Victor Mederos Reveals His Mentality After First Career Save Lifts Braves

Atlanta needed someone to finish Monday night's series opener against San Diego, and nearly every trusted arm in the bullpen was unavailable after a weekend in Texas that burned through 13 pitchers.

The assignment fell to Victor Mederos, a young right-hander the Braves acquired from the Angels in April for international bonus pool money, and he responded with the biggest moment of his career.

Mederos worked the final seven outs of a 3-2 win over the Padres, retiring Jake Cronenworth to seal his first Major League save just days after collecting his first Major League hit.

"It's the dog mentality. I start falling into trouble when I don't have that aggression," Mederos said afterward.

Manager Walt Weiss sounded like a man who had just found a new weapon.

"It's high energy every day and he's not scared. It's his first Major League save. The way he handled it, you would have thought he'd have done it a bunch of times," Weiss said.

The trust was earned, since Mederos has now allowed one earned run over 9 1/3 innings with a 0.96 ERA since joining the Atlanta bullpen, and closer Robert Suarez remains sidelined by elbow inflammation.

Starter Bryce Elder enjoyed the show too, saying, "I thought his knock with two RBIs the other night was cooler," before adding, "But with the situation we were in tonight, to see him shut the door was really cool."

The save chance existed because Elder delivered his best start in weeks, holding San Diego to two runs over six innings while striking out four.

The righthander had carried an ERA above eight across his previous seven starts, so the turnaround arrived at an ideal moment.

"I was very pleased with it," Elder said, adding, "The sinker hadn't been moving at all, and tonight it was back moving again for the most part."

Michael Harris II and Ozzie Albies supplied solo home runs, with Harris continuing a scorching July in which he is hitting .329, and Joey Bart chipped in an RBI double in the fifth.

Harris has been one of Atlanta's steadiest bats all year, batting .301 with 18 home runs through Monday.

The blend of homers and clean pitching echoed how Harris powered the Braves past Boston earlier this month.

The win pushed Atlanta to 58-41 and stretched its NL East lead to three games over Philadelphia, welcome breathing room after the slump that prompted Weiss to admit a recent plan had failed.

Reinforcements are coming as well, since Ronald Acuña Jr. has moved his rehab assignment to Triple-A and the late inning duo Atlanta built should be whole again once Suarez returns.

The same two teams meet again Tuesday night at Truist Park, where Reynaldo López faces Walker Buehler with a chance to keep the good vibes rolling.