Walt Weiss Praises Braves' Grit After Austin Riley's Clutch Extra-Inning Double

Reynaldo López kept putting up zeros in Baltimore on Sunday, and by the end of the afternoon the Braves needed every one of them.

Atlanta beat the Orioles 3-2 in 11 innings, and it took an escape in the tenth and one big swing from Austin Riley in the eleventh to get there.

First-place teams have to win games like this one, on the road, in extra innings, with almost no help from the offense.

López threw 5.2 scoreless innings with six strikeouts and one walk.

Dominic Smith singled home Michael Harris II in the second and Matt Olson in the fourth, and that 2-0 lead held until Pete Alonso homered in the eighth and Coby Mayo scored the tying run on a groundout in the ninth.

The biggest moment came in the tenth, when Baltimore loaded the bases with nobody out, but Gunnar Henderson lined into an unassisted double play at first base and Tyler Kinley got Taylor Ward out to leave the winning run on base.

Riley then doubled home pinch-runner Jorge Mateo in the eleventh, and Kinley got through the bottom half for his sixth win.

"The replay was actually a little closer than I thought," Olson said of the double play, per MLB.com.

The bigger story is where this team has been.

Atlanta went 5-12 to end June after Ronald Acuña Jr. went on the injured list, and the division lead fell to 2.5 games during that stretch.

The Braves are 7-3 since the All-Star break and 13-9 in July, and Sunday proved they can win on a day when the lineup scores only three runs.

Close games like that are what October looks like, so every one of these wins is good practice.

"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," manager Walt Weiss said, per MLB.com.

"You make deposits into the bank of mental toughness when you do things like that."

López is a big part of the turnaround too.

He pitched in just one game in all of 2025, so every strong start from him helps a rotation that has had some rough days, including Bryce Elder's rough outing against Boston in May.

The best news is about the lineup, since Acuña, the 2023 NL MVP, will return from his left hamstring strain during the series at the Mets that starts Monday night.

"We've got a chance to see Ronnie in New York," Weiss said. "That's what we're hoping for."

The offense already has Michael Harris II, who powered a win in Boston back in May, and the bullpen leans on the late-inning duo of Robert Suarez and Raisel Iglesias, so a healthy Acuña would make the whole group better.

Riley, who hit .260 with 16 home runs in 102 games a season ago, is still working back to his best form, but his only hit on Sunday won a series finale, and the Braves will take that every time.