Braves Take Series Thanks to Kelenic's Homer, Dominant Bullpen

The Atlanta Braves need to keep winning to stay ahead of the New York Mets in the NL Wild Card race

The Atlanta Braves maintained their half-game NL Wild Card lead thanks to tonight’s 5-2 victory over the Colorado Rockies in Truist Park.

Here’s what you need to know about from the contest.

Charlie Morton changed things up tonight

Entering tonight’s matchup, Charlie Morton’s been the textbook example of a “modern” pitcher - he uses a curveball as his primary pitch, throwing the breaking ball 42% of the time as compared to just 28% four-seam fastball usage and 10-11% each for both his changeup and sinker.

But not tonight.

The veteran righthander went what is relatively fastball-heavy for him, throwing his four-seam and sinker a combined 48% of the time tonight. The four-seamer got the most usage, ramping up to 39%, but it’s because the Rockies just couldn’t seem to do anything with it: They whiffed on it on 25% of their swings and got just two hits off of the heater. Morton got another eight called strikes on that four-seamer, with Colorado obviously sitting curveball (they swung at it more than 50% of the time) against the veteran.

Morton’s discussed this with us before - remarkably candid, he explained that he sometimes doesn’t truly know who he is as a pitcher when left to his own devices: Tampa Bay pushed him to elevate fastballs in the zone and Houston wanted him to throw both four-seamers and sinkers, while Atlanta wants him to rip high-spin curveballs as his primary pitch.

Because of those significant changes in philosophy, it’s obvious that he’s comfortable adjusting what he does to accommodate opposing game plans. While the raw stats weren’t amazing tonight - a 26% CSW and 13 whiffs - they were remarkably effective, with just four hard-hit balls and two extra-base hits surrendered to the Rockies across his five innings.

(Morton was effective but not terribly efficient, taking 100 pitches to make it through just five innings. With Chris Sale going seven innings yesterday, however, covering five innings wasn’t a problem for Atlanta’s pen.)

STREAK WATCH: Morton’s outing meant that Braves starters have extended their streak of three earned runs or less allowed to 23 games, extending their own franchise record. It’s now also the longest streak in MLB this season, with the New York Yankees previously having a 22-game streak. The last team to have a longer streak in one single season was the 2021 Los Angeles Dodgers, who reeled off 32 consecutive starts of three runs or less.

Signs of life for Kelenic

The Braves took on over $10M in bad contracts this offseason to acquire Jarred Kelenic from the Seattle Mariners, hoping that a change of scenery and some time to hang out in the bottom of the order with no expectations would do the former top prospect some good.

About that.

Atlanta was quickly forced to not only insert Kelenic into the everyday lineup after Ronald Acuña Jr.s season-ending ACL tear in May, he was then moved to centerfield and given leadoff duties after a grade two hamstring strain sent Michael Harris II to the injured list just weeks later.

After a brief surge at the top of the lineup, with Kelenic batting .298 with six homers in his first three weeks at leadoff, Kelenic’s production collapsed. From July 10th until Harris returned on August 14th, a span of 29 games, he hit just .134 with a .504 OPS and 32 strikeouts, eventually being benched while Ramón Laureano and Eli White both got starts in center prior to Harris’ return.

But making his first start tonight since September 1st, playing left field and batting 6th, Kelenic launched a three-run homer to stake the Braves to a 4-0 lead in the first inning. It was his first homer since August 7th.

Some fans were frustrated that Ramón Laureano and his .298 average (since joining the Braves) didn’t continue his streak of starts in this one; he last got a day off on August 4th, a stretch where he’s batted .329 with a .922 OPS and five homers.

But as the player in the duo that will be returning next season (barring either a trade or Laureano being re-signed this offseason), getting Kelenic comfortable and producing would go a long way toward lengthening the Atlanta lineup and providing some danger for opposing pitchers outside of the top of the order, both down the stretch this year and in seasons to come.

Michael Harris is starting to roll

This is the second season that Harris has taken some time to get going after returning from an injury, with his back issue causing the outfielder to hit just .143 in his first three weeks after being activated off the IL last season.

This year, however, that process has been much quicker.

Harris is batting just .243 since being activated off the IL, but he’s picked up hits in seven of the last eight games, going 10-34 with five extra-base hits. The centerfielder went 2-5 tonight, scoring Atlanta’s final run on a Jorge Soler single in the sixth.

This bullpen is among the best in baseball

Needing to cover four innings, Atlanta went to the quarter of Dylan Lee, Pierce Johnson, Joe Jiménez, and Raisel Iglesias. Getting through their outings with no hits, two walks, and eight strikeouts, they moved into sole possession of second place for four inning scoreless, hitless outings in MLB this season, only one behind the Cleveland Guardians bullpen.

Iglesias secured his 30th save of the season, lowering his ERA to just 1.24. The newly-minted NL Reliever of the Month for August extended his streak of outings without an earned run to 27, covering 31.1 innings. Iglesias now has a WHIP of just 0.60, the best in baseball for relievers of 50 appearances of more, ahead of Cleveland’s Emmanuel Clase and his 0.67.

(Not to ignore Jiménez, he has two hits and two walks opposite eleven strikeouts in his last five innings - he’s punched tickets for eleven of the fifteen outs during this hot streak.)

What’s next for the Atlanta Braves?

Atlanta’s hoping to bust out the brooms, looking for a sweep. First pitch is scheduled for 7:20 PM ET in the series finale, with Reynaldo López (8-4, 2.00) taking on Austin Gomber (4-10, 4.69).