BALTIMORE -- The early days after Ronald Acuña Jr. landed on the injured list saw the first-place Braves spiral into a June swoon. Ever since July arrived, though, they’ve emerged as a more battle-hardened group.
That continued on Sunday, when Austin Riley hit an 11th-inning RBI double after Matt Olson turned a game-saving double play in the 10th in a gutsy 3-2 victory over the Orioles for a series win at Camden Yards.
“After a rough June, grinding through that and coming out the other end and still being in first place, it’s going to serve us well in the long run,” Braves manager Walt Weiss said. “You make deposits into the bank of mental toughness when you do things like that. And winning games like this is the same type of deal. It hardens you. And that’s what postseason baseball looks like.”
Dominic Smith had two RBIs and three hits earlier in the contest as Atlanta survived a rare and unlucky bullpen implosion, improving to 7-3 since the All-Star break and 13-9 in July.
And after Atlanta’s NL East lead dwindled to 2 1/2 games following a 5-12 finish to June once Acuña hit the IL, the club’s lead was back to six, with the second-place Phillies hosting the Yankees Sunday night.
The 2023 NL MVP might return from his left hamstring strain in the Braves’ next series at the Mets that starts Monday night.
“We’ve got a chance to see Ronnie in New York,” Weiss said of Acuña, who did not play for Triple-A Gwinnett on Sunday. “That’s what we’re hoping for.”
This could’ve been more comfortable without a rare ninth-inning error from typically sure-handed Ozzie Albies at second, turning a potential game-ending double play into a game-tying opportunity against Raisel Iglesias.
But Albies made amends immediately with an exceptional diving stop of Jackson Holliday’s RBI groundout to limit the damage. Iglesias retired Jeremiah Jackson and the Braves lived to fight on despite his second blown save.
Somehow, Danny Young and Tyler Kinley worked a clean 10th inning after the former intentionally walked Alonso to load the bases with no outs and the automatic runner already at third base.
Gunnar Henderson drilled Young’s 1-2 offering at Olson, who alertly stepped on the bag before Alonso could scramble back, according to first-base umpire John Libka. Baltimore challenged, but the call stood.
“It kind of took me toward the base. I just tried to get my foot on it as quick as possible,” Olson said. “The replay was actually a little closer than I thought.”
Kinley (6-4) entered and got Taylor Ward to pop out, with Olson waiving off Eli White to make the play in shallow right field.
Riley found the right-center gap against Andrew Kittredge (1-3) to lead off the 11th and score automatic runner Jorge Mateo. With a chance to break it open, Olson flied out to center to strand the bases loaded.
But Kinley stayed strong and set the Orioles down scoreless, retiring Sam Huff on a grounder to third after intentionally walking Jackson Holliday to load the bases.
“I get it,” Kinley said of the decision to walk the lefty Holliday and advance two runners 90 feet. “You’ve got to earn the right to face guys in this league, right? And I haven’t earned my right with a lot of lefties lately. … I didn’t second-guess it at all.”