Braves Dominate Rockies Again as Smith-Shawver Shines Before Injury Scare

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We knew coming into this series that Colorado is the worst team in baseball, with only four wins on the season. Still, the games have to be played — and you never know when a team like that will play with their backs against the wall. But Atlanta didn’t allow that to happen. Tonight, the Braves clinched their fourth consecutive series win and are now just one game away from .500. Getting back to even was the plan coming into the series — and they're on the brink of pulling it off.

This is exactly what the Braves needed. They took care of business in both games, and tonight felt almost effortless. The Braves cruised to victory behind an excellent outing from AJ Smith-Shawver, who was sharp from the start. Outside of a solo home run by Michael Toglia in the second inning, he was nearly flawless. One solo shot in Colorado? So what. It happens. Smith-Shawver’s command was spot on, and he made it look easy at times, rolling through the Rockies’ lineup.

Manager Brian Snitker was pleased with his young starter, stating afterward, “Oh, he was good. No, he kind of threw a lot of strikes, obviously, and moved the ball around, you know, he's was a little hard to hit at, 'cause, you know, he was mixing his pitches and moving it around pretty good.” Snitker added that Smith-Shawver is currently lined up to pitch again Monday night.

Everything was moving along smoothly until the sixth inning, when Smith-Shawver was drilled in the arm by a comebacker off the bat of Ryan McMahon. He exited immediately but had already done enough to qualify for and earn the win.

Postgame, Snitker gave an encouraging update:“He feels good, kind of a fatty part of his arm. So, you know, I want to see how he feels in the morning.”He also mentioned they’ll treat him during the off day and expect him to be fine.

After the game, Smith-Shawver spoke about his approach: “Just kind of attacking the zone, just kind of staying ahead of hitters, I think, whenever you put yourself in good counts, it puts you in good situations. So that's kind of where I felt like I executed today.” And that he did. He didn’t need many pitches to get through innings, even opening his night with a five-pitch first. His biggest takeaway from the outing?“Just getting ahead, really. Then just locating my finish pitches, just the location of everything, and cleaning up everything.”

Offensively, the Braves have been rolling. In game one, every player in the lineup recorded a hit. Tonight, it was nearly the same story — with the lone exception being Marcell Ozuna, who had a rough 0-for-5 showing. Still, Atlanta has cashed in with runners in scoring position. Through two games, they’re hitting .333 in those situations, going 11-for-33.

A good thing that we’ve all been waiting for is Ozzie Albies to swing the bat effectively. Tonight, Albies was 2-for-4 with a walk and a run scored. His swings looked miles better than they have been. I said prior to game one that this should be the series that he gets back on the right track at the plate, and he’s shown that. Hopefully it carries over and he can continue to have days like today and yesterday.

Even more surprising? The Braves have scored every run in the series without hitting a home run. That’s a testament to timely hitting and smart baseball — and it’s working. Snitker said it well: “It’s been kind of nice to not have to use home runs to score.”

Atlanta has racked up seven extra-base hits in the series — five of them coming tonight. Eli White continued to make noise with his sixth consecutive game with an extra-base hit. He legged out a triple and followed it up with a double. On White, Snitker added, “He is swinging the bat really good, is seeing the ball good and getting good decisions.”

Atlanta now looks to finish the sweep and head home with an even 15-15 record — .500 for the first time this season.

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