The Good, The Bad, & The Braves: Atlanta opens series with win, great defense, six RBI from Drake Baldwin

Braves rookie catcher Drake Baldwin took another step closer to the National League’s Rookie of the Year award by going 3-4 with six RBI during a Braves 9-5 victory over San Francisco.

Ater the game, Braves manager Brian Snitker said of Baldwin: He’s above his level of experience. There makeup and baseball awareness will benefit him for a long, long time.”

Ronald Acuna, Jr., who walked three times tonight, said Baldwin has been “incredible”.

The Atlanta Braves were back at Truist Park for a three-game series against the Giants on Monday night. Atlanta was one game over .500 at 25-24 at Truist Park coming into this game.

Starting for the Braves tonight was Bryce Elder (3-6 overall with a 5.65 ERA), who, earlier this season, on June 7 in San Francisco, had a great game against the Giants. Elder went eight innings, giving up just three hits and one earned run while striking out 12 Giants. The Braves somehow found a way to lose that game, 3-2. Monday night was Elder’s first start of the second half of the season.

Down 1-0 in the first inning, the Braves regained the lead after Giants starter Hayden Birdsong walked the first three Braves batters he faced before giving up a three-run bases loaded double to Drake Baldwin. Birdsong left the game without registering an out and the bases loaded again after he walked Sean Murphy. Nick Allen, batting ninth, added two more runs to the tally when he singled to left field. The Braves were up 5-2 at the end of the inning.

The Giants manged to pick up a run in the second inning. There were more opportunities for the Giants to trim the Braves’ lead. With runners on first and second with no outs in the third inning, third baseman Matt Chapman hit into a double play. The Braves didn’t fare any better in the third inning when Michael Harris II came out the plate with two runners on base and one out, then proceeded to hit into a double play.

Baldwin would reach a career-high in RBI with five when he singled it left field and drove in Matt Olson and Acuna in the fourth inning. Acuna scored from second base on what would normally be a single base advancement. Braves second baseman Ozzie Albies walked in his two previous at-bats, but singled home another run to make the score 8-2 in the fifth.

Along with pitching well, Elder (five innings, eight hits, three earned runs) made a solid defensive play in the fifth inning when he took a ground ball from Giants right fielder Mike Yastrzemski and threw the ball to second to get Matt Champan out on the force out. The ball took Elder off the mound when he caught it and he had to throw it to Nick Allen across his body.

Aaron Bummer came on in relief to start the sixth inning. The Braves bullpen was used to the inth degree during the previous series with the New York Yankees series. A long start by Elder and some good relief from Bummer, Rafael Montero, and Enyel De Los Santos, who came on in the sixth, seventh, and eighth inning, was crucial to winning this game and possibly this series against a slumping Giants team. San Francisco was swept by the Toronto Blue Jays during their previous series.

Tuesday’s game is scheduled to start at 7:15 p.m. David Daniel will make the start for the Braves against Landen Roupp.

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