Braves rally late to end losing streak, defeat Boston Red Sox in series opener

The Atlanta Braves scored late to break a tie and ultimately defeat the Boston Red Sox, 4-2, Tuesday night at Truist Park.

Here’s what you need to know about the competition.

Reynaldo López continues his good start

López entered with the best ERA of any Braves starter and it won’t increase much.

The 30-year-old right-hander gave Atlanta 5.1 innings tonight, allowing just two runs (one earned) on six hits and four walks while striking out five.

The first of the two runs came via those four walks – in the sixth, López’s third walk of the inning put Boston on the board and prompted manager Brian Snitker to pull him out. Reliever Aaron Bummer’s attempt at a late-inning double play was hit by his own shin, bringing in the second run of the inning, but he got two strikeouts from Jarren Duran and Rafael Devers to keep the game at two-way tie.

López varied his velocity a lot more than usual tonight, going up and retrieving his old 98.0 bullpen fastball for a Tyler O’Neil out in the 5th and bringing it up to 91.6 to give the advantage to Vaughn Grissom in the 4th. However, his 95.3 playing average was within a tenth of an mph of his season average, and that seemed to simply be an evolution of López as a starter. He finished the outing with just eight whiffs and a slightly below-average CSW of 29%, although he also threw just five curveballs among his 91 pitches (54 strikes).

Jarred Kelenic takes off

The Braves traded for outfielder Jarred Kelenic from the Seattle Mariners because they liked his defense and believed they could unlock more offensive consistency from the talented but streaky former top prospect.

Kelenic’s power numbers to start the season have been down, however, with no homers in his first 26 regular season games in a Braves uniform.

It ended this evening.

Kelenic took Red Sox starter Kutter Crawford deep tonight, only Crawford’s second homer allowed of the season, in the bottom of the 3rd inning to put Atlanta on the board.

Life, death, taxes and Marcell Ozuna

The Big Bear is inevitable.

With the game tied in the 8th inning and the Braves on first and second, designated hitter Marcell Ozuna extended his MLB-leading RBI total to 34 with a well-placed ground ball up the middle that eluded Red defenders Sox long enough to score. Ozzie Albies since second grade.

Atlanta followed up with an RBI groundout that should ended the inning – hitting first baseman Garrett Cooper, he threw to second base to start the double play, but second baseman Vaughn Grissom and shortstop Ceddanne Rafaela – only played their third game together after Grissom was activated off the injured list last weekend. – got crossed and Rafaela couldn’t even try to get back first.

Defense matters, folks.

Raisel Iglesias made a clean sheet

Atlanta’s closer soothed the lingering nerves of Braves fans with a flawless inning tonight, setting the Red Sox up for his 9th save of the season. It’s the first time Iglesias has made a 1-2-3 since April 22 and it’s his 199th career save.

What’s next for the Atlanta Braves?

Atlanta ends the short series with Boston tomorrow night; The Red Sox have not yet announced a starter, but Nick Pivetta is expected to be activated off the injured list (flexor strain) to start. Atlanta strikes back with former Red Sox starter Chris Sale, facing his former team for the first time since an offseason trade brought him to Atlanta. First pitch from Truist Park is scheduled for 7:20 p.m. ET.