Tonight was a game in which numerous unsurprising things coincided with a happy result: Drew Smyly performed about as expected, Ronald Acuna performed about as expected, the Braves bullpen performed about as expected — with new addition Shane Greene taking entirely too much inspiration from his colleagues’ established work standards — and the Phillies bullpen gratifyingly also performed about as expected, leading a moveable object to be deadlocked with a resistible force.
Then Austin Riley Cleanup Hitter Extraordinaire — ARCHE, if you please — keyed a five-run eighth inning to cement the win and push the team over .