If there's one thing the Atlanta Braves seem to be known for, it's getting minor leaguers to the bigs and getting the most out of them.
A season after Michael Harris II won NL Rookie of the Year, Spencer Strider was the runner-up, and Vaughn Grissom was a key piece down the stretch, Atlanta debuted two unheralded prospects last night and got significant impacts from them in a close loss to the Milwaukee Brewers.
Twenty-seven year-old pitcher Allan Winans, previously a 2021 Rule 5 pick from the New York Mets, came up and gave Atlanta four and a third innings of two-run baseball with five strikeouts. The soft-tossing righty, who sat 91 with his fastball, mixed his plus changeup with a slider and a sinker to frustrate and flummox Brewers hitters until his final inning, where a single and sac fly scored two runs for the Brewers. He was optioned to AAA Gwinnett after the game.
Fellow twenty-seven year-old, outfielder Forrest Wall, made an outsized impact on the game as well. A week after being called up to replace an injured Sam Hilliard, he was inserted as a pinch-runner in the 9th inning with Atlanta down one run. He promptly stole 2nd and 3rd on consecutive pitches, but Atlanta left him stranded at 3rd and dropped the game to Milwaukee, 4-3. This afternoon, the two teams will meet in the rubber game at 2:10 PM ET.
NL East Standings for Sunday, July 23rd
| Team | Record | Games Back | Action Today |
|---|---|---|---|
Atlanta |
63-34 |
-- |
@ Milwaukee |
Philadelphia |
52-46 |
11.5 |
@ Cleveland |
Miami |
53-47 |
11.5 |
vs Colorado |
NY Mets |
46-52 |
17.5 |
@ Boston |
Washington |
40-58 |
23.5 |
vs San Fran |
We Wrote It
In our takeaways, Braves Today writer Lance Dawe noted just how impressive this heater from Austin Riley has been:
Over his last five games, including Saturday, Austin Riley has hit six home runs and has driven in 16 runs. He's only the 10th player, since 2000, to have a five-game span like that during one season.
Atlanta Braves action on Sunday, July 23rd
Atlanta and Milwaukee face off this afternoon with the fate of the series in the balance. Bryce Elder (7-2, 3.31 ERA) faces off against former Braves pitcher Julio Teheran (2-4, 4.01 ERA) at 2:10 PM ET. The Braves broadcast, with Voice of the Braves Brandon Gaudin, is available inside Braves Country on Bally Sports Southeast and is available on MLB.TV outside of the broadcast area. The radio call, with Ben Ingram, is available locally on 680 AM/93.7 FM The Fan or outside the Atlanta market on the Atlanta Braves Radio Network or MLB.com.
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