Braves' lefty-lefty lineup strategy fuels 5th straight win, sweep of Phillies

PHILADELPHIA -- When Braves manager Walt Weiss puts Drake Baldwin and Matt Olson back to back in the second and third spots of his lineup, he knows there is a good chance these two left-handed hitters will be challenged at some point by at least one lefty reliever.

Weiss could put Austin Riley in the middle of these two. But because he feels good about Baldwin and Olson against left-handed pitching, Weiss keeps them together with the hope that the three-batter minimum will force that lefty reliever to also face Riley and possibly the right-handed version of switch-hitter Ozzie Albies.

Knowing this, it’s safe to say everything went according to plan as the Braves secured a three-game series sweep with a 4-2 win over the Phillies on Sunday night at Citizens Bank Park. Albies highlighted the go-ahead three-run fifth inning with an RBI double off lefty reliever Tim Mayza.

“I'm not afraid to hit [Olson and Baldwin] back to back,” Weiss said. “It’s like the Phillies do. They’ve got [Kyle] Schwarber and [Bryce] Harper back to back. They are threats against righties and lefties, and that's how I look at Baldwin and Olson.”

Most everything has gone right for the Braves (15-7), who have won five straight to gain a five-game lead over the Marlins and Nationals in the National League East through just 22 games. No other current division leader has more than a half-game lead.

The Braves lead MLB in runs scored (122) and ERA (2.66). Weiss’ first three weeks as the team’s skipper have gone as well as anyone could have expected.

So, why should we be surprised that Weiss’ lineup construction once again proved beneficial on Sunday? He paired Baldwin and Olson together at the top of the lineup, followed by Albies and Riley, and then put two more left-handed hitters, Mike Yastrzemski and Dominic Smith, back to back.

After Kyle Schwarber gave the Phillies a 2-0 lead with his first-inning homer off Grant Holmes, the Braves’ recent success provided reason to think the tide might turn during this series finale. It did, when the suddenly hot Michael Harris II and Ronald Acuña Jr. began the fifth with consecutive singles against Phillies starter Andrew Painter.

This prompted Philadelphia manager Rob Thomson to call Mayza out of the ‘pen to face Baldwin with two on and none out. Atlanta’s catcher walked and Olson followed with a grounder to Bryson Stott that proved too slow to turn into a double play. Riley followed with a dribbler to the left side that scored the go-ahead run. Albies followed with his double off the left-center-field wall.

“As we keep playing games, and we keep heating up even more and we get situations like that, we’ve got to take care of those spots and score as many runs as possible,” Albies said. “So, it’s definitely great that it happened tonight.”

Why didn’t Thomson call a right-handed reliever out of his bullpen to force Albies to turn to the left side?

Well, a revitalized and healthy Albies has a .796 OPS from the left side this year, as opposed to an .804 OPS from the right side. Plus, that would have set up the possibility the right-handed reliever would have had to face Yastrzemski and Smith.

“It's just tough when they're trying to bridge the two pockets of left-handers that you get in our lineup,” Weiss said. “You’ve got to get through Riley and Ozzie to do it, so it's a tall task.”

While lineup arrangement can prove beneficial in some spots, lineup depth is the true key to having a consistently productive offense. The Braves’ lineup has gotten deeper as Riley and Harris have surged over the past week.

Riley has gone 7-for-18 with three home runs over the past four games. As for Harris, he reached safely in all four plate appearances on Sunday. His third-inning leadoff shot was his third homer in a span of 18 at-bats going back to April 10.

While Harris’ production might indicate he should bat higher than ninth, having him bat right in front of Acuña lessens the likelihood a team would bring in a left-handed reliever to face him, especially with fewer than two outs.

“We can mix and match with our lineup,” Weiss said. “It’s tough for pitchers to get through it.”