The surging Atlanta Braves on Saturday stretched their win streak to 10 games with a 10-4 comeback victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates. The current win streak is the Braves’ longest since they won 14 in a row in 2013.
In this one, the reigning-champion Braves trailed 4-2 going into the bottom of the seventh. At that point, the team exploded for eight runs, four coming via an Ozzie Albies grand slam:
Austin Riley also hit his 16th homer of the season, and Ronald Acuña Jr. hit the 25th leadoff home run of his young career. Acuña, whose start to the 2022 season was delayed by his recovery from knee surgery, is now slashing .316/.411/.538 in 311 games.
The win pushed Brian Snitker’s club to 33-27 on the year. That puts the Braves on pace for 89 wins or one more than they won in 2021. As recently as June 2, the Braves trailed the New York Mets by 10 ½ games in the NL East race. That deficit is now down to six games. Coming into Saturday’s slate, the SportsLine Projection System gave the Braves a 69.2 percent chance of making the 12-team postseason.
Atlanta’s rise up the standings has coincided with a soft stretch of schedule. During the win streak, they’ve faced the Diamondbacks, Rockies, A’s, and Pirates. The good news for the Braves is that the trend will continue for the next handful of games. They conclude their series with the Pirates on Sunday before playing their next six games against the Nationals and Cubs. Their scheduled contest against the Giants on June 20 should mark their first game against a team with a winning record since they faced the Brewers on May 18.
