Murphy's walk-off HR cherry on top of Elder's scoreless start

ATLANTA -- Bryce Elder couldn’t help but smile when asked how excited he was to see Sean Murphy guide him through his latest encouraging start and then erase the potential of an ugly loss with the biggest swing of the catcher's young Braves career.

Murphy further endeared himself to his new fanbase when he capped a three-hit performance with a home run that gave the club a 5-4, 10-inning win over the Reds on Monday night at Truist Park. The two-run shot was the Gold Glove catcher’s first home run as a Brave and the first walk-off homer of his career.

“He’s been such a great teammate all spring,” manager Brian Snitker said. “I’m happy he can have a night like that.”

Murphy’s first big moment since being acquired from Oakland in December allowed Atlanta to snap a three-game losing streak and avoid what would have been the most frustrating loss of the young season. Cincinnati tied the game with a pair of runs against A.J. Minter in the ninth and then gained a lead that was erased one pitch into the bottom of the 10th.

With Austin Riley serving as the automatic runner (placed at second base to start every half-inning during extra innings), Murphy belted Derek Law’s first pitch of the night over the right-center-field wall.

According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Murphy became the 10th Braves player of the modern era (since 1900) and the first since Charlie Culberson in 2018 to tally his first homer with the club in walk-off fashion.

“I was just trying to do a job and hit the ball to the right side,” Murphy said. “A good thing happened.”

A few good things happened on this night filled with timely contributions. Murphy’s productive night began with a pair of doubles, including one that scored Riley from first base in the sixth. His first three-hit performance of the year comes just two days after fellow catcher Travis d’Arnaud suffered a concussion that will sideline him for an undetermined amount of time.

Murphy and d’Arnaud were projected to be among the game’s top catching duos this year. With d’Arnaud sidelined, Murphy will serve as the primary catcher and take advantage of additional opportunities to show why the Braves were excited to give him a six-year, $73 million contract after acquiring him at the cost of a trade package that included All-Star catcher William Contreras.

“This was actually the first time I’ve ever thrown to [Murphy],” Elder said. “I was very impressed. We were on the same page the whole time. The game he called was great. I can’t thank him enough for that. Then for him to go out and win it for us was special.”

Another timely development occurred as Elder tallied seven strikeouts and scattered six hits over 6 1/3 scoreless innings. The 23-year-old right-hander hasn’t allowed a run over 12 1/3 innings this year, and he is Atlanta’s only starter to complete at least six innings multiple times this year.

Not bad, considering he was Triple-A Gwinnett’s Opening Day starter.

“Bryce threw the pitches,” Murphy said. “I helped him along the way, but the credit goes to him. He’s the one who went out there and executed. He worked his mix, kept the ball down and threw it where he needed to throw it. He was fantastic. He was fantastic tonight. He’ll continue doing that going forward.”

Elder’s latest outing righted the Braves after a rough series against the Padres, and it lessened some of the rotation concerns that developed as prospects Jared Shuster and Dylan Dodd both stumbled this past weekend. Ian Anderson’s availability this season is also in doubt as he deals with a significant right elbow injury.

So, Elder’s second strong start of the young season was certainly timely. Kyle Wright will come off the injured list to make his season debut on Tuesday, and Max Fried could be activated the following week. Soon, the rotation could consist of Spencer Strider, Charlie Morton, Fried, Wright and Elder.

Elder was promoted to Atlanta after Fried strained his hamstring on Opening Day on March 30 at Nationals Park. His success in the two starts that have followed has validated the success he had while posting a 1.65 ERA over his final five big league starts last year.

“They kind of kick it into another gear,” Snitker said. “It’s like, ‘I can compete here,’ and it’s great. I love when a guy like that does that and then seizes the opportunity when you give it to him.”