‘These are all big games’: Braves’ bats come alive vs. Rockies as Atlanta wins 3rd of last 4

ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) - Well, that had to have felt good.

The Atlanta Braves trailed for the majority of Friday’s series opener against the Colorado Rockies before the unthinkable happened.

The bats came alive.

The Braves scored 11 runs in the 6, 7 and 8 innings to beat the Rockies 12-4 on Friday. It was a season-high for Atlanta, as it notched the team its third win in its last four games.

Trailing 4-1 in the sixth, Michael Harris II crushed a 3-run home run to the Chop House in right field to tie it all up. Marcell Ozuna followed that up with a 3-run home run of his own in the seventh inning to give the team the lead.

Atlanta last hit a 3-run home run on April 23.

“I feel like I’ve been able to get key RBIs during the season,” Harris said of his game-tying home run. “When I come up in those situations, I settle in and know the team needed runs to win.”

And to nobody’s surprise, Ronald Acuña Jr. kept swinging a hot bat, going 3-for-4 with a double, walk and a stolen base. It was Acuña‘s first stolen base since May 25, 2024. He tore his right ACL the very next day and hadn’t attempted to steal in his 18 games back up until this point.

He also scored on a Matt Olson sac-fly in the first inning. His sprint speed? 30.1 feet per second. The knee hasn’t been the issue. The team had been conservative.

“He’s swinging really good,” manager Brian Snitker said. “It’s kind of nice to see him put the good part of the bat on the ball. He’s timing it up really good. He’s been smart about when to turn it on.”

Acuña is slashing .375/.458/.667 since coming off the injured list on May 23.

Right-hander Bryce Elder couldn’t replicate on Friday what he did in his last outing, when he struck out 12 Giants in 8 innings in San Francisco.

Elder only lasted 3.1 innings on Friday after allowing four earned runs on seven hits and three walks. He struck out just two Rockies.

The 26-year-old left the game with the bases loaded and one out. One runner scored on a single off Ryan McMahon -- who himself had a day, going 3-for-4 with a home run and 3 RBI -- but reliever Aaron Bummer got out of the jam, getting Brenton Doyle to ground into an unassisted double play by third baseman Austin Riley.

So, it could’ve been a lot worse, according to Elder.

“From the jump, it was kind of no good,” Elder said. “Even the first inning, the slider felt just okay, and the sinker command was in the zone, but was out of the zone a lot. Kinda one of those outings ... drop it and get back to work.”

Atlanta wraps up this series against the Rockies on Sunday before entering a 13-game stretch against NL East opponents starting Tuesday.

Seven of Atlanta’s next 10 games come against the Mets after having not played them up to this point in the season. New York (45-25) holds a 14-game lead over Atlanta in the NL East standings.

The Braves were 44-45 at the All-Star break in 2021. They went on to win the World Series. This year -- despite its struggles -- is no different in the eyes of Brian Snitker and co.

“These are all big games. All of them,” Snitker said. “We’ve done it before -- not this far back -- it’s possible to chase guys down after the All-Star break.

“These are all big games for us.”

How to watch Braves on Gray

Gray Media will simulcast these 15 Atlanta Braves games throughout the Southeast this season.

Fans can watch the Braves on Gray by tuning into PeachtreeTV, Atlanta’s CW Network. Fans can also watch games on YouTube TV, over the air on channel 17.1 and on channel 17 on Dish Network and DirecTV and channel 7 on Xfinity and Spectrum.

If you are in another market outside of Atlanta, you can find your channel at BravesOnGray.com.