as the Braves try to win it in the 11 brow ball they'll come home sa and the Braves find the way somehow someway this Atlanta bravs team got it done one of the greatest ugliest wins I've ever seen but a win is a win and the brains will try to do it again tonight against the Reds with a veteran Charlie Morton on the M before they head to DC it's all next on Valley [Music] [Music] Sports Atlanta Braves baseball of Valley Sports is presented by truest a quick makeup game with the Cincinnati Reds from a rain out back in July but they're all important right now the Braves with a win yesterday and a Mets loss back to level both teams 78 and 65 on the season here we go folks every night buckle up Brandon Garden back with CJ Nick Kowski yesterday was a thriller and CJ the Braves have won a lot of Thrillers this year yesterday was the 12th Extra Inning win for Atlanta most in baseball they've been great in close games and that's really important right we all thought they were going to come out and slug all season long that is not has been what this offense has been out but they are deep and they find other ways to win and close games have been a non-issue you mentioned the 12 wins in Extra Innings how about the Run differential seventh inning or later the best in the National League that is really important we take a look at their last 25 games where it' been decided by three runs or less 15 and 10 you will take that all day long here for this praise team and tonight trying to continue things on the mount Chris was so good yesterday it'll be Charlie Morton who gets the ball tonight and we love when Charlie Morton takes them out because we know we're going to see that really good breaking ball from the right-hander it would be nice to see him get maybe a little bit deeper in this game tonight if possible there's been some changes here lately for Charlie we're going to take a look at his pitch Arsenal stack has 3D powered by Google Cloud this is over his last five starts the curveball usage has been up for him the cutter usage even though it's the lowest number has also been up for him lately the numbers really strong as they always are against that curveball and fast ball combination starting pitching so good back into the Braves Bullpen has been so good ryel glacius is on an unbelievable run and when we come back folks Han Ates is going to sit down with a branch closer before we get you ready for Atlanta and Cincinnati on a Monday [Music] nighton footprint with Greener Life by racetrack here with whatever gets you going and by Alpha Insurance [Music] R Sal glaus just continues to deliver Rayes probably won't have him tonight against the Reds but boy he was so good last night and he has been good for well over a month let's take a look at the strong arm brought to you by John Foy and Associates it's now a stretch of 29 straight games without allowing an earn Run Forever of the month last month in August and a 118 ER and before the game Hanah Yates caught up with a great closer thank you so much Brandon well it is always a pleasure to be joined by you Rell and of course Franco for helping us out with this just in terms of the moments that you have had you go back to yesterday we've had so many of these big ones you're so dialed in but can you walk me through the emotions of what you enjoy in games like that uh like I've said before I think I really just try to focus on going out and having fun and and and taking the field and enjoying the time with my teammates and obviously in some of those moments it's there's no two ways about it you know we need to win and uh to just go out there so really my mentality is just to go out and just give my best and help the team in any way that I can since June 18th you lead all major league baseball relievers in ER and runs alow and hits alow I could go on the list goes on a long ways just in terms of the main components outside of just enjoying the game have been your focus whether it be your change ball your change up or any thing that's been a leite to help you out through this process yeah I try not to focus too much on any of kind of the outside things that are going on I really just want to my primary focus is just going in there just focusing on the things I've been doing I really try to focus on locating my pitches as much as possible and just executing them where I want them to finish um and that's that's really it all right well let's switch gears here because a lot of people don't know Rell glaus the person off the mound and I have to ask I was told you have a very unique Hobby in terms of carrier pigeons and different competitions you do in the offseason can you tell me one what that is and two how you got started with it it's just uh one of my pastimes I like to enjoy during the offseason and it's really it's just something that I started enjoying doing uh while I lived in Cuba and I just brought it over so whenever I go to Miami I just keep it going can you explain what exactly it is to me it just feels like a really common thing that Cubans like to do you know I feel like it's kind of just an opportunity for us to get together talk about the birds or the pigeons and then you know just sort of debate about what's happening but it's really just more of a of a hobby that I think a lot of us have a pigeon collection it's so unique I appreciate the time always something interesting and really really enjoy you thank you rself it's the Braves and the Reds here at TRS Park tonight Rell glaus it'll be Charlie Martin on the mound tonight Brandon and CJ join us on the other [Music] side Atlanta Braves baseball is brought to you by Ford visit your local Ford dealer proud sponsor of the Atlanta Braves by Xfinity stream Braves baseball with Xfinity because it's only live once and by Delta a lines keep [Applause] climbing Charlie Morton on the mound he'll be throwing to Shawn Murphy tonight for the Reds and the Braves a makeup game it was going to be Travis darno behind the dish but it is not and for more on why that is let's go down to Hannah Yates well Brandon have no fear it is not an injury so everyone can take a sight of relief there Travis darno is actually placed on the paternity list he showed up to the park today was ready to take the game here as per usual but he received a call the clubhouse that his wife was in labor the contractions were getting stronger so he packed his bags he made his way to the hospital we wish them absolutely nothing but the best can't wait to see that new baby darno and as a result uh Chadwick Trump was were called back to Atlanta this is someone we have seen in a large sample size he stepped in while Shawn Murphy was injured to start the season Brian Snicker said to have someone like this step up in this situation you have a lot of confidence he knows what he's doing and the team was so happy to see him guys yeah excited for the know a bummer to miss Travis tonight on the baseball side of things but he's got some personal business to attend to let's get you the lineup for the Reds presented by your local Toyota dealers and here's what it looks like for Manager David Bell Spencer steer Ellie De La Cruz the young Phenom and then Tyler Stevenson will be the top three in the order to go against Charlie Morton here tonight CJ and it's been on a good run lately hopefully that continues this evening yeah fun little note there they made him work a little bit in his last start 25 five foul balls against him that is the most of any game so far this season from Charlie we know it's going to be all about that curve ball with Charlie Morton he's thrown over a thousand of them this year with a 203 batting average against we get ready now for the Ford keys and thinking about Striking Distance here and keeping this team close right the idea of staying close in these games so you have a chance to win seems like that has been kind of the case here and a change of pace you're going to have to hit Nick Martinez's change up tonight he'll be the starter on the other side but right now the focus on Charlie Morton all the foul balls last game and guess what start with a foul ball here tonight off the bat of steer it's one of my favorite kind of useless things that we can now count at the end of the day does it really matter I mean the pitch count does but it's just nice that we can go get that information what a game yesterday the Braves simply finding away as we said four to3 in 11 Innings to win the series against the Blue Jays and because of that the Braves back neck and neck with the Mets and the wild card standings in the air and Matt Olsen has his eyes on this popup he will take it right where the dirt meets the grass Braves racetrack defense Kellick Harris cir and Luke Williams back at second base with Whit marfield still battling that foot injury but CJ I think yesterday Brian Snicker summed it up well he said that was the top two or three most draining games I've ever been a part of it was exhausting certainly for the guys on the field for Bri Snicker trying to manage that team for you and Frenchie calling it and then for all of us that were home watching and listening we felt it with you sometime around I don't know the eighth or ninth inning out of frustration I was doing some staining in my house and I reacted poorly luckily I was outside and I I spilled my my can of stain okay yeah it all went in the dirt which was fine but you shouldn't react just enjoy the game just listen but have that little like H kind of moment and it made a little mess in the akowski house well we all felt that when Horwitz hit that Homer in the eth to give Toronto the lead but Braves battled back got it done pretty happy to see that guy leave town I think he found the Braves I'm making sure he's got a limo he's very comfortable beat it and don't come back yeah she was so good two days ago and then yesterday that big home run but bra still able to win the series here's Ellie De La Cruz 2 and two now this game if folks don't remember remember is a makeup game from Late July Reds were here for three- game series a lot of rain happened in those three days so Braves and reds only played two then and they finish things off here speaking of finishing things off Morton finishes off D La Cruz good spot here with good velocity from Charlie Morton this is 96 milph exactly where Shawn Murphy wanted it up and in and as Charlie often does a little bit of movement on that four seam fast ball as it come back and catches the corner so two up two down and now the catcher Tyler Stevenson and this is going to be a quick nine-pitch inning here for Charlie Morton Luke Williams has it love that great coming [Applause] up baseball here in Atlanta quick top of the first for Charlie Morton and the Braves defense and now here comes the Braves offense presented by your local Toyota dealers so we mentioned that Travis darno on the paternity list Shawn Murphy will hit fifth in the order but first it all starts with Michael Harris II and it's a Swingman by that I mean a guy who's been both a reliever and a starter in his career in this year CJ and Nick Martinez and look at the difference eight starts in a row for him this will be the eighth start but he has been much better as a relever pretty high intensity guy pitches with a really good Pace the pitch as I mentioned that the Braves will have to deal with his best is his Chang and he's got that interesting style where he kind of rocks himself into Rhythm it's like watching a Triple Espresso cup of coffee pitch I mean it's just a lot of fidgetiness to it but he's been good and you never guess it with all that energy at 34 years old one and two now to Michael Harris besides the change up anything else to watch out for with martinez so he doesn't overthrow the fast ball as far as having high velocity it sits just under 93 mph it's a deep repertoire we've already seen the cutter he's got a two seamer curveball and slider in there but you can see the movement on that change up it has a little bit more of the split action which especially for the left-handed hitters could be a real challenge he rocks himself into a two- two pitch and there is the change up and Michael Harris in front you see the downward movement that he gets on and he's willing to throw it inside the strike zone as well and you get outs on your change up inside the strike zone you know you got a good [Music] one in his career he has done a lot of both starting and relief work this is his 100th career start and he throws a two seam fast ball that cair Skies towards day la Cruz for the second out so you got D La Cruz the tall short stop here's the Outfield the racetrack defense for David Bell and the Cincinnati Reds their defense has been an issue this year 93 errors that is 27th in baseball near the bottom outs above average same thing and a negative 17 for the Cincinnati Reds this year [Applause] generous call home PL umpire tonight is David Rackley yeah generally for him pretty good Zone could be tight at the bottom and has a tendency also to open it up inside the right-handed hitters Marcel got a big hit in the ninth inning yesterday when the Braves tied it to force extras takes a curveball in the dirt two and [Applause] one technically the Reds going for a sweep that would span almost two months here because they did win both of those games back in July they won 4 to1 on July 22nd 9-4 on July 24th over the Braves outside three and one [Music] and these two teams will meet again next Tuesday Wednesday and Thursday up in Cincinnati so the schedule due to the rain out back in July making things very strange if you will here in the month of September payoff pitch and Ozuna fouls it back [Applause] [Music] another 3-2 and this one misses good eye Ozuna is able to stay away from that change up and the inning will extend to Matt Olson and a good little indicator there to let you know he is not afraid to throw it to right-handed hitters about 20 % usage for Nick Martinez with that pitch to [Music] rties Matt olssen called a strike o and one Nick Martinez began the year as a starter then to the bullpen again where he's spent a lot of his career then when the red ship Frankie Monas to Milwaukee at the deadline that's when Martinez re-entered the rotation in early August Olen solid single to Center so a walk and now a hit with two outs take a look at the pitch here to Matt Olson there's the change up below the zone and that's a pretty good pitch in good location but we know Matt Olsson has also been swinging a very hot bat here lately and it's a great job of staying on that change up and hitting it right back up the middle and now the guy who had the game-winning RBI yesterday in the 11th inning Shawn Murphy and it was just a slow roller to short but Eli White had great speed at third and he got in ahead of the throw and that was the ball game and here's what it looked like if you missed it it's all it took for Shawn Murphy we know he takes a lot of big swings but this one he didn't necessarily square up but you just want to put the ball in play make something happen he did that worked out perfectly last night for the grace or I should say yesterday and the celebration was on got the bubble gum bucket dumped on his head and everybody was smiling after it looked like it might not be a happy inning that's for sure when that Homer happened from Horwitz in the eight but R's battle back and Eli white played a huge role in that Victory and the idea of him even having that flexibility to play the infield again like he did in college as a short stop at Clemson came up big yeah so he goes back to his infield routes he also had a single in the ninth a bunt single in the 11th he had his fingerprints all over that game [Music] onew to Shawn Murphy slider they'll check down but he didn't go Larry vanover says no two and [Applause] [Music] [Applause] two grounder to the left side Marte has it low throw but off the bounce France takes it two stranded and we're on our way to inning number two to truis park where Charlie Morton continues his start on the mountain tonight for the Atlanta Braves and he's talked about a handful of things through his last few starts and really throughout the duration of this season navigating new things at this age he's been very transparent about he says right now for me it comes down to location and execution he said something different at this point point in your career sometimes you take the mound and until you're up there you don't know what's going to work that night and he said I know the adjustments I have to make and I've been able to make some of those when I want to but in terms of location he said you know we know him for the curveball but he said in his last start he was really focusing on that fast ball he said when he's able to locate that fastball established that early as well it's been a solid compliment it's what he's focused on here tonight and the curveball plays so well off of the fast ball when the command is there when Charlie is putting his fast ball where he wants and you know it's pretty kind of pitching 101 but to be able to locate that fast ball then everything else becomes so much tougher and we've watched him make those adjustments as the season has gone on very quick first inning for Charlie nine pitches and he gets the cleanup hitter TJ fredle to 0 and two that's amazing for Charlie he's on Pace for a six consecutive season with at least 30 starts and to think about doing that from ages 34 to 40 is really quite an accomplishment especially in today's game and especially because he throws that curveball as much as he does he throws it right there and he hits fredle and got a piece of Shawn Murphy as well two birds one stone and friedel's really hobbling he's going to try to run it off that's such a firm curveball that he throws now look like maybe it caught part of the shinard but obviously got him enough and then sha Murphy on top of it it's like watching Plinko there and the price is right I meant three birds one [Music] stone a Chan's okay friedel's okay and that's your first base runner here for the Cincinnati Reds Tai France the other way that's fair by a foot broken bat extra bases here you're going to send them they are and the throw is off Target and it's an RBI double for TJ fredle so one to nothing Cincinnati well CJ that ball got lodged it kind of died and C had to go a long way to get it he did and this was off the end of the bat it wasn't hit very hard it was a 95 mph fast ball but you're right as it gets up near the base of the wall rattles around and stays there now the mistake here for Solair is that if he hits Matt Olsson on line I think you got an easy out at home with Fredo but the throw was offline and so Shawn Murphy had to go get it so the Reds jump out in front in the top of the second Shawn Murphy sliding over to stop the curveball to Espanol well Braves fans might not realize it but they do owe this guy a thank you espanol had the two RBI double in the ninth yesterday that gave the Reds a 3 to1 win over the Mets and nice to see that nine game winning streak come to an end for the New York Mets kind of cool them down a little bit so we'd like to thank you by wishing you four strikeouts tonight yeah you had your fun yesterday now it's over it is tough for the Reds and no one's going to lose any sleep over it for them but they just finished three at City Field they come here and then they're in St Louis to start a series tomorrow R had that same situation right having to go to Chicago and make up a game and that's just the reality of what you deal with and why you see sometimes a few more off days in the month of September so you have that kind of flexibility couple of great stops on outside curveballs by Shawn Murphy well he's been the best in baseball when it comes to blocking pitches in the dirt but that one is pretty spectacular nearly full extension like a hockey goalie there for Sean Murphy on a ball that's spinning away from him line drive but there is Ella scrambling back to Second France so he didn't get doubled off well Rella has been so good here defensively for the Braves and you see him in the perfect position ready to field that Hardline drive and also making the smart decision of not trying to do too much and double up the runner off second base in France he would not have had him so the first out in the inning and now the right fielder Jake fry Frey first pitch comes up aggressive and this offense for Cincinnati CJ they're at average or below average in most offensive categories they do steal a lot of bases though yeah very aggressive something you have to keep an eye on obviously a non situation here when you have France out at second base but little things and being you know pretty athletic and being pretty quick and trying to put pressure on defenses that's kind of the name of the game for the Reds and right now six games below 500 they were hoping to be in that playoff picture like they were toward the end of last season but they have fallen out of it here yeah part of it when you talk about stolen bases and taking a look at Ellie D La Cruz with his 62 that he has this season that'll help your team lead the league swing in a Miss there's the good version of that Charlie Morton curveball two outs got to tell you it looks really tight and somewhat firm here this evening so far that one that got away from him unfortunately led to the hit by pitch but that's a really good looking curveball here tonight from Charlie Morton pair of strikeouts now for Charlie and the DH Amed Rosario Rosario has bounced all over this season was with the Rays then the the Dodgers briefly when they needed to fill in with Muki Betts and a couple others out and now he's a part of the Cincinnati Reds normally though a guy that has been bouncing like that you would think is not having a good year offensively but look bottom right of your screen he's hitting 289 he's always been a guy that can hit for average pretty decently obviously there's not a lot of slug in there that's a below average Ops the on base plus slugging yeah he's a contact guy right put the ball in play for you and take advantage of that from a batting average standpoint here with a guy like Rosario that's pretty much a little bit better than his League average but again he's never been a big time Slugger the Ops is pretty much right in line and where he has been now early in his career he would rack up some strikeouts he'd be in the triple digits with some consistency see if Charlie can get him here two and two back to the curveball Full Count and that's the play to try to expand the Zone obviously you don't do that in a 3-2 count but from a Chase standpoint 39% for Rosario that is well above League average League average hits around 28 so he is a guy that will expand the Zone checks the 3-2 for shella diving stop spinning firing safe Olsen foot off the bag Rosario may have beat it regardless and they'll be at the corners yeah probably an infield hit no matter what happens here was a great job by ell to make sure he got to this ball and himself a shot at it as he spins and tries to get rid of it quickly he knows he has to rush and you're right Matt Olson came off the back but I think Rosario beats it anyway and at least you feel like orello there saves a run it is a hit all the way for Rosario bottom of the order now and Eli Marte this is the he did go by the way it's a young 22-year-old that served an 80 game suspension for use of a band substance to begin the year so he didn't make his season debut until late June and he a struggled sense as you can see those overall numbers hitting just under 200 [Applause] Reds with one in here on the top of the second oh wow now the throw to first so they almost got him Rosario was trying to bait a throw from Murphy was kind of in between first and second that eventually went back yeah MF did a really good job not taking that bait right this is the delayed steel and then he realized it's kind of in no man's land but now quite honestly it doesn't make a ton of sense I mean I get what you're trying to do but you got a D hole hitter who was scuffling you get picked off there it's a pretty terrible face running mistake that's one good thing with how we mentioned the Reds like to run especially D La Cruz Charlie's done a really good job controlling the running game this year yeah he has been excellent when you look at the amount of guys that have gotten caught stealing against him seven N9 for 16 are potential base Stealers this year this time a straight steal and sha is just going to stick it in his back pocket probably a wise decision this look like a pretty good jump here from Rosario and I think I'm with you that murf ends up making the right choice there again based on where you are in the lineup and try to finish things right here a key spot early in this game and Charlie gets it done 95 to strike out Marte well the confidence not to throw the ball down to second base has everything to do with this right here that you're confident that Charlie can come back and get the punch out and he does with the [Music] heater see play Yesterday Jared Kellick with a solo shot to Right Center I had to feel pretty good for him yesterday I know it's been kind of an up and down year an up and down moment for that guy trying to get the baseball but 15 home run of the Season that sets a new career high for Jared Kellick the previous career high 14 back as a rookie in 21 with the meiters anybody check on that guy that tried to get that baseball yesterday thankfully he was okay he was very fired up about getting the souvenir oh he ended up with it yes he did he got it and he let the world know it too he held it up above his head for a long time fast ball o and two to Kelly here Braves only have by the way two home runs in the last 60 Innings of baseball and both of them by kelic he had a three-run homer middle of last week and then that solo shot yesterday a flare out to left but it's going to hang up for [Applause] steer third Bas number nine GI [Music] first and bat tonight for Gio Orel and he swings at the first pitch he sees and Stevenson will not have a [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] play this pitcher Nick Martinez CJ mentioned 34 years old he just turned 34 on Thursday and his 100th Big League start tonight and he misses low and away and we showed you the numbers much better for him as a relever as opposed to a starter and since his return to the rotation the last seven starts have been a little better the RA in that span 3.72 Ella lifts it in the air to deep right but not deep enough quick message from Zach chicken experts since 1990 Taco experts since now new Zach's chicken finger tacos and CJ when thinking about a pitch count for Martinez it's hard to figure cuz he's been all over the place this year and he's a veteran that wants the baseball I think that there's probably a lot of room for him it was 107 pitches in his last start so they're not afraid to let him go a little bit and quite honestly I know him a little bit from his time when he was with the Texas Rangers he wants to be out there he has a player option on his contract so if he pitches well enough probably opt to not take that option and get into the free agent Market if he feels like he can do better so I think he's in a position right now that he'll do everything he can to stay in the game as long as he can it's a12 million player option I'm just trying to imagine living in a world where you turn down 12 million and H for no thank you but again if he if he and you mentioned how he's been lately as a starter if that continues I'd say there's a pretty good chance that'll happen plus I think it's the guy that wants to start right he gives you that flexibility which is nice but at the end of the day he probably wants to be out there starting and if the reds are unsure about that or can't commit to that that probably give him another incentive to opt out count evens up to R Martinez hoping for a one two three inning and he might get it strong throw by Marte and we are on our way to the [Music] third go to the top of the third inning time now for our Home Depot getting it done feature of the game and taking a look at the best starting pitchers eras in the game right now so far here in the month of September and the Reds and the Braves two and three and taking a look at all those teams outside of the Reds everybody playing some pretty good baseball right now and not surprising when your starters are doing as well as they are well the Cubs trying to make a push the Cubs have had a similar issue to the Braves in that they pitched it pretty well as of late they've just been in a lot of low-scoring games and they're five games out of the wild card right now here's Chicago back to the top of the order here for Charley Morton against Spencer steer bouncing it outside two and one Orlando ranging to his left making it look [Music] easy and a bullet of a throw to go with it here as we're going to watch Orlando range to his left and make it look easy but the thing that has impressed me so much watching him every day we've talked about it quite a bit is the accuracy of his throws yeah even when he's off balance somehow he and he likes to have fun too but somehow he always manages to fire a perfect strike over there and it matters I think sometimes especially we talk so much about kind of where we are with the game generationally and everybody basically being in this showcase generation trying to show off Amazing Power amazing arm strength the little things still matter and accuracy with your throw is extremely important this guy's a good example right he's got an unbelievable arm in the infield but sometimes winds up and throws 110 mph bullet that's offline and it's not a lot of fun it doesn't really accomplish much of anything Yeah you mentioned all the airs for the Reds and he's at the top of the list 27 airs leads all of baseball for Ellie De La Cruz but when you can do the other things that he can do certainly want him in your lineup he watches that curveball that is Cho two strikeouts looking now for Elli daa Cruz and for a guy who generally is pretty aggressive almost surprising to see here from De La Cruz he's a low contact guy again really big power but that is the Charlie Morton cball and it's done that to a lot of players both strikeouts on non-fast balls are Xfinity game changer the sail slider is up there and then two down Charlie Morton's curve pretty impressive to have two guys on that list it is and you know what's kind of fun about that and you guys talked about a little bit yesterday is that you're looking at Charlie Morton's curveball that is harder than Chris s's slider and generally sliders are always harder then curveballs but it's because of the break in the spin and and how they register right where Chris Sail we're going to see upper 70s on what they call his slider he technically has the slowest slider in the game it's not a bad thing it's obviously an amazing slider but Charlie's curveball is actually harder and both incredibly effective that's for sure well Charlie has four St outs and there's the highest curveball usage by a wide margin in the majors if you got it flaun it right and he's got a good one goes to it there two and two top catcher for the Reds Tyler Stevenson coming up on 100 starts this year behind the dish guy who's from Atlanta was born here back in 1996 right around when the said he was hosting the Olympic Games didn't miss by much 3-2 we saw a car earlier just off the plate and I thought when against the Atlanta Braves Marcel Zuna was batting this one looked better than the one that was called against Marcel that looks really good five strikeouts for Morton he sets him down in order he set down steer day La Cruz one two three in the first he does the same thing here in the [Music] third XFINITY Live look cam as we head to the bottom of the third in this makeup game between the Reds and the Braves here on September 9th 912 in the order starting with Luke Williams [Music] Braves had a couple of base runners in the first couldn't push anything across and then Martinez sat down the Braves in order in the second inning it's going to be a big inning I can tell right now after that one pitch that is the first batter tonight that has not seen a first pitch strike from Nick Martinez pitch two in the zone and fouled back that just feels like another one of those games where runs are going to be at a premium partner yep and I think as we've talked about a lot here that is how things are going here and so it's important to make sure you're staying close in all these games make sure you're getting calls go your way too right I mean that's that's the right call but all these little things matter now everything is under a microscope after tonight just 18 games left in the season hard to believe Shadow right and fley brings it in Michael Harris is our Georgia Natural Gas screener life impact player let's take a look at his last 25 games against the National League central hitting 327 in those games he doesn't mind playing this division at all those are some really big numbers we know just in general for Michael both sides of the ball the impact has been there in a really big way but 839 Ops they'll take that all day long in 25 games first pitch over to D La Cruz and he'll back up and the tall short stop will take it for out number two T-Mobile coverage cam first inning s popped up and then he was not too happy over there in The Dugout now listen we've all been there right you pick up your ipad you log on Amazon they tell you it's going to be there by 5:00 p.m. and then all of a sudden it's 5:05 and they don't know where your order is and that's what you do you slam down your iPad and you order another one Azie was trying to resuscitate it but I I think that thing's toast well I'm sure they have apple care right yeah that's probably a good call there's a hundred of those things in The Dugout so got to have insurance it's good to see I know it sounds maybe a little bit odd but I like it I like seeing the emotion iPads are replaceable you know J Solair carries himself very calm cool collected and obviously very frustrated at that pop out in his first half bat and feeling like that was a pitch that he should have crushed and he's had a couple of key hits as of late but really over the last few weeks he has been struggling and maybe some of that frustration just boiling over in that moment there's a time and a place and there's times where it's also very frustrating when you have a teammate that snaps in The Dugout and maybe you know breaks something that everyone else needs something in the bat Rack or something goes flying and hits another teammate we have seen those kinds of things but I don't know I think no harm no foul when you slam an iPad straight into the ground tell your kids that swinging a Miss onto the four one to nothing as we head to the fourth and remind you to suit up with MLB shop largest selection of official jerseys caps t-shirts Collectibles and more to gear up with your Braves mlbshop.com Brandon CJ and Hannah with you on a Monday night at the Ballpark and after this short one-game stretch against Cincinnati the Braves will hop on the plane head up to DC and take on the Nationals tomorrow and Wednesday I know one thing for these guys that Thursday off day is going to be very welcome no doubt and luckily a short trip too right the idea of going up to DC not a bad flight at all get back here quickly enjoy that off day the Braves ended up losing two off days here in the month of September because of makeup games this one here tonight and then the one with the New York Mets on the back end of that what was supposed to be two game series but obviously and and they're not but you can't look ahead to that off day cuz this game and those two like all of them they're just so darn important at this stage onew here to Friel swing and a miss already six strikeouts including three in a row for Charlie Morton and not surprising the breakable ball right in the middle of them all four of them so far on the curveball here tonight from Charlie Morton know the spin isn't any higher than it usually is it just looks sharper tonight it always looks good but there's something about his curveball tonight maybe a little bit tighter as far as the break goes throws the cutter there and misses to Ty France who had the RBI double back in the second inning that's the difference in the ball game right now awkward off the bat there Orlando to it France doesn't run particularly well and it all adds up to a 6-3 play at first [Music] Santiago espanol now with Toronto the last four seasons so his former team was just here and now in his first season with the Cincinnati Reds and a guy that the Braves just picked up in Kevin bigio him and espanol were essentially a platoon team with the Blue Jays there for a while left-handed hitter right-handed hitter in the [Applause] infield and bigio reporting to Gwynette and there is an insurance policy as the Braves continue to try to figure out how long whip marfield is going to be out right at Ella very tidy very quick one two three top of the fourth for Charlie Morton Atlanta Braves baseball of Valley Sports is presented by truest sun setting another beautiful night for baseball here in Atlanta one to nothing rests over the last week here in Atlanta you've had about as good of a stretch for early September as you will ever get so hope everyone has been enjoying it and you got a little sunburned over the weekend I did you know cuz it didn't feel like it was that hot and I was doing some work outside late in the day yesterday listening to the game and getting stained all over myself and I was like gosh it's kind of feeling warm I look down you pick up your T-shirt sleeve and it's a pretty straight line across my arm and I was like you want to show everybody well I mean I don't really want to it's not too bad now yesterday it looked even worse when I first got in um so yeah a little bit red but I'm like with you I'm thinking oh it's nice out Marcelo Zed a straightway center field but he missed it just before the track Fredo has it there's one away well unfortunately your face doesn't make up for it so well a little bit of makeup on there to try to put a dent into it and uh especially with the Cincinnati Reds in town right that doesn't help you either but you remember it be tan soon enough it's a black sheep with Chris Farley where he like where does it hurt not so much here or here that was Tommy Boy when Tommy Boy Tommy Boy when he got hit in the face with a 2x4 with 2x4 but right in here Matt Olsson singled in the first inning awaiting an 01 pitch here from Nick Martinez in the fourt [Music] big cut at the cutter one and two so it's a right-handed pitcher this throws you off a little bit when Matt Olson in his last half bat ended up hitting that change up that was below the zone right even though that's your best pitch like man he had really good plate coverage on that can I really do it again two strike count would be the time to do it but I think he's got to really bury it no nice stop by Tai France the first baseman gets the other first baseman two away well he went to it but Matt olssen hit that one pretty hard 102 off the bat so Nick Martinez not afraid to back off that change up even though Matt Olsen has had a couple of really good swings at it tonight second time the Braves have seen tie France this year saw him as a Seattle Mariner back at the end of April out in Seattle and now Cincinnati got him at the end of July and he's playing with the Reds strike to Shawn Murphy who grounded out back in the first redzo had to deal not with Braves type injuries but they've had to deal with a lot of injuries themselves and they don't have nearly the margin of error that the Braves have I mean it's been incredible we've talked about all season long here with this team and the way that they have been able to bounce back but it is a long list the pitchers in particular Andrew rabbit Graham Ashcraft hunter green who really had started to emerge who was an All-Star this year finally kind of taking on that Ace roll Nicolo they just put Sam Maul on the iil those are only the pitchers yeah this guy Nick Martinez I mentioned he returned to the rotation after the trade deadline and now he's the longest tenard member of the starting rotation cuz it was green Abbott Lolo and spes the first three are on the I and spes just moved to the bullpen so Martinez is now the only one left from early August and he's having an effective outing so far he sets down the Braves in order for the third straight [Music] inning fifth inning is presented by Audi just three hits between the two teams Tai France with the RBI double in the second that's all the scoring one to nothing Reds really encouraging to see the pitch out there for Charlie Morton something that we talked about he'd been basically a five ining pitcher here lately and all those foul balls last time and was a real opportunity for him to have an extended outing tonight which would be great for that Bullpen especially after yesterday the Braves used five relievers in that 11 inning game eeking out the 4 to3 Victory o and two here to Jake freeley softly to the left side Orlando has to hurry safe and Fry you see he's got pretty good speed and Larry vanover said he just beat it out we'll get another look at it the advantage too of coming out of that left-handers batters box too right obvious see a little bit closer here the Braves thinking about taking a look but they're not going to do it but Orlando gives it everything he has right here and once again the throw is on the money a little bit High there but considering the situation a pretty strong throw yep he just beat it so lead off infield single and now here's Rosario mentioned how much they like to run De La Cruz is the head of the snake but fr's got pretty good Wheels 19 stolen bases this year the Braves will see more speed tomorrow in DC cuz the Nationals lead all of baseball with 197 stolen bases and the red seven behind them so a little bit of pressure extra pressure here for Shawn Murphy with Travis stno obviously not here Chad W tromp will see whether or not he ends up getting a start you know you have the basically this one two more than the off day you talked about that's a lot I mean there's always a lot on these catchers anyway and all the preparation and everything that goes into being a catcher and then when you have the teams that could run they can cause some sleepless nights and so that's a lot of work here for Shawn Murphy if he catches all three of these games and after him being behind the dish yesterday for 11 Innings Shawn Murphy was the runner in the Extra Inning in the 10th yesterday at second base and normally the Braves would have pinched run for him and put in Travis darno but they were essentially out of position players with Whit marfield being injured so Shawn had to run stayed in the game all 11 and ended up getting the game-winning RBI this does make you wonder a little bit I don't who's the emergency catcher if you ever like if Shawn Murphy were to get hurt in that spot I think it's Hannah Yates think that going for second base he's going to have to quickly return to First it does hang up long enough though that Frey can easily get back [Music] it's always fun to try to play along with uh Matthew and what he's playing on the orgon pick it up I I wasn't what First Noel oh Noel V Marte we got a Christmas music here in September I felt like I was at a wedding for a second but you're right it was that's what it was good call keep them guessing Matthew would love it and then there's ones that I'll miss and people will you know send social media post hey did you pick up on this did you hear this I'm like I I missed it I didn't get it I just wonder how much time he spends thinking about those kinds of things a lot and he solicits the fan feedback and so I think he gets some assistance as well but very creative always is Marte liner oh Luke Williams how about a snow cone on September [Applause] 9th well done here this ball was hit pretty hard 95 mil an hour off the bat and you see the reaction there from Luke Williams at the very end of this glove he squeezed it it wasn't like it hit his glove and kind of rolled toward the end he caught that with the end of his glove that's impressive and a tough Christmas present H way to bring it all full circle thank you Williams is 61 if he's 6 feet tall that's probably a single to right but instead it's out number [Music] two Red's return to the top of the order here with Spencer steer who is 0 for two tonight [Applause] it's amazing to get that swing in a two- count you're sitting in a hitter's count think okay I'm going to get geared up for a heater Spencer steer decides yeah I'm going to go after this one and that ball is 2 feet outside but when it starts he's probably thinking oh this is coming right down the middle just get it going early try to get the head out and then you end up missing it by that much Runner break for [Applause] second thought he may have come off the bag but fley does get his 20th stolen base of the Season that would look like a really good throw from Shawn Murphy take a peek here wasn't a big lead but it was a decent jump and not an easy pitch to handle that's a nice pick on the back end by Luke Williams now he stayed on there that's the right call now you got a 3-1 pitch coming to steer and the runners will be at first and second for Ellie De La [Music] Cruz so third time around here for Charlie Morton he's done a good job so far with d Cruz has attacked him with that curveball struck him out last time looking on that curveball I will say with Charlie's Kerbal it is the kind of pitch that you can continue to throw it at hitters right as long as it's on with command it's not the type of pitch like oh we got to look at my curveball I need to go to something else no not with this level of curveball that Charlie Morton has we've talked about this a lot with him third time through the order just a 220 batting average against and now making that third turn through the order hopefully that Trend continues key spot right here in a one to nothing game in the fifth inning facing the 22-year-old Ellie De La Cruz so these guys separated by a full legal adult 18 years between them [Applause] now the walk loads him up you've got Stevenson on Deck he would be next Charlie chopping that gum 3-1 pitch curveball in there all right what do you think you do here 3-2 so he throws at 3-1 that's kind of the old adage would you throw at 3-2 Charlie does have a deep enough repertoire but I think you go to your go-to whatever pitch you feel you're most comfortable with that you can get him out and to me that does feel like the curveball he certainly could spot up the fast ball again just like he did in his first St bat feels like it'll be one of those two pitches he got him looking at the first he got him looking in the third 32 but there he walks him back to back free passes and the bases are [Music] loaded a little bit of an overthrow there on that one they were trying to go back inside to hopefully get the free strikeout which they already gotten a couple of them tonight and pretty good time for Eric a br to pop out here and talk to Charlie [Music] Morton still a reasonable pitch count here for being in the fifth inning with two outs 78 but the key thing right now is in such a low-scoring game how to try to keep this one to nothing yeah again it's a good time to get a break go ahead and catch your breath reset a little bit after a couple of walks and then also just kind of go over The Scouting Report one more time obviously with Stevenson they've already seen him a couple of times he's gotten him out twice just being real confident of what they want to do here especially early right you always got to be a little bit careful when even though those back toback walks you don't want to just necessarily throw a pitch down the middle either good hitters are aggressive in these spots swing and a foul ball 95 on the fast ball there from Charlie going up against Tyler Stevenson who grew up big Braves fan regularly going to games at Old Turner Field to cheer on his childhood Idol Chipper Jones yes painted on the corner now he's got him in a good spot here 02 really good spot he goes fast for down the middle fast ball away now if you're going to sweep that breaking ball which we've seen a lot of very important here for Shawn Murphy to continue what he has done so well and that it's blocking those pitches if it gets in the dirt 02 pitch doesn't chase the curveball he makes that look so easy I would miss a 100 out of a 100 of those and we've seen this about four time already tonight alone so how he puts his face right in there and stays through it almost like a first baseman trying to make a pick Charlie's one two that's a good one so hard to lay off but Stevenson does a good breaking ball here in onew count he does lay off of it and so now 2-2 you don't want to go 3-2 it's your most aggressive pitch to The Spot in which you could think and get out but in the strike zone 25 pitches this inning and there will be another one he gassed him up with a fast ball the catcher Stevenson checking on the catcher Shawn Murphy [Applause] [Music] [Applause] here we go again and he got him went back to the fast ball Stevenson late to the spot and the Reds leave him loaded got to tell you I was thinking curveball it's a good thing I'm not calling pitches tonight fast ball up here at 94 and that one is by [Music] Stevenson this fifth inning is presented by Audi as the Braves look to generate some offense they walked it off yesterday against Toronto they didn't do it with power they did it by executing the little things and briyan Snicker today said listen we're not currently out slugging teams in all these games like we have the past few seasons we have to get creative and win however we can he said whether it's aggressive base running or executing buns you have to manage the team you have with the current players you have and right now a win is a win guys absolutely right and again we'll talk about it all day long but this is how different this team is and I think the thing that the front office has to be really proud of and the way that they built this club I think we all thought they were going to come in and slug again right and it didn't happen but here they are still plenty good enough to win and to be into the postseason a lot of that of course has to do with the pitching but the other things too the ancillary pieces that they had to bring in the kind of adjustment and change of plan in the way that that has worked out not an easy thing to do the pivot here offensively for this team has been really strong Jared Kellick High into the Atlanta Sky whose m is it going to fall into a little confusion I think espanol lost it but fry found so in the non DH years of course we had kind of we did it in Co obviously in 2020 went back to the DH and or should say pitchers hitting in 21 but so the non DH years there's been four of them the Braves went one sack bun in 20 two in 22 or 23 this year nine it was four the previous three seasons in which we had the universal DH and very telling just about the style of ball they've got to play right do what you got to do and again everybody's kind of pivoted because this year's gone a little bit differently for this club but still a winning team and I go back to that key bunt very key bunt that Eli White had in the last inning yesterday that ultimately helped the Braves get the win those types of plays down the stretch that ultimately might decide whether this team is in the postseason or out of it the preparation for those moments right thinking about you know we'll watch batting practice and fans have done it in the past you'll see some guys maybe they're Bunning and they're not really putting their best effort and just kind of throwing a couple down it matters now more than ever that these guys are prepared for these moments in these type games and yesterday the 12th Extra Inning win for the Braves now to put that into perspective nobody else across Major League Baseball has more than nine the Braves have won 12 with their 17 Extra Inning games two two to Ella Full [Applause] Count Ella flew out of the second inning and up right field is that going to stay Fair no it will [Applause] [Music] not just the second three ball count tonight for Nick Martinez who has been in a Groove Ozuna walked and Olsson singled in the first the Braves have not had a base runner since then and they will not get a base runner here that change up that is his bread and butter gets her shella it's such a good one you get the speed differential that gets you out front but it's also some of that late movement though that one didn't have as much depth but it's still 11 12 mph off the fast [Music] ball starts Orlando Aria off with a strike ases Martinez guy who is originally from Miami but played his college ball in the Bronx at forom for the forom Rams way back in the day he was mostly a second baseman in college and he had a 533 ER in college only 15 relief appearances so mostly just second base Rangers take him in the 18th round back in 2011 ends up pitching four years for them then over in Japan couple with San Diego and now here with the Cincinnati Reds yeah good example of a guy whose career got on a different track after spending those four seasons in Asia the neon ham Fighters which is just such a great name it's not actually ham Fighters but you wish it could be cuz you just imagine a can of ham fighting you but nepon ham is the name of the company they all have these corporate sponsors attached to them but there's something about the ham Fighters that just seems really cool and then his last year he actually played for the same team that I did and you got to be very careful how you say it but is the Fukuoka soft Bank Hawks come again that's right one more time one more time they do it differently Fukuoka is actually the area SoftBank is the cell phone company over there so they are the Fukuoka soft Bank Hawks Hawks I thought Hawks okay 32 that was the word you were worried about I was worried on both ends I 3-2 pitch charging Frey boy that's four straight one two three Innings now for [Music] Martinez here between the Braves and the Reds and right now A score of one to nothing a tight one here tonight let's take a little pitch by pitch here and the way Charlie Morton finished this last inning we see the fast B right down the middle fouled straight back this one painted on the corner then he comes back with the curveball a couple of times right we know so often the finishing pitch for Charlie Morton can't quite get that swing and miss that he's looking for goes back to the fast ball little foul tip here and then up above the strike zone to get that big time strike out as we take a look at a little bit of our yellow wood bringing the lumber feature and Charlie Morton so far here tonight his strikeouts by pitch type four of those on the curveball a couple of heaters and then that two seam fast ball as well has registered a strikeout this evening and that job to get out of the inning last time keeps it at one to nothing here's a bun by fredel Charlie firing to first to get it Fielding his position about as well as you can those are 40y old legs going after that bun for Charlie Mort and a 40-year old back and that is a non-issue great job here by Charlie he Bear Hands it he understands the time that he has and fires off a perfect strike there to Matt [Applause] Olsen a tie France one for two that RBI double back in the second inning so even though he was up up over 25 pitches last inning still manageable here at 86 in the six yeah good to see no action in the bullpen either for the Braves right now this will get out of play one and one took him a 100 pitches to get through five innings last time of course that means he was averaging 20 pitches per inning but those two nine pitch Innings the first and the fourth those were huge Orlando cannot get to it it's probably a single for France either way and he is two for three I'm with you on that one even if he gets to it but we know Orlando and believing he can make every gray play and it would have taken a plus play to even get Tai France running but he gave it a shot as he lays out just off the end of the glove G take that back that didn't even hit the glove you never know what you're going to get from Orlando Aria here's espanol Charlie try to get through at least six Chris Sail went six spectacular Innings yesterday did not give up up and he runs and yet another strong outing oh yeah that was on the ground so it could be two and it is two spectacular 543 double play started by Gio orella how about the hands here on the short pick and then once again strong throw over to Second and there goes Luke Williams in the middle of it all beautifully done by the Braves defense Chick-fil-A game nugget talking about the r National League wild card team so this is what each of them CJ have coming up this week yeah and taking a look at the different schedules obviously we're really focused on the meth but the Diamond Back starting to slide here a little bit the Texas Rangers have been playing really good baseball so even though they're a non-c contender it is not going to be easy for the Diamondbacks a little revisit of the 2023 World Series the Brewers have been really good although scuffling here a little bit but they're a good team and we course we know the Philadelphia Phillies we are all Philadelphia Phillies fans for seven more days remaining this Seas yeah when they play the Mets Mets by the way mentioned there north of the Border taken on the Blue Jays who just left Atlanta that game is scoreless in the fourth how about the iron you there right the Reds come down here for one after they just beat the Mets yesterday of course the Braves just hosted the Toronto Blue Jays and now the Mets are there and then the Braves off to DC after this so it'll be a late night but not a day game tomorrow in the evening so boys can sleep in get some rest before heading to the ballpark Luke Williams swings and misses at the change up and he's down on strikes well that has been part of the theme here tonight for Nick Martinez 17 of 18 first pitch strikes as he has gone through this order twice and that was a pretty good looking change up right on right to Luke Williams well he is in a Groove he is set down 14 consecutive hitters see if Michael Harris can disrupt that so based on what you've seen here tonight safe to say he's going to opt out on that player option if he continues to pitch like this yeah he's probably going to roll the dice tell you what the curveball looks really good tonight as well that pitch has been [Music] sharp he's ahead of Harris 02 Martinez firing home and that time a change up that Harris stays away from we mentioned last time out Martinez did go over a 100 pitches against Houston and his season high as far as innings pitched is seven he did that in early August at Milwaukee [Applause] another foul ball by Harris so a pitcher duel here speaking of good pitching it was on this date back in 1965 that Sandy kofax threw the eighth perfect game in baseball history at Dodgers Stadium did it against the Cubs and the Cubs had pretty good lineup three Hall of Famers in that lineup for them grounder here to the right side that France takes they had Billy Williams Ron Santo and Ernie Banks and kofac struck them out a combined six times oh that's awesome unbelievable it's fine I mean obviously he did a lot of great things in his career but a perfect game which strikeouts of Big Time Players like that pretty special and then a month later back in 65 he pitched shutouts in game five and seven of the World Series helping the Dodgers defeat The Twins so on probably like two days rest when things work back then incredible run for one of the great Sandy kofax who by the way Chris Sail passed yesterday on the all-time strikeout list when he got into the top 50 that's a amazing top 50 and obviously had dealt with some injuries and I was having this conversation earlier today and Randy Johnson 1998 comes over to the Houston Astros I was there finishes out the last two months of the Season he was 34 years old a year younger than Chris alas right now and then he won four straight sa young Awards when he went to the Arizona Diamondbacks and that was the first time wasn't technically the first time that he'd been in the National League he started with Montreal but that version of Randy Johnson that was the first time we really saw him in the NL same thing here with Chris S first time in the National League and can't help but dream on that a little bit could he that kind of run in him it's been unbelievable this year but tonight it's been all about Nick Martinez he's now retired 16 Braves in a row Atlanta Braves baseball is brought to you by your local Toyota dealers Toyota Let's Go Places by the Georgia Lottery today could be the day and by Yellowwood if it doesn't have this yellow tag you don't want it another lowc scoring pitchers duel one to nothing Cincinnati as we begin the seventh inning here at truest Park first time that Charlie has worked into the seventh inning since back on July 10th at Arizona and that will help him get through the inning one pitch one out [Applause] [Music] [Music] fifth time this year all told that Charlie has worked into the seventh inning as now he pitches to the DH Rosario trying to figure out whether or not Nick Martinez had been putting that sweatshirt on in between Innings I think it's the first time we saw him but I don't see any action down in that Red's Bullpen so he is probably going back out shella has it it was a bullet on one hop but he made the [Applause] play well they had the incredible double play to end last inning and here goes ello once again ranging to his left nice strong throw he has been so good over there defensively good for him man thinking about where he was with the Tigers and the tigers are actually playing some pretty good baseball and trying to make a run here at a wild card they're three and a half games back Braves certainly have been happy to have Gio orella hey stay tuned for the stretch fueled by Georgia Natural Gas Nick and Colin will join us from the [Applause] battery told you it's like watching a cup of coffee as far as Nick Martinez it's high energy and he's getting his extra steps in right now now it's just like him yeah on the mound with that constant movement did he go no couple warming in the Braves Bullpen Grant Holmes Aaron bummer so double barrel action right now with two outs in the seven to the left side this one gets through so a two- out single for Marte [Music] Eddie Perez that hat signal letting the bullpen or The Dugout know that those guys are ready if needed but Charlie's going to stay out there to face the top of the order in Spencer steer and he even got the confirmation I couldn't tell if that was Walt Weiss that gave the confirmation down to the bullpen a little hat off and hat off back just to make sure that they know the message was received I'm assuming the phones are working but it's always kind of the backup communication steer is over for two he did draw a walk in the fifth Charlie trying to get through seven Innings and that call will help one and one Charlie fires out to left kick will have to take it on a bounce thought he might have a chance but it is a single he got more than at 100 pitches and now it's decision time for Brian sniper yeah smart play by Jared Kellick and left field I think he made the right choice here he could have taken a shot at a great play but that might have been a little bit too risky in this situation because if he doesn't get it that's another run and you just don't have a lot of time to think about it and I do think he made the right choice and that's going to be it for Charlie Morton 100 pitches even T La Cruz coming up and bummer coming on out of the [Music] [Applause] pit really good outing from Charlie Mor you can't ask for much more he does leave with two out two on in the seventh Aaron bummer will come on but before we get get to all of that action here's a quick word from our friends at truest when you work with someone who knows a lot and cares even more you're unstoppable truest all right CJ so Brian Sinker feels this is the best match up here bummer De La Cruz you want to turn him around right against lefties you see the numbers come down for De La Cruz considerably you got some high batting averages there for Aaron bummer but a lot of this is on ground balls that end up getting getting through a lot of it has been we contact he relies heavily on the defense and for Brian Snicker right now he likes the idea of having DEA Cruz bat right-handed against Aaron [Music] buer two strikeouts in a walk so De La Cruz hasn't put the ball in play tonight obviously all three of those at bats were from the left side both runners go throw to third I think they got him yes Murphy feet guns down Marte to in the top of the [Applause] seven let's see they're thinking about potentially challenging this on a breaking ball good throw here from Shawn Murphy and it looks like the tag was applied but they're going to do it huh they're going to challenge this oh no he slid right into the glove didn't he yep that index finger on the right hand hit the glove watch it here now you can't see it as great from that angle but I think he's out I'll take your word for it it's an interesting one as a manager right because it's a really aggressive call cuz you're looking for D La Cruz to put the ball in play any ground ball that gets through is going to give you another run almost seemed unnecessary but you're going to have to get clear and convincing evidence to turn this thing over you think it was the right or the left hand they right hand watch watch the right index finger and the thumb yeah I think so [Applause] too yeah and clear and convincing I just I don't see how you overturn it we've been surprised before so don't take it to the bank [Applause] yet this feels like this might take a little while as well which for Aaron bummer in your mind you got to tell yourself this inning is still going you're still out there and well maybe not there we go f r out that will do it still one to nothing as we head to the [Applause] stretch the stretch is fueled by Georgia Natural Gas live The Greener life with G&G but hopefully they we warned you they're all going to be close here we go yes they will let's get you back Roberto Clemente nominee which is awarded to the player that best exemplifies extraordinary character Community involvement philanthropy on and off the field when he found out that he was selected as the Braves nominee he said he was really caught off guard by it he said I was just appreciative to even be associated with a name like that he's donated a percentage of his salary throughout his career to host different families at games and it was special guys fly out here by Marcelo Zuna well he's a special guy and the key thing with that Clemente award as Hannah said CJ it is on and off the field and he does it in both yeah he certainly does and it has been a great year for Chris S and all players will tell you that whenever they get that nomination for the Clemente award it is such a humbling thing right the idea of paying it forward and just kind of doing a little bit when you feel is right for your community and all the great opportunities there are for players to help out it's just really cool to see and he certainly deserves [Applause] it and the pitching strong again tonight with Charlie Morton but can the Braves get the bats going 17 in a row retired by Nick Martinez Matt Olen was the last guy to reach he has the Braves only hit and it came four batters in back in the bottom of the first the other way to Marte charges throws wide throw and olssen reaches and that is how Martinez's streak [Applause] stops and they think they want to tag Matt Olen here just for the sake of doing it but I don't think he made the turn he is ruled safe we mentioned some of the struggles now this one probably not as fair but Marte has not thrown the ball well tonight from third base now the question was whether or not there was a tag and there wasn't and Matt olon look at Matt olon with the feet that's why you jump rope in the off season and right back on the back that looks [Music] fun effective triple jump pop skiping a jump all right so tying Run is it first here is Shawn Murphy sha ended the top of the inning with his arm now what can he do with his b 88 pitch tonight for Martinez is a strike no he called that a ball I stand corrected one and one we'll take it absolutely take it that's 100% a ball thank you David Rackley Murphy scoring foul down the right field line one and two [Applause] now for what it's worth the Reds have been in a lot of close games this year like the Braves they've been in 29 one run games they've only run won 13 of them that's the worst percentage in the league maybe the Braves can get a couple here and get up to DC with another Victory two two pitch broke it bat liner to third the bat went flying over into the Red's Dugout and the ball into the glove of [Applause] Marte this thing absolutely shattered into the net and then as you mentioned down into the Reds Dugout that had some distance on it from Sha Murphy watch how high this hits up on the net wow that was one of the strange Broken Bats you will ever [Music] see and unfortunately just a line out to Marte for the second out and now here's [Applause] Kellick that's another first pitch strike there from Nick Martinez and he's not just throwing balls over the plate right that is a change up Pitch number 92 and it's right on the corner Kellick took a healthy hack and I think Jared wanted that one badly yeah little cutter at 89 but still a pretty good location right you see a change up away in the corner now it's a cutter inside on the corner and way Nick Martinez has pitching here tonight a chance we'll see something I would assume kind of back away again after going in O2 pitch yeah going outside with a change jump two fly outs tonight for Kelling he also has the Braves last two homers dating over the last week and the count evens up to it [Applause] two down two two pitch from the righty count full three and two Gio or shella Waits on Deck [Applause] now the payoff reaching for it slaps it in the air to the left side and D La Cruz will take it Runner stranded it's still one to [Music] nothing nothing and a lowc scoring Affair as we go to the eighth inning Braves Reds tonight tomorrow Braves at the Nationals we'll go on the air at 6 Eastern B Sports South at the ble Sports app as we encourage you to embrace the race brought to you by racetrack all right so De La Cruz was at the plate when Murphy threw out Mart in the seventh so now he starts the eighth inning to Elli De La Cruz swing and a miss one and one Martinez still pacing seven score Innings just two hits given up that sweeper I think that's going to be a tough pitch for old Ellie day La Cruz to handle here especially when you see a guy like bummer throwing it from the lower arm angle in both sides of the plate right he swung a Miss on the one that was in then he back doors it perfectly on the outside corner and he gets him to chase that one in the dirt and he went three sweepers back to back to back to get De La Cruz and all of a different variety in the way that looked and you're going to see De La Cruz and that bad head come around tried to stop it but could not the hattick he does not want three strikeouts tonight for D Cruz Stevenson also has a pair of strikeouts over for three tonight country media here tonight to paid attendance 34,000 883 Orlando on the carpet to him Matt Olson can't scoop it so Orlando Aria with a bad throw that'll be an error allowing Stevenson to reach we just don't see it very often we talked earlier about how great he has been with the throws all season long the footwork is there he took a little Peak at the runner and perhaps maybe Orlando thought he had plenty of time and he ended up taking off a little bit on the this throw and that Olsson so great at making picks over there but you can't expect them to make all of [Music] them so one on one out and fredle now the hitter so this is an area in which we have seen Aaron bummer really shine and that is his ability to generate weak contact against left-handed hitters check this out him and Chris Sail the two best in baseball when it comes to left onle exit velocity obviously we know how dominant Chris sa has been but Aaron bummer right there with him this is a minimum of 70 batters faced see Christopher Sanchez there from the Phillies Tim Hill with the Yankees now but lot of weak contact against Aaron bummer left on left and a pretty weak swing there on a good sweeper and Friel is down to the count one two well you think about the guys in that Braves Bullpen and obviously a lot of them are having great years I feel like bummer slipped under the radar a little bit he has I think you know people will look at the batting averages against the heran runners have been good I think somewhat underappreciated he's done a good job with a guy like Aaron bumber we talked about this from the very beginning of the year when the Braves acquired him is that he is a heavy Sinker ball pitcher ground ball pitcher obviously the sweeper as well but that also means the walk rate is going to be a little bit higher that's comes along with your best Sinker ball pitchers because they're so often at the very bottom or just below the Zone but it's got a lot of value the Braves obviously thought very highly of him when they traded five players away to get him that's what they were envisioning right there Paints the inside corner gets freedle two away a front door sweeper here even if it was a mistake Shawn Murphy was set up away it's the break on that pitch it take it all day long who's been hot brought to you by Texas p well the Braves Bullpen how about the home stand 20 Innings a 135 ER yeah they have been terrific no two ways about it very important based on how this season has gone with all these tight games bummer is stepping out of the game here and on comes Grant Holmes to face Ty [Music] France here is a quick message from our friends at Alpha Insurance hit a home run on your insurance needs with Alpha all right so it's holes against Tai France France two hits including the RBI double that's the difference in the game swinging a Miss there and Grant Holmes this year has been really good against right-handed hitter just a 656 Ops you can see the overall batting average there great strikeout to walk race show as well for the rookie right-hander so Aaron bummer did his job couple of strikeouts the only guy that reached Stevenson on that air by Orlando Aria he's still down at first base one and two good slider [Applause] Holmes deals Holmes got him a slider again to send us to the bottom of the eight mats playing the Blue Jays up in Canada this is the difference in their game JD Martinez in the fourth inning delivering an RBI single and just like here in Atlanta it is one to nothing there each team with only one hit they in the sixth inning embrace the race brought to you by racetrack the up to the minute wildcard standings in the National League so of course we all want to see the Mets lose however the Blue Jays kind of deserve to lose if they're going to wear those uniforms what are those I thought it was somebody like throwing the first pitch out for a second we were showing it no bueno just two hits for the Braves both by Matt Olen but Nick Martinez is gone seven innings for Martinez a scoreless baseball here is Fernando Cruz out of the bullpit and for Cruz he's had a little bit of a home run issue eight of those allowed in his 58 in twoth thirs Innings he does have three starts under his belt but that's a really good strikeout rate at 37% so we know that to generate the swings and misses but the walks and the home runs have been a problem 95 well plac there to Ella a ball and a strike one and two Cruz with the Reds his entire Big League career over the last three seasons he debuted in 2022 got a late start to his big league career didn't get to the professional level till he was 32 and her shella fouls off the splitter so Cruz comes in in first battery faces first pitch ball wy's been all over this tonight but pretty fascinating to watch what Nick Martinez had done 23 for 24 first pitch strikes we could only track back to 2000 was only the second pitcher to throw 23 first pitch strikes in facing 24 hitters or less in the last 25 years wow up and in look out Gio or shella the other guy to do it was Michael Fulmer Michael Fulmer went a perfect 23 for 23 back back in 2017 well hopefully the Braves will have better luck against Cruz than they did Martinez Gio Orel it down to a knee fing off the two- two splitter [Music] [Applause] got him to expand he's really sticking with that splitter and it gets her shallow one away quick message from Delta from Braves country to the world Delta official Airline of the Atlanta Braves now we have all these like madeup pitches like the spinker and all this other kind of crazy stuff that might have been a spider cuz I mean it came up as a split but it just cut right to left like a slider that was nasty and probably unintentional well it worked for Cruz and now he's got Orlando Aria Aria grounds to third but foul [Music] think we get that one to catch on spider I like it we've had quite a few hybrids as you mentioned some interesting some not necessarily G-rated yeah some inappropriate ah he went with a four seam fast ball and rsia was late back-to-back strikeouts for Cruz that's good location here with good velocity you can see why he's generated so much swing of Miss and why he's been so good against righties that's 5 mph right on the [Music] black bottom of the order here and Luke Williams a fly out and a strikeout for him [Applause] tonight out to center field and fredel settles under it Braves going order in the [Applause] eighth welcome back to truis park Braves Trail one nothing here Grant Holmes on the mound for Atlanta and he did something really special this week and I saw him visiting with a couple of people I wanted to figure out the story come to find he was hosting an eight-year-old named Jay his father Steven and a mutual friend at the game he paid on his own dime to bring them out to Atlanta and and put them up in a hotel bring them to the game because he had heard they were from his hometown Jay's mother passed away in a car accident back in April and then after that his his father who is disabled he's blind was not able to take care of Jay finan eventually his aunt took them in they were four months behind rent couldn't afford food and clothing the story was passed on to Grant from his hometown so he brought him out he wanted to make their day he is helping out in a variety of ways and he said listen this is what it's all about to me he said I was given a platform for a reason I will do everything I can to help those through this sport guys it doesn't get much better than that no really awesome helping keep things in perspective as well certainly and I love seeing all these guys step up and realizing the value of their platform it's something that it's you're not careful can get lost during your career because you get so locked into keeping the job doing the job well all the pressure that comes along with it that the impact that you can have on others is an opportunity for something really big and can be really impactful on others lives and the video got circulated yesterday and then early this morning of Grant Holmes that boy receiving the backpack opening it up giving Grant a hug you saw the picture of it just very emotional very cool and Grant Holmes say we have learned since he got called up in June is just a tremendous guy and Ambassador for the Atlanta Braves in Major League Baseball he's got a two- two count here on espanol to start the ninth inning got it got the slider to get France to end the eighth and the slider gets espanol to start the ninth that pitch looking pretty sharp here tonight certainly for GR Holmes and using it well in these two strike counts and taking advantage of some aggressive hitters here with the [Music] Reds one for three tonight for Jake fry the right fielder I think this may be big tonight for Holmes's confidence CJ a couple of days ago against Toronto had the five hits the three runs so just try to get back on track here tonight it would be really nice for him to have a zero outing obviously he's done a lot of great work here so far for the Braves but you mentioned it not only that outing but being scored upon in three of his last four soft single that Williams could not knock down so fry [Music] reaches and so even with the most recent run of not being as good the whole body of work for Grant and what he did there for the majority of the first couple of months still been pretty solid and remember too when he first came up those first couple of outings getting a lot of double plays behind him he gotten 15 outs of the first 15 batters that he had faced but three times he had gotten a double play after a guy had gotten on and so no better time than right now to get another one of those get out of this inning and uh pick up a w out of the pen it will be the top of the order for the Braves in the bottom of the night bouncer foul [Applause] Holmes looking for his third strike out instead it's a hit down the right field line that stays fair for Rosario Rosario was going to head to second now they'll try to get him at first but he does Scamper back in time he was going to be dead in the water at second base but they're at the [Applause] corners not exactly sure what Rosario was thinking here now this slider ends up backing up on Grant Holmes and stays on the inner third of the pl it's a really nice piece of hitting by Rosario even though he did not hit the baseball hard but this play is right in front of him he is lucky that he did not get doubled up but that ball is cut off by Luke Williams he's probably out at first [Music] Erica Bru to the mound there is nobody throwing in the Braves bullpit it is Grant Holmes or bust right now here in the top of the [Music] ninth well thinking about the Reds their speed their small ball you got good speed him frilly down at third do you think maybe they're trying to squeeze or something like that here uh I don't think so I mean it certainly could be a possibility as you're sitting near the bottom of the order but be a little bit more worried about the first and third steal right here and trying to get Rosario into scoring position forcing the Braves into a mistake called strike in there to Marte and Holmes is going to throw over to [Music] First Holmes 01 pitch 0 and two slider swinging a Miss by [Applause] Marte that is some NE he has on there by the way too with Marte what do you got on that probably pretty expensive or maybe not maybe it just looks expensive matches all his other things going on with the yellow o sha Murphy again we say it a lot but just another tremendous stop and I got to believe these decisions are tough right when you go into a standard blocking mode and when you decide to try to pick cuz again that is not an easy thing to do but he does make it look easy one ball two strike pitch yes struck him out that slider has gotten all three of Home strikeouts [Music] tonight good one here that finishes right at the bottom or maybe even below the zone and taking advantage of an aggressive Marte out below the Zone there with some spin so now back to the top of the order and Spencer steer as I said in the bottom of the night the Braves will have Harris cair and Ozuna coming to the plate and Grant Holmes just trying to keep it at one to nothing right down the middle [Applause] 1-1 out of play well wondering if he's going to go back to that slider here partner we'll see I mean the fast ball the foram fastball from ry's is the pitch that steer has actually struggled against the most not to say that he can't use the SL he may try one more shot maybe up above the Zone one two grounder to third orella charges throws safe and the Run scores two to nothing we'll see if the Braves want a [Music] challenge looked like Ella took him just an extra second to get that ball out of his mitt that may have been the difference [Music] they are going to challenge it yeah I think it's right now thinking about taking that chance here why not in such a big spot and hoping that it stays a one-run game heck of an effort there by Matt Olen but it does look well you know what that is so close going to be difficult to get it overturned but you're right I think there was a little hesitation there perhaps on the grip on the exchange for Ella and you can only hope that they slow this down enough to say maybe remember it's got to get into the glove and touch some leather so that's in the cylinder what we're looking at right now and remember that used to be the language that they use we've gotten away from in the cylinder it actually has to be touching the glove and as much as we want this I don't think they're going to overturn it hey what I to say let's go let's go out overturned and it's still one to nothing here we go to the bottom of the night oh [Applause] yeah Braves baseball is brought to you by truest leaders in banking unwavering in Care by Rooms To Go by the piece save a little by the rooms Save A Lot and by Georgia power score big savings at Georgia power.com tips Harris cir and that guy Marcelo Zuna coming up in the bottom of the nine one to nothing take a look at our cor light beating the pressure feature thinking about all these close games another one here tonight best record over the last month in the National League 1811 but look at the bottom four comeback wins try to make it five tonight let's get it done it's going to be a little bit of a challenge here with the big right-hander Alexis Diaz on the mound however this is the fourth time he's pitched in the last 5 days a little bit surprising here for the Reds who are a nonc contender see if he shows any fatigue Harris takes the first one high he's only got two pitches it's a four seam fast ball and you just saw that one there sits right around 94 miles an hour and the [Applause] [Music] slider take a base runner any way you can get it the Braves have only had three base runners tonight two olssen singles and an Ozuna walk that one is in the [Applause] zone 2-1 to Harris late 22 Braves of course last yesterday down one in the ninth tied it up up one and and 11 what will tonight bring Harris in the air out to left towards steer should not be a problem for him and he brings it in one away well so many times over the last couple of weeks we've seen cair exit the game in the sixth or seventh inning a defensive replacement coming in for him but tonight he's staying in for the full nine [Applause] and boy the Braves could use his Bat here up and [Applause] in I think this is why you have to leave him in when you are down because these big at BS when especially you're hitting in the two-hole that you want Jorge Solair in [Music] there and the defense has actually been pretty good tonight one oh sharp grounder but it's directly to Marte and the Braves just one out remaining but the man coming up has had one of the best seasons in baseball offensively Marcelo Zuna a walk and a couple of flyy outs tonight for the Braves DH first pitch to him little low on the [Applause] [Music] slider Diaz deals one and one two and0 rather excuse me telling that he's been a little bit more careful these tier two pitches in and not wanting to give Marcelo Zuna a fast ball in the strike zone [Applause] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] Marcel that home run drought at 18 games but he's still been producing with hits none tonight though and he's at two balls and two strikes here with two [Applause] [Music] outs Diaz try to get the save and get the Reds a one to nothing Victory two two pitch Ozuna out to Right Center Frey charges he's got it and the ball game is over the Reds blank the Braves one to nothing Atlant only gets two hits and that's all they could muster tonight both of those off the bat of Matt Olen here this evening got to give Nick Martinez some credit he was aggressive against this bra lineup he did a really nice job filling up the strike zone that split and curveball looked really good tonight and yeah this certainly is a tough one but as we talked about with this team these games are going to be close they've done a good job with close games obviously a tough one that they lose tonight but you move on and got the Washington Nationals tomorrow up at DC and the Braves will head to the airport here in about an hour hop on the plane and start that two game set with Washington tomorrow evening but a tough one tonight in this makeup game between the Braves and the Reds stay tuned for the postgame show Braves live presented by Xfinity is coming up next with Colin McHugh and Nick green so don't miss that and tomorrow we'll go on the air at 6 Eastern for our next telecast for our entire fantastic crew and for Hannah Yates and CJ akowski and everybody else I'm Brandon Gard signing off and saying so long everybody [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music]