The Atlanta Braves salvaged their series against the Milwaukee Brewers with a 4-2 win on Sunday night.
The Atlanta Braves refused to cave against the Milwaukee Brewers on Sunday night during the annual MLB Little League Classic, earning a 4-2 victory and salvaging the series on the heels of Michael Harris II's 21st home run of the season.
Still, Harris was not the only Brave to make his presence known. Right-hander Tyler Mahle delivered as well, striking out four batters and surrendering just one earned run even as he allowed six hits through five innings of work.
With the win, Mahle has improved to 5-10 overall while compiling a 1.52 ERA and 23 strikeouts in 23.2 innings pitched for Atlanta since he was acquired by the club in a trade from the San Francisco Giants before the Aug. 3 deadline.
Following the matchup, manager Walt Weiss praised the 31-year-old for his lethal three-pitch mix along with the team's defensive execution in the infield.
"He's been a shot in the arm for us," Weiss said, according to MLB.com. "He's got the split finger, cutter so it's basically a three-pitch mix but he commands them all and he executes pitches. The ball's always in play and so you've got to defend and we did tonight. [Mauricio] Dubón made an unbelievable play there to end the game."
The Braves attacked Milwaukee left-hander Shane Drohan early as Ozzie Albies reached home off a ground rule double by Dubón to give Atlanta a 1-0 advantage in the second.
Mahle loaded the bases that same inning when Andrew Vaughn and Christian Yelich strung together a pair of singles while Joey Ortiz drew a five-pitch walk. Fortunately, he held on to get Garrett Mitchell down swinging and force a line out by David Hamilton.
Nonetheless, Milwaukee tied it up in the third when Jake Bauers scored Brice Turang with an RBI single. Atlanta kept clawing back as Sean Murphy recorded his first RBI of the season in the fourth, driving in Drake Baldwin to reclaim the lead which the Braves never gave up again.
Furthermore, the Braves made Milwaukee pay in the sixth when Dubón scored and increased the lead off a costly fielding error by Vaughn.
Even then, the Brewers did not go out quietly as Luis Lara scored Yelich with an RBI triple in the eighth to bring the game within one.
Weiss would turn to closer Raisel Iglesias who finished the job to earn his 27th save of the season after Harris' electric solo blast.
The first-year skipper also praised Harris for the veteran-like confidence at the plate he's shown being only 25 years old.
"We're just seeing him mature as a player and figure things out," Weiss said. "He's a free swinger, he's still going to chase some but he hits the ball so hard."
The Braves will be back in action on Tuesday at 7:15 p.m. EDT for another NL showdown against the back-to-back defending World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers as Bryce Elder takes the mound against right-hander Tyler Glasnow.
