The Atlanta Braves have won a road game. I repeat: The Atlanta Braves have won a road game. A late push from the offense and some stubborn resilience from AJ Smith-Shawver and the rest of the pitching staff helped push the Braves to a 5-4 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays.
The first six innings of this contest were astonishingly frustrating to watch but, again, what else is new with this ballclub to start the season so far? Anyways, the annoyance got going from the words “Play Ball,” as Michaell Harris II led off the game with a single and then found himself in scoring position with nobody out as he stole a base while Austin Riley was up. Lately, that’s been the wrong place to be as Austin Riley, Marcell Ozuna and Matt Olson were all retired in order by Drew Rasmussen to end the scoring chance right there.
Naturally, the Rays responded immediately because, again, what else has this season been other than an exercise in frustration? AJ Smith-Shawver actually sat down Yandy Díaz and Brandon Lowe in order to start the first but then he threw 2025 LIDOM Championship Series hero Junior Caminero a hanging slider that the 21-year-old slugger made no mistake with. The Rays were on the board and the Braves were left to once again lament missing out on a scoring chance of their own. Michael Harris II did make an excellent catch on an awkward fly ball in order to help keep it from being a bigger inning but frustration still abounded for the Braves.
The Braves stranded another runner in scoring position in a scoreless second inning and then the season continued to get even weirder in a bad way. With one out in the third, Austin Riley got a hold of a breaking ball from Rasmussen and sent it flying into the sky for what very nearly got out of the ballpark. Instead, it hit the upper part of the fence and Austin Riley was stuck with a 378-foot single. Then Marcell Ozuna immediately grounded into an inning-ending double play. That’s just how it was going!
The frustration continued on into the bottom half of the frame, which is when AJ Smith-Shawver ran into some serious trouble. Four straight Rays batters reached base with one out, which usually results in a run. That was indeed the case, as Jonathan Aranda coaxed a bases-loaded walk out of AJSS to make it a 2-0 game. Fortunately, Smith-Shawver clamped down after giving up the RBI walk and it was sure beginning to feel like yet another one of those games where a two-run deficit felt like a ten-run deficit.
In fact, Smith-Shawver ended up finishing on a high note, as he only gave up one hit (that was immediately wiped out by a double play that started with Austin Riley catching a ball in foul territory) for the rest of the time he was out there. AJ Smith-Shawver finished with five innings under his belt and seven strikeouts while only giving up two runs. He certainly had to deal with a lot of traffic on the basepaths but he did a great job of figuring out a way to make sure that the Rays didn’t pull away.
Things calmed down a bit until the sixth inning and by now, both teams were into their respective bullpens. The Rays went with Manuel Rodríguez first, and Austin Riley gave him a rude welcome to the game with a single. Matt Olson joined him on the basepaths after he hit a bullet out to right field to put runners on the corners for Ozzie Albies. Ozzie worked his way into a 3-0 count and then proceeded to throw it all away by swinging at what would’ve been ball four and grounding into an inning-ending double play — leaving yet another runner stranded in scoring position.
Rafael Montero entered the game in the next frame and he shortly found himself in trouble after he walked the first two batters he saw and gave up an infield single on a ball that bounced out of Nick Allen’s glove as if it was made out of cement instead of leather. This was another golden opportunity for the Rays to pull away but instead, the Rays botched it. Montero struck out José Caballero for the first out, Taylor Walls hit a bunt directly to Montero who simply tossed it to Murphy to get the lead runner and then a ground ball to Olson ended the inning.
The baseball gods then promptly punished the Rays for their wastefulness, as Sean Murphy led off the very next frame by taking a hanger from Manuel Rodríguez and sending it flying clear over the fence in center field in order to get the Braves on the board. This was a game that felt like the Rays were dominating and now all of a sudden it was just a one-run game after Murphy’s long ball. The Braves threatened to add on more as Nick Allen singled and made it to second base after a Michael Harris II walk but — say it with me now — the Braves left the runner stranded in scoring position to end the inning.
This time, the Braves ended up regretting it immediately as the Rays restored their two-run lead immediately. Yandy Díaz greeted Daysbel Hernández to the game with a leadoff double and he eventually made it home with two outs in the inning after Jonathan Aranda hit a grounder that got through Matt Olson and into the outfield to make it a 3-1 contest again. Hernández did well to limit the damage to just one run, which ended up being a good omen once the next frame rolled around.
That is when Atlanta’s bats came to life in some unlikely circumstances. After Hunter Bigge wiped out both Marcell Ozuna and Matt Olson with a GIDP from Olson, Ozzie Albies rolled up to the plate and it seemed like he was ready to make up for that awful AB he had earlier in the game. Sure enough, he got a fastball right in the heart of the zone and made no mistake with it as he crushed his third homer of the season to bring the Braves back within one.
Even better, Sean Murphy continued his hot start to the season by joining Ozzie Albies in the “I hit a home run off of Hunter Bigge” Club with his second dinger of the game. You could argue hat the Braves had no business being tied up with the Rays at this point in the game based on their performance at the plate earlier but hey, beggars can’t be choosers, right? Stuart Fairchild nearly put the Braves in the lead with a deep fly of his own but his deep fly died at the warning track and the Braves had to settle for the tie game at that point in the contest.
Dylan Lee came on for the eighth inning and while he gave up a leadoff single to José Caballero and then saw him steal second, he caught him getting greedy trying to take third base and they eventually retired him to clear the bases. The adventure was not over there, as Lee almost had another pickoff on his plate after he caught Taylor Walls leaning at first following a two-out single. They didn’t even get a chance to review it because the home plate umpire (?) called it a balk (??) and now the Rays had a runner in scoring position. Danny Jansen came on as a pinch hitter and walked because apparently he’s on a heater and that brought up Yandy Díaz. Fortunately, Lee induced a bouncer out of Díaz and the inning ended right then and there.
Cole Sulser entered the game for the Rays to pitch the top of the ninth and the Braves picked the perfect time to jump on him. Nick Allen led off the inning with a double that was very nearly another loud out. Instead, it bounced out of the outfielder’s glove and Allen was on second base at the end of the play. Michael Harris II came up and to the delight of everybody here on this website, it was time for a deposit from Money Mike. He hit one to deep right-center and Atlanta’s fourth homer of the day and their third in two innings was enough to finally put the Braves into the lead — and by two, no less!
The Braves weren’t done, either, as Austin Riley and Marcell Ozuna kept the parade going with back-to-back singles. They were unable to add on another run but this ultimately ended up being another solid day at the plate for the Braves. It took a while for the bats to get going but once they did, they certainly pushed the team to this win.
Raisel Iglesias came on for the ninth inning and it didn’t take long for Atlanta’s closer to sit down the first two Rays in order. Jonathan Aranda got his third hit of the night in emphatic fashion as he hit a homer nearly to Tropicana Field but it didn’t matter as another fly ball out ended the game.
Instead of this being yet another exercise in frustration for the Braves, it ended up being an example of resiliency and refusing to give up. The first few innings of this game were incredibly frustrating but the Braves kept plugging away and eventually, they started clearing fences and finding green with their batted balls and the pitching staff refused to have a meltdown. They simply stuck with it, stayed in the game and their resilience eventually paid off. Now they’ll have a chance to win their second series in a row with Chris Sale starting tomorrow’s Sunday finale at 1:45 p.m. ET.