DENVER — When the Rockies’ Connor Joe belted a drive to deep center field in the seventh inning at Coors Field on Thursday night, the Braves’ precarious lead hung in the balance. The man chasing after the ball had only 11 career games in center on his resume.
“I could hear our bullpen [beyond the center-field wall] telling me as I got closer to the wall, kind of giving me some insight on that,” said Adam Duvall, who made a leaping grab at the fence to preserve Atlanta’s one-run advantage. “When I caught it, I didn’t think I was on the wall, but I ended up closer than I thought I was.”
The game was closer than the Braves would’ve liked, too. But thanks to Duvall’s defense, not to mention the key hit of the game — a 477-foot go-ahead homer in the fifth inning — and a stellar bullpen effort, Atlanta came away with a 6-5 victory against a Rockies club that entered the contest 43-22 at Coors Field.
When the Braves brought back Duvall via trade with the Marlins on July 30, they knew he had a history of ups and downs at the plate. After all, they traded for him in 2018 from the Reds, and he went just 7-for-53 with one extra-base hit before posting an .852 OPS with 26 homers in 98 games from 2019-20.
But Atlanta also knew Duvall is averaging a home run every 16.8 at-bats in his career. Only eight active players have a better rate than that.
The move paid dividends on Thursday night.
The massive blast onto the concourse in left-center field was the longest of Duvall’s career, and it took starter Touki Toussaint off the hook after the right-hander surrendered a grand slam to Charlie Blackmon in the third inning. Toussaint gave up five runs (four earned) on six hits, walking none and striking out none on 46 pitches (30 strikes) over three innings.
Jorge Soler opened the scoring with a 407-foot homer on a Chi Chi González fastball off the plate outside in the first inning for his 22nd of the year. Austin Riley stayed hot, going 2-for-3 with a two-run double in the third that gave Atlanta a 3-0 lead.
The bullpen was called upon in the fourth after Blackmon’s homer had the Rockies out in front, 5-3, but following Duvall’s clutch homer, Jacob Webb, Jesse Chavez, Richard Rodríguez, Luke Jackson and Will Smith kept Colorado off the board.
The six scoreless frames from the relief corps came less than 24 hours after the bullpen was unable to hold a one-run lead in the eighth inning at Dodger Stadium, where Atlanta was swept before traveling to Denver.
“It’s hard to win a game like that here,” manager Brian Snitker said. “Jacob came in and did a great job, I think, bridging that thing for two innings.”
Having made only four Major League appearances over the previous three-plus months, Webb was summoned out of the bullpen for his first outing since being recalled from Triple-A Gwinnett. He rose to the occasion, giving the Braves a chance to come back.
“The bullpen is kind of an interesting place to be at,” Webb said. “It’s a cool experience to be able to kind of watch the game a little bit before you get to go in. You get to see some things, get to get a feel of the game.”
On Thursday, Webb got to watch the game a little — emphasis on “little.” Taking the mound at the most hitter-friendly park in the Majors, and doing so in the fourth inning was no small task, and Webb came through. As did Chavez, Rodríguez, Jackson and Smith, who, according to the Elias Sports Bureau, combined to become only the third group of visiting relievers to throw six or more scoreless frames at Coors Field in the last five seasons (also the Padres on May 11 of this season and the Mets on Aug. 2, 2017).
Fittingly, as the Braves clung to a two-game lead over the Phillies in the National League East, the key role players in Thursday’s contest helped each other out — first on Duvall’s homer, then the bullpen aiding Duvall in making the defensive play of the game.
It spoke to the resiliency of a team that has faced a lot of adversity in 2021, yet is in position to capture its fourth consecutive division title.
“These guys just tend to their business,” Snitker said. “They come to play and they prepare and play the game at hand.
“They don’t look behind them or ahead. They just focus on today.”
