Acuña, Muller, bullpen spearhead crucial win

CINCINNATI -- Ronald Acuña Jr. clobbered one of the hardest-hit home runs you will ever see, and Kyle Muller may have found a lasting rotation spot as he guided the Braves toward a 4-0 win over the Reds on Sunday afternoon at Great American Ball Park.

• Box score

Acuña provided the game’s top highlight when he generated a 117.4 mph exit velocity with the solo home run he drilled in the fifth inning. But the tone of the day was set by Muller, who surrendered just one hit and recorded nine strikeouts while twirling five scoreless innings in just his second career start.

“What we went through the whole road trip, obviously I’d like to have a winning road trip,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said. “We didn’t. We finished .500 and we had to fight our ass off a couple times to do that. I’m good with it.”

With the contributions of Acuña and Muller, the Braves split both this four-game series and an eight-game road trip that began against the Mets. They may not have gained ground, but they also kept themselves in good position as they prepare to welcome the Mets for a three-game series that begins on Tuesday.

The Braves should feel fortunate to still be within striking distance of the first-place Mets. Before Austin Riley hit a solo homer in the sixth inning of Sunday’s game, Atlanta had scored three runs or fewer in nine straight games, just the third time dating back to 2000 they had such a stretch.

Still, even after enduring a mentally trying week that included Mike Soroka tearing his right Achilles tendon for a second time, the Braves are actually in good position entering this week’s series against the Mets. Here are a few reasons why:

Acuña’s healthy presence
As the Braves lost Wednesday to the Mets and Thursday to the Reds, they were without Acuña, who has repeatedly proven how valuable his presence is to what is now a depleted lineup. His solo homers helped Atlanta claim 1-0 wins on consecutive days last week, and his latest blast provided some much-appreciated cushion.

Acuña’s fifth-inning plate appearance began with his bat being hit by a Tyler Mahle fastball as he fell, attempting to avoid the pitch. Four pitches later, the 23-year-old outfielder hit a screaming liner that easily cleared the center-field wall. It was his 21st homer of the season.

“I used to hear people talk about how you didn’t want to knock Hank [Aaron] or Frank Robinson or any of those guys down like that because all you do is piss them off," said Snitker. "Right there, it looked like all he did is piss him off. I guess that one was harder than [the] last couple that I thought were the hardest-hit balls I’d seen."

The 117.4 exit velocity recorded on the homer was the hardest-hit ball by a Braves player dating back to 2015, when Statcast began tracking this data. It was also the third-hardest-hit home run in the Majors this year, trailing only homers hit by Franchy Cordero (118.6 mph) and Giancarlo Stanton (118.0 mph).

Acuña admitted there was extra motivation after getting knocked down.

“It definitely motivates me,” Acuña said. “I’m already focused, but when it happens, I become even more focused. It sort of turns into the mentality that there’s no way I’m not going to get a hit this at-bat.”

Muller time
While praising Muller’s impressive performance on Sunday, Braves fans should recognize the importance of the young hurler also beginning this trip by allowing one run over four innings while matching up against the Mets’ Jacob deGrom in the first game of a doubleheader.

In his first two starts, Muller has allowed just two hits over nine innings. The Reds’ only hit against him was a Scott Heineman blooper that fell between Freddie Freeman and Acuña in shallow left field.

“I feel like anybody coming to the big leagues is looking to have success early,” Muller said. “Knowing your stuff plays and you can get some of the best hitters in the world out, that’s really encouraging and that’s a big confidence booster going forward.”

Quite honestly, the Braves didn’t know what to respect from Muller, who had only recently started to harness his long-time command woes with Triple-A Gwinnett. His ability to work more than half of that seven-inning game prevented the bullpen from being taxed and also earned him future starts.

“You just never know when guys are going to grow up and start figuring stuff out,” Snitker said. “You forget how young they are, experience-wise, too. Every time he’s been out there has been really impressive.”

By taking another chance on Muller on Sunday, the Braves were able to push Charlie Morton back two days. Now, they’re set to use Morton, Max Fried and Drew Smyly as their starters for this week’s Mets series.

Bullpen?
There is no doubt the bullpen has been the team’s weakest link, and a couple of encouraging days won’t be enough to take heat off of this group. But the Braves had reason to be pleased with Shane Greene’s scoreless inning on Saturday. Greene might have been initially rushed with his preparations when he signed with the Braves. But now, he might be ready to be a reliable contributor as Atlanta enters an important portion of the schedule.

Greene returned to the mound on Sunday and pitched around a leadoff single in the eighth. His contribution helped the bullpen construct four scoreless innings. Primary setup man Chris Martin was assigned to face the top of the lineup in the sixth, and A.J. Minter escaped the seventh inning unscathed despite walking Jesse Winker, the left-handed hitter he was brought in to face.

An effective Greene gives Snitker the length he needs to mix and match to create favorable late-inning matchups.

“Greeny kind of backed up the way he threw [on Saturday],” Snitker said. “That’s going to be a huge help.”