Braves Briefing: Padres tie series, Atlanta loses Michael Harris II to the injured list

Atlanta was unable to recapture the home opener's late magic and lost to the Padres, 5-4, on Friday night inside a packed Truist Park.

The Braves got into an early hole as Jared Shuster gave up two hits and three walks in the 1st, but 2-0 isn't an insurmountable hole for this Atlanta offense. These teams went back and forth all game, but Atlanta ultimately couldn't push the winning run across and the Padres tied the series at one game apiece.

Missed Opportunities

Atlanta twice got down early, and twice tied the game (in the 3rd and 5th innings) thanks to timely hitting. Ultimately, though, the Padres came through in the clutch and Atlanta didn't. After the Padres took a 5-4 lead in the 6th, Atlanta twice loading the bases in the 7th and 8th but couldn't get the runner in either time. For the game, Atlanta left ten runners on base and the normally dominant defense, which had been a differentiator in the early part of the season, couldn't quite shut down Padres rallies. A tailor-made double play ball from Manny Machado to Ozzie Albies in the 1st inning took Orlando Arcia off the bag just far enough where both Juan Soto, running from 1st, was safe and Machado was able to beat the throw at 1st. After a double steal advanced both runners, they both came around to score in the inning.

Ronald Acuña Jr stole stuff all night long

Not only did Ronald steal two bags in the contest (we've added a 40-40 tracker to our takeaways), sliding into 2nd so hard on one of them that he dislodged the base from its anchor, but he did it on defense as well, going up and taking what was destined to be a double off the wall away from Padres leftfielder Juan Soto.

Hang it in the Louvre @ronaldacunajr24 | #ForTheA pic.twitter.com/8WC3bUYd6S
— Atlanta Braves (@Braves) April 8, 2023

Michael Harris II hit the injured list for a back issue

A day after leaving the Thursday home opener with "lower back tightness", the same issue that caused Harris to be scratched from a Grapefruit League game in the final week of spring training, Harris hit the injured list for (at least) ten days with what's being characterized as a mild lower back strain. Eli White, who looked dynamic both in spring training and so far in Gwinnett after some offseason swing changes, was promoted to take his place on the roster.

NL East Standings

With Atlanta's loss, the NL East standings got a bit closer. The Mets beat the Marlins, 9-3, while the Phillies and Nationals both picked up wins over the Reds and Rockies, respectively.

Atlanta - 6-2, lead division (Plays tonight vs Padres)

New York - 4-4, 2GB (Plays this afternoon vs Marlins)

Miami - 3-5, 3.0 GB (Plays this afternoon vs Mets)

Philadelphia - 2-5, 3.5 GB (Plays this afternoon vs Reds)

Washington - 2-6, 4.0 GB (Plays tonight vs Rockies)

We Wrote It

Writing in last night's takeaways, I made the observation that even when the top of the lineup doesn't have the typical multi-hit performances, they're still productive:

The trio of Ronald Acuña Jr, Matt Olson, and Austin Riley have been electric heading into tonight's matchup. Even on an "off night", they still delivered.

The trio accounted for only three hits in nine plate appearances, all by Riley, but still reached base a collective nine times thanks to six walks. Acuña scored twice, Olson scored once, and Riley had an RBI, accounting for three of the Braves four total runs in the contest.

What's next?

Game three of the series, featuring Charlie Morton versus Michael Wacha, is tonight at 7:20PM ET. The game broadcast, with Voice of the Braves Brandon Gaudin, is available inside Braves Country on Bally Sports Southeast, and is available on MLB.TV outside of the broadcast area. The radio call with Ben Ingram is available locally on 680 AM/93.7 FM The Fan or outside the Atlanta market on the Atlanta Braves Radio Network or MLB.com.