Murphy’s walk-off HR cherry on top of Elder’s scoreless start
ATLANTA — Bryce Elder couldn’t assist however smile when requested how excited he was to see Sean Murphy information him by his newest encouraging begin after which erase the potential of an unpleasant loss with the most important swing of the catcher’s younger Braves profession.
Murphy additional endeared himself to his new fanbase when he capped a three-hit efficiency with a house run that gave the membership a 5-4, 10-inning win over the Reds on Monday night time at Truist Park. The two-run shot was the Gold Glove catcher’s first residence run as a Brave and the primary walk-off homer of his profession.
“He’s been such a great teammate all spring,” supervisor Brian Snitker mentioned. “I’m happy he can have a night like that.”
Murphy’s first large second since being acquired from Oakland in December allowed Atlanta to snap a three-game shedding streak and keep away from what would have been essentially the most irritating lack of the younger season. Cincinnati tied the sport with a pair of runs in opposition to A.J. Minter within the ninth after which gained a lead that was erased one pitch into the underside of the tenth.
With Austin Riley serving as the automated runner (positioned at second base to start out each half-inning throughout additional innings), Murphy belted Derek Law’s first pitch of the night time over the right-center-field wall.
According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Murphy grew to become the tenth Braves participant of the trendy period (since 1900) and the primary since Charlie Culberson in 2018 to tally his first homer with the membership in walk-off vogue.
“I was just trying to do a job and hit the ball to the right side,” Murphy mentioned. “A good thing happened.”
A couple of good issues occurred on this night time stuffed with well timed contributions. Murphy’s productive night time started with a pair of doubles, together with one which scored Riley from first base within the sixth. His first three-hit efficiency of the yr comes simply two days after fellow catcher Travis d’Arnaud suffered a concussion that may sideline him for an undetermined period of time.
Murphy and d’Arnaud have been projected to be among the many recreation’s prime catching duos this yr. With d’Arnaud sidelined, Murphy will function the first catcher and make the most of extra alternatives to point out why the Braves have been excited to offer him a six-year, $73 million contract after buying him at the price of a commerce package deal that included All-Star catcher William Contreras.
“This was actually the first time I’ve ever thrown to [Murphy],” Elder mentioned. “I was very impressed. We were on the same page the whole time. The game he called was great. I can’t thank him enough for that. Then for him to go out and win it for us was special.”
Another well timed growth occurred as Elder tallied seven strikeouts and scattered six hits over 6 1/3 scoreless innings. The 23-year-old right-hander hasn’t allowed a run over 12 1/3 innings this yr, and he’s Atlanta’s solely starter to finish at the very least six innings a number of instances this yr.
Not dangerous, contemplating he was Triple-A Gwinnett’s Opening Day starter.
“Bryce threw the pitches,” Murphy mentioned. “I helped him along the way, but the credit goes to him. He’s the one who went out there and executed. He worked his mix, kept the ball down and threw it where he needed to throw it. He was fantastic. He was fantastic tonight. He’ll continue doing that going forward.”
Elder’s newest outing righted the Braves after a tough sequence in opposition to the Padres, and it lessened a number of the rotation issues that developed as prospects Jared Shuster and Dylan Dodd each stumbled this previous weekend. Ian Anderson’s availability this season can also be unsure as he offers with a major proper elbow damage.
So, Elder’s second sturdy begin of the younger season was definitely well timed. Kyle Wright will come off the injured listing to make his season debut on Tuesday, and Max Fried could possibly be activated the next week. Soon, the rotation might include Spencer Strider, Charlie Morton, Fried, Wright and Elder.
Elder was promoted to Atlanta after Fried strained his hamstring on Opening Day on March 30 at Nationals Park. His success within the two begins which have adopted has validated the success he had whereas posting a 1.65 ERA over his remaining 5 large league begins final yr.
“They kind of kick it into another gear,” Snitker mentioned. “It’s like, ‘I can compete here,’ and it’s great. I love when a guy like that does that and then seizes the opportunity when you give it to him.”
