 2-0 lead. It was Riley’s fourth career home run off of Nola. And now you...
TalkingChop May 25, 2023
Braves News: Atlanta avoids sweep, Dylan Dodd and more
Photo by Todd Kirkland/ Atlanta improved to 30-19 on the season. It is probably too early to declare a win in May as a must-win, but Wednesday’s 4-3 walk-off victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers certainly felt that way. Atlanta watched a 3-1 lead slip away in the eighth on a bloop double by Miguel Vargas off of Nick Anderson. Raisel Iglesias got Max Muncy to pop out with runners at the corners in the ninth. Austin Riley got Atlanta’s rally started with his second double of the night. Travis d’Arnaud moved him to third on a ground out and Ozzie Albies lifted the...
TalkingChop May 24, 2023
Braves News: Spencer Strider discusses loss to Dodgers, Braves TV contract, more
Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports Atlanta Braves news and notes from Tuesday The Atlanta Braves have yet to veer back into the win column after dropping game two to the Los Angeles Dodgers 8-1 on Tuesday night. Atlanta’s lone run came off the bat of Austin Riley in the form of a two-out double in the bottom of the first. The Dodgers’ pitching staff was able to silence the Braves offense, who tallied just five hits. Spencer Strider made the start and tossed six innings. He allowed four runs, two of which were earned. Despite his shaky performance, he still fanned 11...
TalkingChop May 23, 2023
Daily Hammer Podcast: Charlie Morton, Bullpen Struggle in Loss to Dodgers
Photo by Matthew Grimes Jr./Atlanta Braves/ The Braves pitching was not on point on Monday. The Braves got off to a great start on Monday. Unfortunately, it went downhill after that. Though the offense had a decent showing on Monday night, the Braves pitching struggles once again showed up. Charlie Morton allowed six runs while the bullpen had its own struggles in an 8-6 loss to the Dodgers. Some encouraging signs were the contiuned successes of Eddie Rosario and Austin Riley, but the continued struggles of AJ Minter and Michael Harris the II were also on full...
TalkingChop May 23, 2023
Braves News: Atlanta suffers frustrating loss to LA, Austin Riley Collects 500th Career Hit, More
Photo by Matthew Grimes Jr./Atlanta Braves/ Tough start to the week for Atlanta. Early on, it looked as if it was going to be an enjoyable Monday night of the Braves. However, after four early runs, Charlie Morton and the Braves bullpen imploded as the Dodgers outscored Atlanta 8-2 the rest of the way for an 8-6 victory. Some luck with balls in play were part of the success for LA, but five runs via the long ball also played a big role in the win. The big blow was a three run home run off the bat of Freddie Freeman in his return to Atlanta. Though the loss was...
TalkingChop May 20, 2023
Braves roll out the regulars against Logan Gilbert in bullpen game
Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports The Braves roll with a pretty standard Atlanta lineup as they will likely need to put up a number of runs with the bullpen game. The Braves are running with their most standard lineup, with Riley staying down at cleanup and Murphy remaining at third, with Austin Riley struggling as he has. The lineup is identical to the one from Friday, so there isn’t that much to say. Eddie Rosario bats fifth, which seems a bit high for my preference, but I’m not the manager. Ozuna stays in the lineup at DH, batting seventh. Meanwhile, the Mariners...
TalkingChop May 16, 2023
Daily Hammer Podcast: Braves Bounce Back with Best Performance of 2023 (so far)
Photo by Ron Jenkins/ Everyone had fun on Monday night. Now this is more like it. The offense was incredible, Charlie Morton was magnificent, and the bullpen got another needed day of rest in a 12-0 victory over the Rangers. Ronald Acuna Jr. and Austin Riley both went deep, while the Braves hit five total home runs. After a four game losing streak, Atlanta bounced back in grand fashion. Shawn Coleman looks at last night’s victory and much more on the Daily Hammer. Please check out the podcast via Apple Podcasts (where we strongly encourage you to leave a five-star...
TalkingChop May 16, 2023
Braves News: Ronald Acuna Jr. is Amazing (Again), Jared Shuster to Start Tuesday, more
Photo by Ron Jenkins/ Ronald Acuna Jr. is truly locked in! Well that was fun. After a suffering a series sweep north of the border against Toronto, and enduring an overall losing streak of four games, the Braves offense returned in grand fashion with a good ole shellackin’ of the Rangers on Monday night. There were many awesome moments, including Austin Riley getting in on the fun with his 7th home run this season. However, it was not hard to find the highlight of the night: Ronald Acuña Jr.’s 454-ft HR came on a pitch 1.32 ft above the groundthat’s the...
TalkingChop May 15, 2023
Braves News: Atlanta Swept by Toronto, Austin Riley dropped to 4th spot in lineup, more
Photo by Kevin D. Liles/Atlanta Braves/ Weekend Woes continue for the Braves. A few less than ideal trends continued for the Braves this weekend. For one, the weekend itself remains a tough time to play for Atlanta, as they were swept for the second time in less than a month by an AL team. Secondly, the Toronto Blue Jays just simply have the Braves number, as Toronto has beat Atlanta nine straight times via three series sweeps since the start of the 2021 season. The Braves offense had a bit more success on Sunday, as they once again performed well against a...
TalkingChop May 14, 2023
Travis d’Arnaud behind the plate, Austin Riley hitting fourth Sunday against Blue Jays
Brad Mills-USA TODAY Sports Sean Murphy gets the day off Sunday. The Atlanta Braves will look to get the bats going to avoid the sweep in Sunday’s series finale against the Toronto Blue Jays. The Braves will go with a bullpen game with Collin McHugh getting the start. Toronto will go with left-hander Yusei Kikuchi. Brian Snitker will shake up Sunday’s lineup. Ozzie Albies moves into the third spot in the order while Austin Riley drops to fourth. Albies has a 1.251 OPS in 51 plate appearances against lefties this season. Travis d’Arnaud will catch and bat fifth...
