© Thomas Shea-USA TODAY Sports
Braves Bats Storm Late, Take Down Houston in Series Opener
The Atlanta Braves scored a whole bunch of runs late, impacting Houston's bullpen for the rest of the series.
The Atlanta Braves used a big 9th inning to put away the Houston Astros 6-1 in the series opener from Minute Maid Park on Monday night.
Here’s what you need to know about from the contest.
Darius Vines held his own in his 2024 debut
Vines made five appearances in 2023 (going 1-0 with a 3.98 ERA), so tonight wasn’t his MLB debut. But he was still nervous, evident by his rocky first inning - two hits and two walks, although Vines used a double play and a flyout to limit the damage to only one run. Some of this can probably be chalked up to rust, too - the last start Vines made was April 4th against AAA Louisville (7IP, 2H, 2R, 1BB to 7Ks) and that long layoff is something manager Brian Snitker cited for Allan Winans when discussing his struggles against the New York Mets.
After the first inning, Vines was absolutely nails, finishing with just the one run on four hits and three walks in 4.2 innings, striking out four. His fastball velocity is up from last year, going from 89.8 in 2023 to 91.5 tonight, explainable by both last season's shoulder injury impacting his velocity and another year of development from the 25-year-old.
Vines shined with the changeup most notably, throwing 21 of them (29% usage) and getting two whiffs and seven called strikes on the pitch, good for a 43% CSW. Good enough to let him start again on Sunday at home against the Texas Rangers, if you ask me.
Atlanta’s offense responded early but was mostly held in check
Houston scored one run early off of Vines, but he worked to limit the damage and get out of the inning. Atlanta responded pretty quickly, scoring two runs in the top of the 2nd to erase the deficit and stake Vines to a one-run lead, but it was quiet from there. Call-up Spencer Arrighetti, who struggled in his debut to the tune of seven runs on seven hits in just three innings against the Kansas City Royals, got out of the outing without further damage. Arrighetti was officially tagged for only those two runs on four hits, walking two and striking out five in his four innings of work.
And unfortunately, Houston’s embattled bullpen, which lost 207.1 innings from last season with the free agent departures of relievers Phil Maton, Ryan Stanek, and Héctor Neris, was able to bridge through the middle innings without further damage from Atlanta.
For the game, Atlanta logged only six hits prior to the 9th inning.
Pierce Johnson’s trying too hard
Atlanta acquired Pierce Johnson from the Colorado Rockies last season and immediately set out to change his pitch mix, getting him to throw his curveball more and the four-seam fastball less. Johnson made the change, upping the curveball usage from 53.3% pre-trade to 73.6% post-trade, with the stats showing that the move paid off: a 0.76 ERA in 23.2 post-trade innings (24 appearances), striking out 32 and walking only five.
But Johnson’s overcorrected this season, upping the curveball usage to over 80% as we entered tonight’s game. He was even more egregiously curveball-heavy in tonight’s outing, throwing twenty of them in his twenty-two pitches (91% usage). He got four whiffs and four more called strikes, so a 40% CSW, but despite it being a good pitch - 139 Stuff+ entering tonight - that still feels like a bit too much usage.
The Astros logged two hits and two hard-hit balls off of Johnson in his 1.1 innings, and he needs to make sure he’s mixing in enough fastballs (and a slider or two) to keep the sequencing effective.
Atlanta knocked out Josh Hader for Tuesday (and maybe the series)
Manager Brian Snitker gave shortstop Orlando Arcia the night off, giving Luis Guillorme the start at shortstop, batting him 9th. Snitker told the gathered media before the game that he would have given Arcia a day off earlier in the schedule, but Arcia had been so hot at the plate that it was tough to take him out until tonight.
Arcia checked into the game in the bottom of the 8th for defense and promptly made his presence felt at the plate in the top of the 9th. Making his first at-bat of the game, he laced a ground ball to left field off of closer Josh Hader, scoring Adam Duvall from second base and giving Atlanta a much-needed insurance run.
Atlanta would go on to knock Hader out of the inning with three more singles after Arcia’s insurance RBI, eventually pushing the lead to 6-1. Hader left after 22 pitches with just one out, a big development for the series. With Hader having pitched on Friday and Sunday, he’s almost definitely not available on Tuesday and potentially not available on Wednesday, either.
Conversely, Atlanta’s insurance runs in the 9th pushed the game out of a save situation and allowed the Braves to sit Raisel Iglesias and use Jesse Chavez for the 9th inning instead, saving Atlanta’s closer for later in the series. With Pierce Johnson (1.1 IP) and A.J. Minter (1.1 IP) both going longer than an inning tonight, you’ve got several options that have been saved in the pen like Iglesias and Joe Jiménez for Tuesday and Wednesday, while Houston had to throw five relievers to cover five innings. Advantage Atlanta.
What’s next for the Atlanta Braves?
Atlanta’s back in action against the Astros. First pitch is scheduled for 8:10 PM ET, and the pitching matchup is Reynaldo López vs Hunter Brown.