Braves' award hopefuls lead Snit's 500th win

PHILADELPHIA -- Braves outfielder Michael Harris II continued to bolster his National League Rookie of the Year Award case with a two-hit effort on Tuesday night, but his main obstacle to claiming the honor -- teammate Spencer Strider -- did some resume-boosting of his own.

Atlanta’s star rookie duo shone on a night when manager Brian Snitker earned his 500th career victory in a 6-3 win over the Phillies at Citizens Bank Park.

Backed by Harris' third-inning homer and a red-hot Austin Riley -- who, speaking of awards, finds himself squarely in the NL MVP race -- Strider cruised through six innings of one-run ball for the win. He allowed just three hits while striking out six and walking one.

It all led to Snitker becoming just the fifth manager in franchise history to reach the 500-win plateau, an accomplishment that was celebrated by his players with a champagne toast in the visitors’ clubhouse.

“It’s just amazing. That’s a lot of wins,” said Dansby Swanson, who’s appeared in 422 of Snitker’s wins -- and whose 764 games under Snitker are the most by any active Brave. “We’re so blessed to be a part of it. That’s what we kind of tried to share with him -- how much we appreciate and love him. It’s an awesome moment to be able to celebrate with him.”

The 500th win came after Strider held the Phillies scoreless for five innings before Kyle Schwarber hit his NL-leading 31st home run of the season in the sixth. That, however, was the lone blemish for Strider, who lowered his season ERA to 2.91, while increasing his strikeout total to 120 in just 80 1/3 innings.

During the Live Ball Era (since 1920), only two Braves pitchers have had a sub-3.00 ERA and at least 120 strikeouts in their rookie season -- and both were relievers. Steve Bedrosian had a 2.42 ERA and 123 strikeouts in 64 appearances (three starts) in 1982, and Craig Kimbrel posted a 2.10 ERA and 127 K's in 79 relief outings in 2011.

Meanwhile, Strider's 13.4 strikeouts per nine innings would be the highest rate in Major League history by any rookie with at least 100 innings pitched. That record belongs to Kerry Wood, who averaged 12.6 K's per nine for the Cubs in 1998.

"He's got one of those fastballs that's different,” said Phillies third baseman Alec Bohm. “It's not like a normal fastball. People probably watching are thinking, ‘Oh, he's just throwing fastballs -- just hit it.’ It's not that simple. Yeah, it just comes out different."

While Strider was busy further establishing himself as one of the up-and-coming dominant pitchers in a division that is already full of them, his teammates were busy jumping all over one of the NL East's longest-tenured stars in Philadelphia starter Aaron Nola.

Harris pounced on an 0-2 sinker from Nola in the third inning, sending it off the bat at 100.7 mph and over the wall in right-center field. Harris, who later added an RBI double with a 101.7-mph exit velocity in the ninth inning, is batting .292 with nine home runs and 11 stolen bases through his first 53 big league games.

That's a 28-homer, 34-steal pace over a 162-game span.

“He just keeps making adjustments, and I just think he’s not trying to do too much,” Snitker said of Harris, who has been on the field for just 37 of the skipper’s 500 wins. “He’s staying with a confident approach, and it’s just been really, really impressive watching him learn about this league and what he’s doing.”

As for Riley, who’s appeared in 223 of Snitker’s victories, he notched a pair of doubles to extend his hitting streak to 18 games, during which he's batting .444 with 17 extra-base hits (nine doubles, eight homers). He's raised his season average 40 points -- from .257 to .297 -- since the start of July.

The big night from all of Atlanta’s 2022 award hopefuls culminated in Snitker -- the '18 NL Manager of the Year -- joining Bobby Cox (2,149 wins), Frank Selee (1,004), George Stallings (579) and Bill McKechnie (560) in the organization’s 500-win club. Of those four, only Stallings is not in the Hall of Fame.

"I’m honored, I’m blessed,” Snitker said. “It’s neat. It’s a great group of guys to be a part of. … I’m proud to be here and to have done it all here -- with the Braves. This is my home.”

Strider has appeared in only nine of Snitker’s 500 wins, but the 23-year-old rookie was thrilled to earn the milestone victory.

“I’m young, so I remember coming to Braves games and watching and seeing him in the dugout,” Strider said. “Now I’m here and got to be part of a big win for him, so I’m very grateful that I get to do that.”