Braves take 3 of 4 from the Padres, then steal the Baltimore opener in extras

This was the kind of week that tells you what a team is made of. Five games, four of them decided by one run, and the Braves came out of it 4-1 — still sitting on top of the NL East at 58-42.

Padres series: stressful, but 3 of 4

San Diego came to Truist Park for four games, and almost nothing about it was comfortable.

• Monday, W 3-2 — Bryce Elder gave the Braves six strong innings, and Michael Harris II and Ozzie Albies provided the homers in a tight opener.
• Tuesday, L 8-3 — the one clunker. Manny Machado homered twice and Fernando Tatis Jr. launched the longest home run in the majors this season. Some nights the other guys are just better.
• Wednesday, W 7-6 — the game of the week. Down late, the Braves erupted for six runs in the eighth, with rookie Jim Jarvis ripping the go-ahead double into the right-field corner, then survived a ninth-inning scare.
• Thursday, W 6-5 — Chris Sale matched a season high with 11 strikeouts and the lineup backed him with four home runs. Naturally, it still came down to one run.

Winning three of four from a quality NL opponent without ever blowing anyone out is the mark of a team that grinds. It's also mildly hard on the blood pressure.

Baltimore, game one: Olson delivers in the 10th

The reward for surviving the Padres was a red-eye trip into a weekend set with the Orioles — and Friday night followed the week's script exactly. Tied late, extra innings, and then Matt Olson crushed a three-run homer in a four-run 10th to win it 7-6.

That's four one-run wins in five days. The bullpen has been living on the edge, but the at-bats late in games — Jarvis Wednesday, the four-homer barrage Thursday, Olson Friday — keep bailing everything out.

Baltimore series: 2 of 3, every game by one run

The Orioles weekend was more of the same — and somehow even tighter.

• Saturday, L 3-2 — Dylan Beavers singled home the walk-off run in the ninth off a 100 mph fastball past a diving Ozzie Albies. Jackson Holliday's line drive to left turned into a double when Mauricio Dubón could not make a diving catch. One swing, one run, one loss.
• Sunday, W 3-2 (11) — Matt Olson turned a Gunnar Henderson line drive into an improbable double play in the 10th. Austin Riley doubled in the go-ahead run in the 11th. Tyler Kinley escaped a bases-loaded jam after an intentional walk to force Sam Huff to hit. Phew.

Atlanta took the series 2-1 and headed to New York at 62-44, still atop the NL East.

Mets doubleheader: rain, then AJ Smith-Shawver

Tuesday's game at Citi Field was postponed hours before first pitch with storms in the forecast. Wednesday became a split-admission doubleheader — and the first game carried deadline-week weight.

Game 1: Right-hander AJ Smith-Shawver made his season debut against Mets lefty Sean Manaea — his first major league start since Tommy John surgery in May 2025. Through five rehab starts (split between Augusta and Gwinnett), Smith-Shawver posted a 1.53 ERA with 10 strikeouts and two walks across his last 8.1 innings.

Game 2: Chris Sale (11-6, 2.19 ERA) faced Christian Scott (3-2, 3.13 ERA) in the nightcap — the makeup of Tuesday's rainout.

Monday's 14-3 Mets blowout was the outlier in this series. New York is 45-62 and fighting for relevance; Atlanta is trying to figure out how aggressive to be at the deadline with Smith-Shawver back in the rotation conversation.

The bigger picture: deadline week is here

The Orioles series wrapped Sunday, and then it's trade deadline week. Back at the All-Star break we said the deadline would tell you what the front office believes. A stretch full of one-run games — Padres, Orioles, and now the Mets — makes the case louder: this roster is good enough to buy for, and the late-inning tightrope act is exactly where an addition would help most.

Smith-Shawver's return adds a new variable. If he looks like a legitimate October starter in Wednesday's debut, Alex Anthopoulos may only need to chase one front-line arm. If not, the shopping list gets longer — bullpen, bench, rotation depth, all of it.

Bird Gang bottom line

First place at 62-44, and a lineup that keeps producing the big swing when it matters. The Mets doubleheader and Smith-Shawver's debut could reshape the deadline shopping list before the week is out. If you've been picking against the Braves in close games lately, your leaderboard position already knows how that's going.

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