PHOENIX -- Austin Riley got a chance to mentally decompress and Ronald Acuña Jr. lessened stress on his legs while serving as the designated hitter for the first time this season.
As for Drake Baldwin, he just continued to be a menace to opposing pitchers.
Baldwin homered in the first inning and capped a four-RBI performance with a game-tying, ninth-inning single. But his contributions weren’t enough as the Braves suffered a 6-5, 10-inning loss to the D-backs on Sunday afternoon at Chase Field.
The Braves have gone 6-4 through this year’s first three series. They hadn’t lost consecutive games until suffering a one-run setback in the final two games of this series in Arizona.
“It feels like we could have done even better with just a couple hits here and there,” Baldwin said. “We have won six of 10 or whatever. We’ve got to keep the momentum going. We could have easily won eight out of 10.”
Here are some thoughts through the first 10 games:
Invaluable bat: The Braves may give Baldwin a few days off this year if he ever has to catch consistently over an extended stretch. But this season’s first full week showed why you can expect the 2025 National League Rookie of the Year will be in the designated hitter’s spot whenever he’s not catching.
Baldwin began Sunday’s offensive display with a solo shot over the right-center-field wall. He is tied with Oneil Cruz and Ian Happ for the NL lead with four home runs. But the left-handed hitter is much more than just a power threat. He showed great bat control with an opposite-field, game-tying single in the fifth inning and then he reached across the plate to deliver a game-tying single up the middle in the ninth.
“He's just really difficult to pitch to because it's line to line and it's barrels and it's coming off the bat hot,” Weiss said. “He's just a really good hitter.”
Here comes Ronald?: After Saturday’s loss, Weiss and hitting coach Tim Hyers said it looked like Acuña had been late with a lot of his swings. The first-year manager responded by giving the 2023 NL MVP a chance to stay off his legs while serving as the DH in Sunday’s series finale.
Acuña responded with his second multi-hit game of the season. His fifth-inning single had an exit velocity of 109.6 mph. This kind of quality contact has been commonplace for the right fielder in past seasons. But this is the second hardest-hit ball he’s hit this year. His hardest-hit ball was a 112.3 mph groundout on Saturday.
So, maybe he’s exiting the rough patch that has led to him hitting .195 with a .540 OPS thus far.
Almost a day off: Riley has struggled mightily since tallying three hits on Opening Day. So, it wasn’t surprising to see him get a chance to reset while out of Sunday’s lineup. But Weiss’ hope to keep his third baseman on the bench all day was erased in the eighth inning when Riley pinch hit.
Riley ended up going 0-2 for two on the day and is hitting .176 with a .469 OPS. His absence from the lineup created a chance for Jorge Mateo, who tallied two hits and showed off his great speed while scoring from second base on Baldwin’s fifth-inning single.
Almost there: The Braves will play just three more games before completing the challenge of playing 13 straight days to open the season. The task could have been overwhelming, especially with multiple Spring Training injuries depleting the rotation depth.
But starting pitching has been the key reason the Braves have won consistently without overburdening their bullpen.
Even after Martín Pérez allowed the D-backs four earned runs over five innings on Sunday, the Braves still lead the National League and rank second among MLB teams with a 2.26 starting pitching ERA. The top four starters -- Chris Sale, Reynaldo López, Grant Holmes and Bryce Elder -- have combined to post a 1.15 ERA (six earned runs, 47 innings).
This isn’t to say Pérez hasn’t made key contributions. The only Braves starter to go fewer than five innings was José Suarez, who allowed four earned runs over 3 2/3 innings on March 30. Pérez prevented the bullpen from being taxed by following Suarez with four scoreless innings of relief.
Perez will serve as the fifth starter going forward, and could be used as a sixth starter or swingman when Spencer Strider returns from the injured list later this month.