Sean Murphy's two homers power a resurgent offense as Braves stay hot

Source: The New York Times
Author: David O'Brien

ATLANTA -- One week ago, the Braves were leaking oil. Sputtering. A five-game skid was their longest since 2017. Losing 24 of 41 games during an offensive malaise that stretched for nearly two months dropped them 10 games behind the Philadelphia Phillies in the National League East.

But as their players and manager Brian Snitker said many times during those eight weeks when the Braves toggled between lackluster and moribund, it's a long season and things can turn quickly with a base hit here and a home run there.

The big ship Braves seems finally to be turning. The offensive machine that roared throughout the 2023 season is starting to function at a high level again, and the pitching that kept Atlanta well above .500 during the hitting woes continues doing impressive work at least four or five times a week.

That included Wednesday when all the engines were humming for the Braves in a 7-0 rout that completed a three-game sweep of the Detroit Tigers at Truist Park, Atlanta's sixth win in seven games since that five-game losing streak that had plenty of folks jumping off the Braves' bandwagon.

Sean Murphy had four hits including two home runs and four RBIs, Ramón Laureano hit his first homer since joining the Braves last week, and Tigers ace Tarik Skubal had his worst outing of the season. Skubal was replaced before the fifth inning, outlasted and outpitched by major league ERA leader Reynaldo López of the Braves.

"It feels really good, with as much as I've been admittedly struggling for a little bit," said Murphy, who missed two months with a strained oblique and was hitting .143 with one homer in 14 total games before Wednesday. The catcher had as many RBIs in one day as he'd had all season and twice as many homers. "Having a day like that improves your mood."

The team's general mood improved plenty over the past week, beginning with a 6-3 skid-ending win at Baltimore last Thursday when López worked six scoreless innings -- he outpitched another good lefty in that one, Cole Irvin -- and Ozzie Albies had four hits including two doubles.

After hitting a putrid .217 with 37 homers and a majors-worst .631 OPS during that 41-game stretch through June 12, the Braves have hit .280 with a majors-leading 13 homers in their 6-1 surge the past week. They've averaged 5.6 runs despite a pair of 2-1 wins in the first games against the Tigers.

"The offense has been clicking a little bit more, starting to find a rhythm," Murphy said. "It's just one of those things where you hope it's contagious and we build some momentum. But I won't take anything away from the pitching staff and what they did this series - two runs (allowed) over the course of three games is fantastic. They carried us the first two nights, but today everything clicked on both sides of the ball."

Snitker said of the offense, "I think we all feel a lot better about it. We're seeing a little light at the end of the tunnel."

If the Braves were to have an offensive outburst in the series it didn't figure to be at the expense of Skubal, a lefty who entered with an 8-2 record, 2.20 ERA and 0.91 WHIP that was second-best among qualified AL pitchers. The Braves lit him up for seven hits including two homers and five runs (four earned), the most runs he's allowed and the fewest innings he's pitched this season.

"I've got all the confidence in this team," López said through an interpreter, after trimming his ERA to 1.57 to lead all major-league qualifiers. "I know we didn't exactly get the start that we had hoped for, but I always remained confident that once this team woke up and got going, we'd kind of hit our stride."

The pitcher paused before adding, "What an incredible day for (Murphy). It's just so great to have him out there because it just builds confidence. He hits those homers, but then also just the way he calls the game. Early on, I felt more relaxed and confident and comfortable just knowing I had that early lead."

Murphy matched his career-high with four hits, Albies had two hits and an RBI, and Laureano picked up two hits including his first homer since May 4 when he was with Cleveland. That was a few weeks before the Guardians released him and he signed a minor-league deal with the Braves, whose situation intrigued him after Ronald Acuña Jr.'s season-ending knee injury around the same time.

When the Braves lost another of their standout outfielders, center fielder Michael Harris II, to a hamstring strain that could sideline him for several weeks or more, they moved Jarred Kelenic from left field to center field and to leadoff. Laureano has started three of five games in right field, with Adam Duvall shifting between left and right, and Forrest Wall getting two starts in left in the first two games of the Detroit series against right-handers.

It's a makeshift arrangement that'll have to do until the trade market heats up and the Braves potentially add an outfielder. But the plug-in replacements have contributed plenty, so the Braves will ride with them for now. Kelenic has thrived in the leadoff role including a double Wednesday to make him 7-for-23 including two home runs in the leadoff spot since taking over after Harris was injured.

López wasn't as efficient Wednesday as he'd been while working six innings in each of his previous three starts, but he pitched his way out of several jams. The Tigers had leadoff hits in each of the first three innings and multiple base runners in three of his five innings. López is now tied with Hall of Famer Tom Glavine (2002) for second-lowest ERA by an Atlanta-era Brave through the first 13 starts in a season. That trails only Greg Maddux, another Hall of Famer, who had a 1.41 ERA through 13 starts in 1994, the third of his four consecutive Cy Young Award seasons.

Not panicking with runners on base is something López worked on in the past few years when he was a reliever.

"I think those three years in the bullpen have just been so helpful as far as the experience and the maturity that I gained throughout that time," said López, who was last a full-time starter in 2021 with the White Sox and had been a reliever since. The Braves signed him to a three-year, $30 million deal in late November and said he'd have a chance to win a rotation spot at spring training.

López added, "It's kind of those situations where you come in (as a reliever) and you have a runner at first or you have runners in scoring position, and it's just helped me to understand to focus on the guy at the plate. Usually, I realize that if you tend to focus too much on the runners, the guy with the bat's the one that does the damage."

Murphy hit a two-run homer off Skubal in the third inning and Laureano led off the fourth with his first homer in 12 at-bats for the Braves. Laureano also had the second of the Braves' three singles in the second inning, when Murphy led off with one and scored on Albies' two-out single.

"He's having a Cy Young-type year up till now, and he's a really good pitcher," Snitker said of Skubal. "So that was nice to be able to do it against a guy of that caliber."

Murphy's second homer of the day was another two-run shot in the fifth off righty Mason Englert, who threw a 1-2 sinker inside that he destroyed, sending it far up the left-field bleacher seats, an estimated 423 feet and 108.7 mph off the bat.

"Really good for Murph, he kind of looked like his old self -- that's exciting in itself," Snitker said of the veteran catcher, who had 17 home runs before the All-Star break last season when he was among the Braves' eight All-Star selections. "I think just throughout the lineup, we're kind of being who we are again."

Asked if he needs 40 to 50 at-bats to get his swing back after being out for two months, Murphy said, "Ideally no, but maybe I did this time. It's one of those things where we've got another game coming up. So, it means nothing now. Just move on and play the next one."

After a day off Thursday, the Braves start a three-game series at hitter-friendly Yankee Stadium team against a New York team that has the majors' best record. The offensive resurgence for Atlanta arrived just in time.