Strider Continues Return to Form as Braves Complete Sweep vs Mets

Spencer Strider had another strong outing for the Atlanta Braves in the 7-1 win over the Mets on Thursday. He pitched six innings of one-run ball en route to the Braves picking up the sweep. He allowed five hits and a walk while striking out eight.

His velocity was looking solid again. His four-seam fastball averaged 96 mph and topped out at 98.4 mph. He got 18 strikes with his slider, including 14 swing and misses.

Strider felt there are still things he can improve on, but it's worth the risk with the approach he's trying to have.

"Fastball command was fine first time through the order," Strider said after game, "Probably a couple sequencing things I could've done better and couple executions with the fastball I suppose could've been a little better, but I'll take my chances with attacking the zone. It's definitely a change I wanted to make, especially early in the game trying to set the tone in the zone."

Between the last two starts, especially with the action he's starting to get again on his slider, he's still seeing a trend in the right direction.

"Yeah, I think even in some of my previous outings, the stuff wasn't necessarily what was holding me back. Execution and consistency. The shape of the slider has been good, I think. It's just attacking and making hitters swing. You ask any pitcher. Step one is making guys swing and the rest is played off that."

He's now pitched at least six innings in his last three starts and has a 2.00 ERA and 26 strikeouts in that span. Strider has been part of a strong run by the starters over the last few weeks and especially during the last two series.

Strider and Grant Holmes had double-digit strikeout performances last weekend and Spencer Schwellenbach and Chris Sale have pitching deep into games. It's the back bone of a successful team.

"It's huge. It's always huge. It's where it all starts," manager Brian Snitker said. "If they're pitching most of the innings, then we're probably gonna be doing pretty good."

The Braves have now won seven of their last nine games and now sit five games back from a playoff spot after being nine games back last week. They're gaining back ground in a hurry, but they got to keep it up. For now, it's a great start.

More From Atlanta Braves on SI