Also, this Drake Baldwin guy is pretty good, right?
Heading into this series, the Atlanta Braves had gotten so close to enjoying the taste of being a .500 (or better) club but were seemingly so far away from actually pulling it off. In fact, that taste turned bitter after they were turned away over the course of three games by a struggling Pittsburgh Pirates team. As such, the Braves were coming back home from that quick trip to Pittsburgh on a bit of a down note.
Fortunately, they had the Washington Nationals waiting on them once they returned. While the Nationals weren’t running as poorly as the Pirates had been heading into that weekend series, Washington wasn’t doing too hot once this series rolled around. As such, the onus was placed squarely upon the Braves in order to make sure that they could take care of business and finally break even and even potentially leave this series with a winning record. They may not have gotten everything they wanted out of this series but the Braves certainly came away from it feeling good after their four-gamer against their divisional foes.
Monday, May 12
Braves 4, Nationals 3
The Braves scored three runs off of Jake Irvin in this one single game. That’s actually quite a significant development since Irvin absolutely dominated the Braves over the course of four starts in 2024. Clearly, times have changed. The third run came off the bat of Marcell Ozuna, who hit a no-doubter to make it a 3-1 game.
The game stayed 3-1 heading into the ninth, which is when Raisel Iglesias ran into a bit of trouble. However, it looked like he was going to get out of it when he induced a ground ball to short. Nick Allen fielded it, double clutched and uncorked a bad throw to first base. With runners in scoring position going on contact with two out, both runners scored and the game was tied as this one headed into the bottom of the ninth.
We got to avoid Manfredball thanks to Atlanta pulling off some ABC baseball in order to manufacture the walk-off run. Eli White singled, Nick Allen bunted him over and then Alex Verdugo shot one up the middle to plate White and give the Braves the walk-off victory.
Tuesday, May 13
Braves 5, Nationals 2
This was a true watershed moment for the Braves in 2025, as this win brought Atlanta to the .500 mark for the first time all season. Despite CJ Abrams taking the very first pitch of the game from Spencer Schwellenbach deep and into the Chop House for a solo shot, the Braves spent most of this game in control.
Drake Baldwin hit a solo homer to tie it up and then the Braves steadily added on during the middle portion of the contest so that once the ninth inning rolled around, it was 5-2. Thanks to a strong performance from the bullpen following Schwellenbach’s departure, the Braves were able to lock down the landmark win.
Wednesday, May 14
Nationals 5, Braves 4
For a while, it seemed like this game would follow the script of Tuesday’s win — except with way more bizarre moments peppered in here and there. The Nationals went up early but the Braves eventually turned things around and wrestled control of the contest. A big two-run RBI double from Marcell Ozuna made it 4-1 and it sure seemed like that was how the game was going to end once Bryce Elder had left the game.
Instead, things changed significantly in the latter portion of this game. Aaron Bummer and Enyel De Los Santos both struggled in the seventh and eighth innings to the point where once the ninth inning rolled around, a 4-1 lead had turned into a 5-4 deficit. This time, the Braves didn’t pull off the comeback in the late stages, meaning that the Braves were knocked back down below .500 following the loss.
Thursday, May 15
Braves 5, Nationals 2
Youth was served on Thursday afternoon in Cobb County, as the battery combo of Drake Baldwin and AJ Smith-Shawver ended up pushing Atlanta to the series victory in this one. Nick Allen got it going with a RBI single in the third inning and then Alex Verdugo and Drake Baldwin delivered RBIs (one of three hits for Baldwin on the day, his second three-hit performance of this series) in the fifth inning to make it a 4-0 contest.
AJ Smith-Shawver was fantastic through six innings, as the only run he conceded was an unearned run after the Nats scored on an error from Austin Riley, who had a forgettable series with the glove. Other than that, AJSS had yet another strong start on the mound as he looks to consolidate his position in the rotation. CJ Abrams gave the Braves a parting gift as he capped off a productive series with a late homer to make it 5-2, but that’s how the game ended as the Braves picked up the series win.
Plain-and-simple, the Braves took care of business in this series. Although Atlanta’s not exactly in a position of pure dominance at the moment, having a four-game series against a team the caliber of Washington served as an opportunity for the Braves to get things going in the right direction and also confirm that things are going into the right direction by clearing .500.
They’re once again on the precipice of becoming a winning ballclub here in 2025 after they swatted down the Nats in this four-game series. It also helped to wipe the bad taste from the team’s mouth following their disappointing series loss in Pittsburgh. Again, you have to take your opportunities against clubs of this calliber when you get them and the Braves capitalized on having a four-game home series against a team that had been struggling coming into this frame. Atlanta had a shot at a sweep and came a few innings away from potentially pulling off that sweep, at that.
Now, they’ll be shipping up to Boston to take on a Red Sox squad that’s licking their wounds following a three-game sweep at the hands of the Tigers. Maybe we’ll see the Braves extend Boston’s misery just like they extended Washington’s misery in this series.