Hurston Waldrep, Eli White shine as Braves win Speedway Classic

An unexpected day two of the Speedway Classic saw a couple of unexpected heroes emerge in a Braves win.

It certainly didn’t go to anyone’s plan but after rain and logistical nightmares dampened day one of the Speedway Classic, sunshine, Hurston Waldrep and Eli White made sure the event ended on a high note for the Atlanta Braves.

After a small monsoon ended the fun and festivities, as well as the game, on Saturday night, the Braves were left scrambling to get their pitching in order after both Spencer Strider and Austin Cox were deemed unavailable. A very late night phone call and a 200+ mile drive later and Hurston Waldrep found himself standing in Bristol Motor Speedway pitching to the Cincinnati Reds in his first start in the majors this season. Sports can be a weird thing.

Because it was a suspended game from last night, the first order of business for Waldrep was limiting the mess Austin Cox had put the Braves in last night. The Reds singled three times in a row, the last scoring a run, before the game was called last night so when Waldrep threw his first pitch this afternoon, there were runners on first and second with one out and a run already on the board.

To make things more complicated, both runners moved up on steals after the first pitch today so it was actually second and third with one out. Waldrep got Miguel Andujar to hit a ground ball to third and Austin Riley picked it up and actually raced Elly De La Cruz to plate, tagging him out just before Cruz slid into home. Unfortunately for Atlanta, Riley re-aggravated the lowed abdominal injury he just returned from the IL for, and had to leave the game the next half inning.

Manager Brian Snitker confirmed after the game they would evaluate Riley over the coming days to determine if he needs to go back on the IL.

With the Braves out of the first inning mess only down 1, the offense had a chance to erase the deficit and immediately started a rally with singles from Michael Harris and Ozzie Albies with one out in the second. Eli White stepped to the plate and absolutely launched a 3-run homer over the speedway in left field to give Atlanta an early 3-1 lead. White’s homer was hit 110 mph and went an estimated 411 feet.

The Reds were able to get one back in the bottom of the second after a walk, single, and another walk loaded the bases with one out. A Matt McClain sacrifice fly to center field got the home team back within one at 3-2, but Waldrep escaped any further damage.

From there it became Waldrep show. Waldrep pitched scoreless a 3rd inning, 4th inning, 5th inning and 6th inning, allowing only two baserunners over those four frames, two singles, while collecting four strikeouts and 5 groundouts. Clearly a much more polished Waldrep from the one we saw in 2024, the Braves 2023 first-round pick was consistently getting ahead of hitters and either getting swings and misses with his splitter, or getting Reds hitters to pound it into the ground for easy outs. He just looked very controlled for someone who was thrown into an impossible situation on short notice. Waldrep finished with a final line of 5 ²⁄₃ innings pitched, 3 hits, 1 earned run, 4 strikeouts and 2 walks and almost certainly made a strong enough case to stick around for a bit in Atlanta’s MASH unit of a rotation.

Eli White wasn’t done being the other hero of the day when he came up again to lead off the 7th and absolutely destroyed another pitch. This one was hit 107 mph and 413 feet to left center field for his second homer of the day and his 6th of the season.

Braves had a more comfortable lead now at 4-2 and the combination of Dylan Lee, Pierce Johnson, Tyler Kinley and Raisel Iglesias pitched a scoreless final 3 innings and for the first time since before the All-Star Break, the Atlanta Braves won a series, taking 2 of 3 from Cincinnati. Braves move to 47-63 on the season and finally have completed their 9-game road trip.

The rain robbed them of what was supposed to be an off-day today so they’ll have to hurry back to Atlanta where a 3-game series against the Brewers awaits them starting Monday. Erick Fedde will take the mound in the opener.