SE Atlanta News

The Braves have been feeling confident about Reynaldo López and their pitching staff all season. They exited this homestand with renewed optimism about a lineup that has come alive over the past week.

Austin Riley solidified the middle of the lineup with his recent performance, while Sean Murphy demonstrated the lineup’s potential by highlighting a four-hit game with two home runs in a 7-0 win over the Tigers on Wednesday afternoon at Truist Park.

"We all feel a lot better about [the offense]," manager Brian Snitker said. "You can kind of see a light at the end of the tunnel."

Murphy hit a two-run homer in the third inning against AL Cy Young Award candidate Tarik Skubal and another in the fifth inning against Mason Englert. The 2023 All-Star catcher completed his first multihit game of the season with a seventh-inning single. Murphy’s contributions were more than enough for López, who pitched five scoreless innings and left with an MLB-best 1.57 ERA.

"I always remained confident that once this team woke up and got going, we’d hit our stride," López said through an interpreter. "What an incredible day for Murphy. It’s so good to have him out there. He evokes confidence."

The Braves have won six of seven games since enduring their first five-game losing streak since 2017. They began this three-game sweep of the Tigers with two 2-1 wins and concluded it by scoring six-plus runs for the fifth time in their past seven games.

Atlanta scored six-plus runs in 13 of its first 24 games but managed this total in only nine of the 41 games played from April 27 to June 13. Ronald Acuña Jr.'s torn ACL will keep him out for the season, and Michael Harris II (hamstring strain) likely won't return before the All-Star break.

"The offense has been clicking a little bit more," Murphy said. "We’re starting to find a rhythm. It’s just one of those things where you hope it’s contagious and it builds momentum."

Some struggles in May could be attributed to long absences from Murphy, who missed nearly two months due to a left oblique strain suffered on Opening Day, and Riley, who missed two weeks due to a left intercostal strain sustained on May 12.

Murphy was hitting .135 with one homer and a .408 OPS through his first 56 plate appearances before Wednesday's game. He turned things around by accounting for three of four hardest-hit balls during this series finale: his fifth-inning homer came off at 108.7 mph, his seventh-inning single had an exit velocity of 106.9 mph, and his first homer registered at 106.8 mph according to Statcast data.

"It feels real good, especially with how I had been struggling," Murphy said. "Having a day like that improves your mood."

The Braves now feel optimistic about what had been an underperforming offense earlier in the season despite losing Harris during this homestand's first inning; Jarred Kelenic has proven adequate as leadoff replacement hitting .308 with .910 OPS during these six games stretch while Riley produced .526 average along three homers plus stellar performance showing .618 OPS beforehand making significant improvement reaching new heights overall within same timeframe lately

Matt Olson surged last month alongside Marcell Ozuna being productive hitter since May last year contributing significantly despite missing Acuña yet top-middle order remains strong facing opponents pitchers accordingly potentially finding consistency previously lacking throughout current season per Snitker stating "[Murphy] kind looked old self again exciting itself But whole lineup becoming themselves"

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