As Bryce Elder walked off the mound after a fantastic debut, the Truist Park crowd gave him a loud ovation.
Elder, along with the Braves’ potent offense, led Atlanta (3-3) to a 16-4 victory over the Nationals on Tuesday.
Here are five observations:
1. One by one, Elder continued to set down the Nationals. He looked comfortable as he continued attacking the first big-league lineup he had ever faced.
At one point, Elder retired 12 in a row between the first and fifth innings. Washington quickly scored a run on two hits in the first, but Elder, for the most part, dominated after that.
Elder allowed three runs over 5 2/3 innings. He threw 85 pitches. Juan Soto and Josh Bell hit back-to-back bombs off him in the sixth inning, but the right-hander was terrific.
“Obviously I didn’t want it to end the way it did, but I think I made good pitches throughout the night,” Elder said. “At the end, I just got to be a little better. But I can’t complain. I had a lot of fun and I enjoyed it a lot.”
He used all five pitches -- sinker, four-seam fastball, slider, changeup and curveball -- and sat 90-92 mph for most of the outing.
More importantly, he gave the Braves a great outing after they had received consecutive short starts.
“It’s just really impressive when you see a young guy go after hitters and pitch, and have an idea of what he was doing,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said. “It was huge. In a young season, that was big for us.”
Credit: Miguel Martinez
Credit: Miguel Martinez
2. Something noticeable about Elder: He doesn’t show much emotion. He remains level -- on the mound and when he speaks publicly.
Was he emotionless for his debut?
“I was excited,” he said. “I think I settled in, kind of got into a groove for a little while. But no, I really enjoyed it.”
Added catcher Travis d’Arnaud: “He’s been the same person since camp. He’s just constant. The same every day, good or bad.”
3. The Braves’ offense looked like itself after a quiet series opener. The group collected 19 hits.
The Braves scored at least three runs in four different innings. They tagged Nationals lefty Patrick Corbin for six runs over 2 2/3, then hammered Washington’s bullpen.
Credit: Miguel Martinez
Credit: Miguel Martinez
4. Marcell Ozuna homered twice in this game, and in back-to-back innings. Both were solo shots.
After a 3-for-6 game, Ozuna is 9-for-24 this season.
“I’m always confident, I’m always positive,” Ozuna said. “I don’t have anything to be negative about. Just come in ready for the game and try to do damage.”
5. You can watch the play five times and still need to watch it again – and you might do that anyway, because it’s that good.
Guillermo Heredia found himself caught in a rundown.
The ball went to third, then back toward home, then back to third, then back toward home, before Heredia scampered back to third and tried to slide in safely. The third-base umpire ruled Nationals catcher Keibert Ruiz blocked Heredia from going back to third, so Heredia was awarded home.
Stat to know
6 - Six Braves recorded multi-hit games on Tuesday, Atlanta’s highest total since doing this on July 7 last season. Four Braves posted three-hit games, which was last done on May 21 of last year.
Quotable
“When it hit me was I went into the bullpen before the game to warm up, and when I walked across the field, I kind of looked around. And when I got into the bullpen, back in the room back there, I was like, ‘Here we go. This is it.’” - Elder on when it felt real that he was a big leaguer
Up next
Braves lefty Max Fried faces Nationals righty Josiah Gray in Wednesday’s series finale, which begins at 12:20 p.m.
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