Braves hold off Rays, support spot atop NL East

ATLANTA -- Martín Pérez sauntered into the Braves’ clubhouse on Thursday morning wearing a hat and sunglasses. He said hello to a couple teammates and then cooly walked to the other side of the room, where he changed the music playlist from '90s rap to more of a salsa mix.

This was the first sign Pérez would be in total command during what proved to be a good day for the Braves.

Led by Pérez’s seven scoreless innings, the Braves avoided a three-game sweep by claiming a 3-1 win over the Rays on Thursday afternoon at Truist Park. Austin Riley and Ha-Seong Kim's eighth-inning RBIs ensured the strong start didn’t go to waste.

Ozzie Albies was left out of Thursday’s starting lineup. But the second baseman came off the bench to triple with one out in the eighth against Kevin Kelly. With the infield in, Riley was able to slap his single through the right side. Kim followed by poking one up the middle just two pitches after taking a hard foul ball off his left leg. The two-RBI single proved to be the difference, as the Rays scored their first run in the ninth via Victor Mesa Jr.'s solo HR.

The Braves entered this series finale having totaled just three runs and 10 hits over their previous three games. Their offensive woes were extended through the first seven innings of Thursday's game. But the three-run eighth also included a Mike Yastrzemski ground-rule double and a Drake Baldwin single.

Along with ending a three-game losing streak, the Braves (86-61) improved their National League East lead to 3 1/2 games over the second-place Phillies (82-64), who were playing the Astros on Thursday afternoon. Philadelphia will come to Atlanta on Friday for the start of a three-game series that could go a long way toward determining who wins the division.

Pérez allowed just four hits while keeping Tampa Bay's offense scoreless for seven innings. This was just the 13th time in his career that the 35-year-old southpaw has pitched seven or more scoreless innings. But it’s the second time in a little more than a month. He also blanked the Nationals over seven innings on Aug. 1.

This was a timely outing for the Braves, who had endured a rough few days with some of their starters. Bryce Elder underwent arthroscopic right knee surgery on Tuesday and will be sidelined for three weeks. AJ Smith-Shawver and Reynaldo López then had consecutive bad starts to begin this three-game series.

As for Pérez, he walked four and allowed seven hits over just 3 2/3 innings against the Phillies on Saturday. He blamed the rough outing on extended rest.

Five days later, the rest wasn’t the only thing that seemed normal.

Pérez allowed a single to three of the first four Rays he faced. But he escaped a bases-loaded jam when Chandler Simpson grounded into an inning-ending double play. Matt Olson fielded the speedy Simpson's grounder and threw to the plate before receiving Baldwin’s return throw to first base.