In a game of big homers, Riley's soft single might be the biggest hit

WASHINGTON -- Marcell Ozuna added to his National League-best homer total and Adam Duvall provided a glimpse of the power potential he still has. But as Braves manager Brian Snitker assessed a 5-2 win over the Nationals on Thursday night at Nationals Park, he was most encouraged by the potential mental benefits of Austin Riley’s soft single in the decisive eighth.

“It can be big for a hitter’s psyche to do that,” Snitker said. “The one thing I’ve seen this kid do his entire career, is he always hangs in there with himself. No matter how hard it’s going, he stays within himself. I told him, ‘I’ve seen you do this a lot.’ He’ll be right where he needs to be when it’s all said and done.”

Riley had nothing to show for the two 100-plus mph exit velocities he produced through his first three plate appearances. But the game-winning 76 mph single he sliced into shallow right-center field in the eighth inning gave him and the Braves everything they needed. Ozzie Albies scored on the play, and Ozuna followed with a two-run homer.

As for Riley, he was given reason to believe he might be exiting the funk that has left him with a .232 batting average and .657 OPS through his first 47 games of the season. It should be remembered he has now played 10 games since missing two weeks because of a tight left intercostal muscle.

“It’s been an interesting year,” Riley said. “The hard contact is there. It’s just the shapes of the swings that are not allowing me to drive the ball where I’ve wanted to. So, that last hit, the shape of that swing right there…the pitch backed up on me a little bit. But I was still able to be in a good position to find a hole. I think that’s a start, and hopefully, we can build off of that.”

The Braves’ offense slumbered with Ronald Acuña Jr., and it will have to persevere without the 2023 National League MVP, who tore his right anterior cruciate ligament on May 26. There’s still plenty of firepower in the form of Ozuna, Riley -- who is bidding for a fourth straight 30-homer season -- and Matt Olson, who set a franchise record with a MLB-best 54 homers last year.

Ozuna leads the NL in homers (18), RBIs (55) and OPS (1.000). Among the players in Atlanta’s lineup on Thursday, Olson ranks second on the team with a .748 OPS. With or without Acuña, this hasn’t been anything close to the Braves offense that drew comparisons to the 1927 Yankees last year.

“I just keep waiting for my guys to back me up,” Ozuna said. “Riley is going to be there and [Olson], too. I don’t worry about it, because they have hit so many times and we’re all together.”

With Riley, Ozuna and Olson filling the second, third and fourth spots, leadoff hitters Michael Harris II and Ozzie Albies have the opportunity to be very valuable tablesetters. But two members of this trio have to start providing something that at least resembles the MVP-caliber production they provided last year.

As Olson has produced a .878 OPS over his past 12 games, he has conjured memories of last year when he caught fire within the middle of June.

Even when accounting for the two weeks he missed in May, it’s still odd to see Riley with only three homers and a sub-.700 OPS through 47 games. But it’s not like he lit the world on fire through last season’s first two months. He had a .729 OPS over his first 40 games of 2023 and a .797 OPS through his first 50 games.

Riley hasn’t been smacking the ball like he did last year, but he still ranks in the 86th percentile in hard-hit rate and 77th percentile in barrel rate. This indicates some of his loud outs might soon find holes. But the soft single that propelled the Braves to Thursday’s win might have been loud enough to get the Braves' third baseman going.

“This game will beat you up pretty good and pretty quick,” Riley said. “You just try to find every positive thing and build off of that.”