Grissom, Rosario showing depth of Braves' lineup

ATLANTA -- Even as Sandy Alcantara looked like the reigning National League Cy Young Award winner and Bryce Elder proved he is human, there was just a sense the Braves were primed to make the comeback that provided a 6-4 win over the Marlins on Wednesday night at Truist Park.

“This team has demonstrated that at any point any player can change the game,” Braves left fielder Eddie Rosario said through an interpreter. “We have a lot of good players on this team. When you have talent like this, someone is bound to have good moments.”

Rosario was just one of the many Braves who constructed good moments during the four-run eighth-inning comeback. Matt Olson homered to begin the decisive frame and Rosario fueled the rally with a game-tying triple.

As for Vaughn Grissom, he delivered the game-winning single and then was asked if this was another sign he likes these big moments.

“I feel like I need [clutch situations] these days,” Grissom said. “That’s the only time I get a hit.”

There was plenty of reason for Grissom and his teammates to feel jovial after claiming this third straight win. The Braves spent the first five innings being dominated by Alcantara. But even with Michael Harris II and Travis d’Arnaud still on the injured list, this Atlanta lineup proved deep enough to steadily erase a 4-0, sixth-inning deficit.

Ronald Acuña Jr. started the comeback when he began the bottom of the sixth with a solo shot that traveled 442 ft. and came off his bat at 115.1 mph, the fifth-hardest hit homer of his career. This didn’t pad his incredible first-inning stats, but it created reason for Grissom to be asked why Acuña has a knack for providing a timely spark.

“We're trying to figure it out too, because we all want some of that,” Grissom said. “He's absolutely electric up there. I can’t imagine any team wants to pitch to that guy. I don’t know what it is. But let’s try to figure it out, so that one through nine, we can all put the fear of God in pitchers like he does.”

Harris began a rehab assignment on Wednesday and could be activated to play in this weekend’s four-game series against the Mets. d’Arnaud is making progress, but his return remains uncertain as he recovers from a fourth concussion. Still, this remains a deep lineup, especially now that Rosario is realizing some better luck.

Rosario entered the game with a .200 batting average and .385 slugging percentage, despite having homered both of the previous two days. Those home runs further validated the .262 expected batting average and .485 expected slugging percentage he carried into Wednesday.

These expected stats signaled the upward trend that continued Wednesday, when Rosario laced the game-tying triple off Dylan Floro, who entered the day having not allowed a run over 10 1/3 innings this year. The sharp grounder eluded first baseman Garrett Cooper and rolled toward the right-field corner.

“I feel like I’ve stumbled on some good luck of late, but that’s baseball, right?” Rosario said. “You have good moments and you have bad moments. You just have to take advantage and appreciate the good moments.”

Or just take advantage of all the big moments, like Grissom seemingly has done over the past couple of weeks.

Rosario drew one of the two consecutive two-out walks that chased Alcantara in the sixth. This put him in position to score on the first of Grissom’s RBI singles.

After Rosario tripled in the eighth, he trotted home as Grissom again showed the value of consistently putting the ball in play. His game-winning single left him 6-for-11 with runners in scoring position this year. He’s 6-for-30 in all other at-bats.

So maybe he could use more opportunities in these clutch situations, as he suggested. Regardless, the Braves are just happy to have seen him deliver as frequently as he has in these big moments.

“He puts the ball in play,” Snitker said. “That’s a pretty good trait for a guy this early in their career to have this kind of bat-to-ball skill.”