Braves’ sweep of Detroit shows Atlanta is heading in the right direction

The Detroit Tigers came into Atlanta with a 34-37 record. Although below .500, the Tigers still maintained a quality record and proved they were no pushovers this season. However, this quality record began to decline when they entered Georgia.

The Tigers arrived at what seemed like the perfect time. Looking like a shell of the incredible 2023 Atlanta Braves, this year’s team seemed to be falling apart offensively. But behind their recent struggles, they were showing signs of life. The Tigers quickly learned that a sleepy Braves team would not be eliminated so easily.

The first two games didn’t bring much excitement score-wise. In both games, the Braves won 2-1. However, the pitch was very encouraging. Max Fried did what Max Fried does, which is to offer quality releases. Fried pitched 5.1 innings, allowing just one run and collecting six strikeouts. But the pleasant surprise came when Spencer Schwellenbach pitched six one-run innings with seven strikeouts in his first MLB win. For now, this is the best start of his very young career. Although Schwellenbach has struggled somewhat since his call-up, his last two starts indicate that he is settling in quite well and could be a good replacement for Strider.

On the offensive end, a few of the Braves’ struggling bats showed signs of returning. Austin Riley’s two doubles in Game 1 showed his continued improvement at the plate. Ozzie Albies also made a decent contribution going 2-8 in the first two games with a home run and a triple.

Recording two wins to clinch a series victory is nice, but the Braves saved the best for last. In the third game, Reynaldo Lopez pitched 5 shutout innings. Sean Murphy had a 4-4 game with two home runs, his bat coming back to life after his injury struggles. Ramon Laureano, the Braves’ replacement for Michael Harris II, also had a nice night going 2-4 with a home run. What shouldn’t go unnoticed are the continued rebounding performances of Ozzie Albies (2-4) and Austin Riley (2-3 with another double). The Braves closed out the series finale with a 7-0 victory.

If this 7-0 victory had been against any pitcher, it wouldn’t be a big deal. However, the Tigers’ starting pitcher was AL Cy Young contender Tarik Skubal. Skubal posted 4 IP, 5 R, 4 ER and 7 K. The Braves offense performed exceptionally well, chasing Skubal before the 5 and adding points against the Tigers relief corps.

Speaking of relievers, the performance of the Braves relief corps should not escape anyone. After going through some ups and downs this season, the Braves relievers posted 0 runs in 10.2 innings of work against the Tigers. Keep in mind that the Braves are without AJ Minter, which makes their combined performance even more impressive.

A series sweep against a sub-.500 team is never a tell-tale sign of an emerging power emerging from its slumber. As for Skubal, every starter has bad days. It’s the same even for superstar pitchers. But before we take this sample size as a sign of the Braves’ impending dominance, we should take a broader view.

Before sweeping the Tigers, the Braves won 2 of 3 games from the Rays. Including the Orioles’ final game of the series, the Braves have won 6 of their last 7 games. While the Braves lost the series to the Orioles 1-2, defeating the O’s is not an easy thing to do this year and the series finale that the Braves won marked the beginning of Atlanta’s supposed turnaround. Over the last seven games, the Braves have dominated their opponents 39 to 18. Even though the Braves have had a nice streak, it is too early to tell if they will be able to maintain their success.

The rebound performances of Murphy, Riley and Albies are very encouraging. Matt Olson, who went 0-10 against the Tigers, had already shown signs of improvement. Whether this is the start of an epic Braves comeback or not, we know this team is capable of great things. Still, we’ll only know if this recent success is sustainable when we see how they perform against teams above .500.