Baseball’s most unlikely duo carries the Braves into Philadelphia

The Braves did something Wednesday afternoon they haven’t done in a long time — score more than six runs. You have to go all the way back to August 6th against the Marlins to find the last time that happened, which is even more remarkable considering they won seven straight games at one point during that stretch of lackluster offense.

That’s a testament to what has been a marvelous pitching staff, and that was the case again yesterday, as the Braves shut out the Nationals with five different pitchers taking the mound due to a lengthy rain delay.

Offensively, it was once again Sean Murphy who helped Atlanta strike first with a three-run homer, and then Ronald Acuña Jr. added a three-run shot of his own — the 200th of what’s already an incredible career for the 28-year-old out of La Guaira, Venezuela.

Another promising sign for the offense? Ha-Seong Kim added another hit to his tally, a roped double down the left field line, giving him four hits in his last two games and six in his last 16 at-bats. To put that in perspective, Kim had just five hits in his first 86 at-bats of the season — and this looks like something that might actually be sustainable.

He’s rightfully gotten a lot of grief this year, but he missed the first couple of months with an injury and the Braves didn’t exactly give him much time on the farm to find a rhythm. When he returned to the majors, we all know about the struggles, but again, the opportunities were limited. With a little confidence and a touch of increased playing time, Kim looks like an entirely different player than the one we saw a couple of months ago.

The same can be said about Sean Murphy. Since the Braves started giving him regular at-bats a little over a week ago, he’s hitting .393 with three home runs and a 1.254 OPS. Murphy has always been a guy who needs to play every day to find success with the stick, so it was quite surprising the Braves kept starting guys like Jim Jarvis over him — when one has a track record as an All-Star, and the other is a rookie with a sub-.600 OPS.

Thankfully, whatever the hell that line of thinking was has fallen by the wayside. Now Murphy and Kim — two outcasts many would have liked to see designated for assignment — lead the Braves into the most pivotal stretch of their season, beginning with a four-game set in Philadelphia that could essentially put the NL East to bed if it goes the right way.

That’s a storyline I never expected to be typing in September.

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(Photo by Jeff Robinson/Icon Sportswire)