Austin Riley's walk-off hit gives Braves series win over Guardians

ATLANTA -- The Braves are living in extra innings these days, and their third such game of the homestand ended in successful fashion: They overcame a two-run deficit in the eighth and defeated the Guardians 4-3 in 10 innings. The Braves won the series and built upon their MLB-best 19-7 record.

Here are five observations from Sunday:

1. Braves third baseman Austin Riley had been crushing the ball lately, yet he had little to show for it. Saturday night, he had a 383-foot out that left the bat at 106.3 mph in the ninth inning. Sunday, with the chance to put the Braves ahead in the eighth, Riley produced a 379-foot out (with a 101.4 mph exit velocity).

It turns out an 80.7-mph grounder was what he needed. Riley’s single scored ghost runner Ronald Acuña to secure the Braves’ second consecutive extra-innings victory.

“I’ve been through it before, so I know what it feels like,” Riley said. “Especially when things aren’t going your way, then you start barreling up some balls and you’re not getting those results. It’s all part of the mental game. You just have to continue to work and know that the work you are doing is good. Just have to keep riding that wave to hopefully, eventually get some results.”

It was Riley’s third career walk-off RBI and first since July 31, 2022 against Arizona.

2. Bryce Elder found immediate success in his first start largely because he avoided the walks that have sometimes plagued him. He issued four walks Sunday, including three in the third inning, but still pitched well enough to keep the Braves in contention.

Elder allowed two runs on four hits in 5-1/3 innings. He overcame four walks, a hit batter and two wild pitches in his uneven outing.

“It got erratic there for a second,” Elder said. “I get a little erratic sometimes, but you just have to make the adjustment quicker. Today, I made the same miss four or five times in a row. I need to make the adjustment quicker, but I didn’t today. … We made pitches when we needed to, kept it close and gave us a chance.”

Guardians infielder Andres Gimenez hit a ball off Elder’s foot in the third frame, but he remained in the game. He said his foot is sore but will be fine.

...continued

swipe to next page