Even without Drake Baldwin, Braves bash their way to series win in Miami

And it wasn’t just the usual suspects doing the damage.

Take Thursday’s game, when Matt Olson and Austin Riley combined to go 0-for-9 with four strikeouts during a 9-3 win. No matter, four Braves had at least two RBIs each, including left fielder Mike Yastrzemski, who was a triple shy of hitting for the cycle. Michael Harris II hit two home runs.

These Braves continue to have a knack for picking up the slack night in and night out. There seemingly is a different offensive star every game.

“We’ve got a roster filled of guys that have big league experience, that are talented, track-record big leaguers,” Yastrzemski said. “And when you put veteran guys on a bench and they’re given the opportunity to get into the game and make an impact, they’ve been there, they’ve had the experience, I think that goes a long way.

“Sometimes you’ve got teams that try to force young guys into bench roles, and it’s hard enough to do as is, especially when you’ve never experienced it before. Big credit to (Braves president of baseball operations Alex Anthopolous) for putting together a roster that is full of guys that have big-league experience and really know how to go out there and compete in the toughest environments.”

Can the Braves continue to put up these hefty offensive numbers? Conventional wisdom says that will be tougher than not with Baldwin on the bench for a while (there’s no timeline for his return).

Ronald Acuña Jr. picked up some of the slack after being reinstated Monday from his own IL stint, going 4-for-11 with five runs, two walks and two RBIs in Miami. But Acuña left Thursday’s game with a sore thumb and is day to day this weekend against the Nationals at Truist Park.

At the catcher position, the Braves must hope Sandy León and Chadwick Tromp can combine to contribute offensively at least a little bit in Baldwin’s absence. With Sean Murphy out the next couple months with a broken finger as well, the organization doesn’t have comparable offensive options at that position to pick up the hitting production now missing from the lineup.

Yet this team has continued to find a way to get timely hits and runs from all sorts of players, no matter the makeup of the batting order. Perhaps that should be the expectation.

“I think it speaks to the depth of the lineup, the depth of our roster,” Weiss said. “See Dom (Smith) continuing to do his thing. ‘Yaz’ had a big night. ‘Dubee’ (Mauricio Dubón) comes off the bench and gets a big pinch hit, two-run single. Like it’s been all year, it’s been everybody. We’re getting contributions from everybody.”