Coming off back-to-back extra-inning victories over the Giants on Monday and Tuesday, Wednesday presented an opportunity for the Braves to really build some positive momentum with Michael Harris II returning to the lineup for the first time since June 14th.
But if rust was a potential concern coming into the game, Harris put that to bed with his first swing in two months, sending a towering home run over the right field wall and into McCovey Cove for the first grand slam of his career.
MIchael Harris II hits his first career grand slam in his first plate appearance back from the 60-day IL. This was the second homer to land in the cove this year pic.twitter.com/uoaSnd5GWX
— Mark Bowman (@mlbbowman) August 15, 2024
The home run gave the Braves a 5-0 lead in the first inning, and the Giants would never recover. Grant Holmes was splendid on the mound once again, tossing seven innings of one-run ball to earn the first victory of his major-league career.
It was a night of firsts for the Braves. Harris’ first grand slam and Holmes’ first major-league win, as Atlanta has now taken the first three games of their series with the Giants, who came into this series trailing the Braves by just 1.5 games in the Wild Card race. Now, they sit 4.5 games back with just over 40 games to play.
But as has been the case all season for the Braves, positive momentum doesn’t last for long. Anytime it feels like the club is finally getting things going in the right direction, disaster strikes, and in the fourth inning of last night’s game, Jorge Soler was removed with a hamstring injury.
The Braves announced that it was a precautionary action, citing tightness rather than an actual strain. However, Soler will not be in the lineup today, hamstring injuries are always tricky, and this is a team that hasn’t been able to catch any breaks. On numerous occasions, the initial injury reports have been positive and are then followed by the worst case scenario days later.
Hopefully, the Braves can avoid that with Jorge Soler, because it finally feels like things are beginning to go their way. The way they won on Monday and Tuesday, followed by Michael Harris’ triumphant return to the lineup, and with Reynaldo Lopez coming back in a matter of days, there are reasons for optimism. Jorge Soler missing any sort of time with an IL stint would put a giant damper on all of that.
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Photo: Kevin Langley/Icon Sportswire
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