The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Wright's short stint turns out just right
Bullpen, hitters deliver another victory after starter departs early.
Like Touki Toussaint the day before him, Kyle Wright pitched into and out of trouble across his brief outing Sunday. It proved enough for another Braves win over the Mets.
Wright pitched 3⅓ scoreless innings, escaping dangerous situations in each frame, while the Braves’ offense did just enough to win 4-0 Sunday at Truist Park.
The Braves have won five in a row and moved to 5-0 at home. They’re also 5-1 against the Mets, securing at least a season series split. The teams only play four more times, with the Braves going for a sweep at home today.
Wright allowed five runs in 2⅔ innings during his first start, but he felt there was enough on which to build. While Sunday wasn’t smooth sailing, Wright managed to keep the Mets off the board. New York stranded nine baserunners across the first four innings.
“Definitely need to keep the baserunners down,” Wright said. “That’s something I’ll work on
for my next start. But I felt really good just being able to manage it. I feel like I took that from my last start and took it into this one. I was able to do a better job of limiting damage and finding a way to get strikeouts, outs when I got in jams.”
The Mets loaded the bases on 18 pitches to begin the first. Wright induced an infield popup before Robinson Cano grounded into a double play. A one-out walk and single positioned the Mets again in the second, but Wright retired Tomas Nido on a grounder and struck out Brandon Nimmo.
Jeff McNeil doubled to open the third, though it easily could’ve been a charged error to Ronald Acuna, who misplayed the ball in center. Wright struck out the struggling Pete Alonso before walking Michael Conforto, putting himself into another jam.
He responded by striking out Cano and J.D. Davis. The Braves scored twice in the bottom of the inning to give Wright a lead.
Continuing an early trend, a Braves starter couldn’t get through the fourth. Wright allowed hits to two of the three batters he faced to open the frame, prompting the Braves to make a change. Tyler Matzek, who’s become an unexpected contributor, finished the inning with a groundout and strikeout.
“Obviously I want to go deep in the game and save the bullpen as many innings as I can,” Wright said. “I put myself in jams those first two innings, and that continued to prepare me for that next inning. I felt really good today. I never felt like I was out of it. I always felt like I was one pitch away from getting out of it.”
Wright allowed five hits and walked five in his 3⅓ innings. His five strikeouts helped, but like Toussaint on Saturday, he was living on the edge all afternoon, preventing him from pitching deeper into the game.
“He kept pitching, never gave in,” manager Brian Snitker said. “We made some good plays. He made some big pitches. It was an improvement over the last time, I’ll say that. Hopefully next time he’s a little more settled in. To his credit, he never caved, which is a great trait to have.”
Mike Soroka and Max Fried are the only Braves starters to complete five innings this season. In the six games started by other pitchers, the starter hasn’t gone beyond the fourth inning. While Toussaint and Wright did well enough to keep the team in it, the Braves will need their starters to go deeper, especially as rosters begin reducing later this week.
For now, the Braves can be satisfied with Toussaint’s and Wright’s messy but successful combined effort: 7⅓ innings, no runs, eight hits, seven walks and 10 strikeouts.
Notes from Sunday
■ The Braves scored twice against Mets rookie David Peterson in the third. Adam Duvall singled and Austin Riley doubled to put two runners in scoring position. Adeiny Hechavarria grounded to short, and after Duvall flirted with running home, Amed Rosario threw to the plate, allowing Duvall to retreat back to third. All runners were safe, loading the bases with none out.
Peterson walked Acuna on four pitches to score the first run. Freddie Freeman’s grounder scored another.
■ In the fourth inning, Johan Camargo homered for the first time this season. He has slumped to start the season, with the solo shot his fourth hit in 21 at-bats.
■ After homering and doubling Saturday, Acuna doubled Sunday. The Braves’ star leadoff man is slowly regaining form.
■ While the rotation is rocky, the bullpen owns an ERA just over 3.00 across the first 10 games. “It’s been really, really good,” Snitker said. “We’ve put a lot on them, too. It hasn’t been an easy ride. It’s been all hands on deck pretty much the whole time. They’ve responded and been better than you could ever expect. Thank God, because we’ve sure needed them.”
The bullpen will get further reinforcements shortly: left-hander Will Smith will face hitters today for the first time this season. He missed camp and the beginning of the season due to COVID-19. Smith, an All-Star last season, will be a tremendous addition.
■ The Braves will go for a four-game sweep today in a rematch between aces Mike Soroka and Jacob deGrom. The Braves have already built a four-game cushion over the Mets through 10 games.