Braves start hopeful climb back to contention with win over Yankees
That was a widespread opinion around baseball at the All-Star break, when the second-winningest MLB franchise since 1990 sat fourth in the NL East, 12 1/2 games off the pace, and ninth in the wild-card standings, a daunting 9 1/2 games back from the third and final playoff spot. And maybe they are done.
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But the playoffs aren't for nearly 2 1/2 months, and the Braves, who've played in the past seven postseasons, believe they can keep that streak alive. They began what will be a most demanding task with a 7-3 win Friday against the New York Yankees — the winningest franchise since 1990 — to begin the figurative second half.
'We haven't put ourselves in a good position by any means, but expanded playoffs gives guys a bigger window to come back and kind of make a late-season push — that's definitely on our minds,' said first baseman Matt Olson, who lined a double to drive in the first run in a three-run first inning as the Braves built a 7-0 lead through four.
Ronald Acuña Jr. followed Olson with an RBI double for a two-run lead before the Braves' first out, and Ozzie Albies added a sacrifice fly in the inning against Ian Hamilton, who opened a bullpen game for New York.
That first inning, plus an Ozzie Albies three-run homer in the third, was more than enough support for Braves starter Spencer Strider, who had eight strikeouts in six scoreless innings and held the Yankees to three hits and three walks. He struck out All-Stars Aaron Judge and Jazz Chisholm Jr. consecutively with a runner on to end the first inning, and induced a double-play grounder from Trent Grisham with two on in the fifth.
Spencer Strider's 2Ks in the 1st. pic.twitter.com/Dkim1vuocd
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) July 18, 2025
'We got 67 games left, we're going to get after it and see what can happen,' Snitker said earlier Friday, adding that his message to the team was to not put added pressure on themselves.
'We don't worry about having to win X number of games. What we got to do is we got to win today, every day,' he said. 'Because if you start looking ahead and start pinning yourself down to — I've been on teams where a guy will go, 'We gotta win eight out of 11.' And then you go in there and you lose four in a row, so how you gonna do that?
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'So I think the only thing you got to do is to go out there and win today. We have to compartmentalize and do that, and do everything we can to win today's game.'
Albies' three-run homer just inside the right-field foul pole in the third inning helped assure they did Friday, doubling the lead to 6-0. And it was perhaps the most encouraging sign for the Braves, who watched the former All-Star and Silver Slugger Award-winning second baseman sputter along with Michael Harris II throughout the first half.
Those two weren't alone, just the most extreme of the slumpers.
Even as Harris' offensive woes mount — he did have a single Friday — his superb defense never falters: He made a highlight-reel catch in the left-center gap to end the second inning.
Ronald Acuña Jr. topped that with a spectacular play in the third, catching Clay Bellinger's fly deep in the right-field corner and firing a perfect throw on the fly to third baseman Nacho Alvarez Jr., who deked Jorbit Vivas on the play and smoothly caught the ball and tagged him in one motion just before he reached third — an inning-ending double play.
Alvarez made a sensational play of his own in the ninth, sprinting to catch a foul ball as he tumbled over the tarp.
Rookie catcher Drake Baldwin, who led off the three-run third inning with a single and drove in Acuña with an infield single in the fourth — after Acuña tripled — said his mindset entering the second half was simple.
'Just taking advantage of every game,' he said. 'Don't let any at-bats go. Don't let any pitches go. And just staying locked in, knowing this is kind of the final stretch and sticking with it.'
Asked how he and others might avoid putting pressure on themselves with such an urgency to the next two-plus months, he said, 'I think our older guys here do a good job with that, not getting too high or too low. It's just coming in every day, doing their routine and getting what you need done to be ready to play that game that night.'
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After Strider exited with a 7-0 lead, the Yankees scored three runs in the seventh. All were charged to Aaron Bummer, including Giancarlo Stanton's pinch-hit two-run double. Bummer recorded two outs and gave up three hits, and the left-hander has allowed seven earned runs in three innings over his past three appearances.
(Top photo of Michael Harris III catching a deep Anthony Volpe fly ball in the second inning: Kevin C. Cox / Getty Images)
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