Atlanta Braves at Baltimore Orioles

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	R	H	E
ATL	0	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	3	8	1
BAL	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	0	0	2	6	1

Reynaldo López got the ball for the rubber match trying to erase a rough turn against the Padres, where he was tagged for 5 earned runs over 4.1 innings on July 21. Across the diamond, Shane Baz brought a red-hot stretch into the 1:35 PM ET first pitch, having allowed just 3 earned runs and 6 hits over his previous two starts. It was billed as a pitchers' duel, and for most of the afternoon it played out exactly that way.

Show fees

FINAL

Spread

ML

Total

Braves(61-43)

LWWWL

3

+1.5-199-100o8.5-108

Orioles(51-54)

WLWLP

2

-1.5+194-102u8.5+108

Best BetBraves -113

Postgame

Hit — Atlanta ground out the extra-inning win, exactly the coin-flip outcome the price implied.

Pregame

We took the Braves on the moneyline, and the market treated this one as close to a true coin flip the whole way. Sharp money agreed — Atlanta was the single biggest side among tracked bettors, pulling nearly $2,000 of the game's total tracked action. A deeper, first-place roster made them the right lean in a genuine toss-up.

Baltimore is piecing things together behind the plate with both Adley Rutschman and Samuel Basallo on the injured list, leaning on Sam Huff and Chadwick Tromp to catch Baz. Atlanta, meanwhile, played the finale still without Ronald Acuña Jr., who's finishing his hamstring rehab in Triple-A and is ticketed to join the club in New York on Monday. None of that stopped the market from treating this one as close to a coin flip right up until first pitch.

Reynaldo López

(4-3)·3.64 ERA

Jul 21 vs Padres

L

4.1IP

5ER

6K

3BB

85P

07/26 Lineup

Shane Baz

(4-11)·3.76 ERA

Jul 20 @ Red Sox

ND

6.0IP

1ER

6K

0BB

77P

07/26 Lineup

Atlanta scratched across single runs in the 2nd and 4th, and it looked like it might be enough until Baltimore answered with solo runs in the 8th and 9th to tie it back up. Neither pen would budge from there until the 11th, when the Braves finally broke through with the go-ahead run and made it stick for a 3-2 final — enough to salvage the series finale and leave Camden Yards with the series, 2 games to 1.

It took 11 innings and 14 combined hits to settle, with an error on each side along the way. Not exactly the type of game that jumps off the box score, but a needed one for an Atlanta club that's spent the last few weeks looking mortal after an early-season tear, and a solid building block for a Baltimore bullpen that's been shaky more often than not this year.

Atlanta Braves

(61-43)

Jul 25L@ Orioles2-3

Jul 24W@ Orioles7-6

Jul 23Wvs Padres6-5

Jul 22Wvs Padres7-6

Jul 21Lvs Padres3-8

Baltimore Orioles

(51-54)

Jul 25Wvs Braves3-2

Jul 24Lvs Braves6-7

Jul 22W@ Red Sox5-1

Jul 22L@ Red Sox3-6

Jul 21P@ Red Sox0-0

The bigger story for Atlanta might be what's coming, not what already happened. Acuña reached base twice in his latest rehab outing and has been cleared to be activated as soon as Monday, giving a Braves lineup that's cooled off a real jolt heading into a series with the Mets. Baltimore doesn't have that kind of reinforcement on the way — this is a last-place club trying to find stability with its top two catchers both out.

Atlanta Braves

(10)

• 10-Day-ILRonald Acuna Jr. (RF) — Acuna (hamstring) isn't in Triple-A Gwinnett's lineup Sunday and could join Atlanta in New York on Monday for the series opener against the Mets, Grant McAuley of the Marietta Daily Journal reports.07/26
• 10-Day-ILHa-Seong Kim (SS) — Atlanta announced Monday that Kim (finger) will begin a rehab assignment in the rookie-level Florida Complex League.07/13
• 15-Day-ILRobert Suarez (RP) — Suarez (elbow) played catch on the field at Truist Park on Friday, Harrison Smajovits of SI.com reports.07/17
• suspensionJurickson Profar (LF) — Profar will miss the full 2026 season after the appeal of his 162-game PED suspension was denied Thursday, Jeff Passan of ESPN.com reports.05/08
• 60-Day-ILAJ Smith-Shawver (SP) — Smith-Shawver (elbow) is expected to make one more rehab start before being activated from the injured list, Ian Quillen of MLB.com reports.07/25
• 60-Day-ILSean Murphy (C) — Murphy (finger) will begin a rehab assignment with Triple-A Gwinnett on Friday, Harrison Smajovits of SI.com reports.07/23
• 60-Day-ILSpencer Schwellenbach (SP) — Schwellenbach (elbow) has been cleared to throw bullpen sessions, MLB.com reports.07/21
• 60-Day-ILSpencer Strider (SP) — Strider (elbow) will have a follow-up appointment with Dr. Keith Meister next week and may also be scheduled for an MRI, Chad Bishop of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports.07/18
• 60-Day-ILJoe Jimenez (RP) — Atlanta manager Walt Weiss revealed Wednesday that Jimenez underwent another surgery on his left knee 3-to-4 weeks ago, Grant McAuley of the Marietta Daily Journal reports.05/13
• 60-Day-ILJoey Wentz (RP) — Atlanta placed Wentz (knee) on the 60-day injured list Tuesday.05/08

Baltimore Orioles

(10)

• 10-Day-ILAdley Rutschman (C) — Rutschman (wrist) threw on the field at Camden Yards on Saturday, but has yet to resumed catching the ball, Matt Weyrich of The Baltimore Sun reports.07/25
• 10-Day-ILSamuel Basallo (C) — The Orioles shut down Basallo (shoulder) from baseball activities for a few days to let his right shoulder "calm down," Matt Weyrich of The Baltimore Sun reports.07/25
• 10-Day-ILBlaze Alexander (3B) — Alexander (hand) does not have a timeline to return from the 10-day injured list, Jacob Calvin Meyer of The Baltimore Sun reports.07/17
• 60-Day-ILChris Bassitt (SP) — Bassitt (back) threw a bullpen session Saturday, per MLB.com.07/26
• 60-Day-ILRyan Helsley (RP) — Baltimore transferred Helsley (elbow) from the 15-day injured list to the 60-day IL on Sunday.07/19
• 60-Day-ILKeegan Akin (RP) — Akin (elbow) underwent Tommy John surgery Wednesday, Jake Rill of MLB.com reports.07/15
• 60-Day-ILFelix Bautista (RP) — Orioles president of baseball operations Mike Elias said Saturday that Bautista (shoulder) has been "throwing really, really well" in his bullpen sessions, Jake Rill of MLB.com reports.06/29
• 60-Day-ILColin Selby (RP) — Selby plans to receive a second opinion on his right shoulder before continuing his rehab program, Jake Rill of MLB.com reports.06/29
• 60-Day-ILRyan Mountcastle (1B) — Mountcastle (foot) did some running Saturday, Roch Kubatko of MASNSports.com reports.06/13
• 60-Day-ILJordan Westburg (3B) — Westburg (elbow) underwent Tommy John surgery Wednesday, Andrew Golden of TheBanner.com reports.05/15

Atlanta leaves Baltimore still sitting atop the NL East, and the return of its best player only adds to the buzz around a club that's been through a rough patch but never actually fell out of first. The Orioles head home from this series having shown some fight — Baz in particular looked like a guy trending toward being a real trade chip or building block — but the record still says last place, and shaky defense behind an inexperienced catching corps isn't going away overnight.