Will Smith threw a hitless 9th to pick up his 35th save.
After walking the bases loaded, and with a little help from the home plate umpire. A couple of borderline strike calls on Fernando Tatis and Trent Grisham were the difference for Smith between 14 strikes out of 31 pitches, and 12. Smith ultimately struck out the side; Tatis with runners on 1st and 2nd, and Grisham and Ha-seong Kim consecutively with the bases loaded.
Coupled with today’s Phillies loss to the Pirates, the Braves open a 2.5 game lead going into the pivotal and long anticipated penultimate series against Philadelphia, starting Tuesday in Atlanta.