Riley's 11th-Inning Double Sinks Baltimore, Atlanta Wins 3-2

Austin Riley doubled to right in the 11th inning to score Mateo, swinging Baltimore's win probability from 63% to 26% and handing Atlanta a 3-2 road victory. The Braves needed extras to close it out, but they got the job done.

Atlanta built its lead the quiet, grinding way — through Dominic Smith. The first baseman went 3-for-5 and drove in both of the Braves' regulation runs, singling to left in the second inning to score Harris II, then doing it again in the fourth to plate Olson. Two singles, two RBI, same result both times. The story of the early game was Smith refusing to let Baltimore's pitching breathe. Shane Baz lasted just 4.1 innings, allowing 6 hits and 1 earned run, and the Braves looked in control at 2-0.

Then Baltimore woke up. Pete Alonso launched a 419-foot home run to left in the eighth to cut the deficit to one, and the Orioles weren't done. In the ninth, a groundout by Holliday scored Mayo and sent Taveras to second, tying the game at 2-2. Just like that, a two-run Atlanta cushion was gone. Reynaldo Lopez had already done his part — 5.2 innings, 5 hits, zero earned runs, 6 strikeouts — but the bullpen couldn't hold the lead into extras. Baltimore's relief corps, meanwhile, was quietly dominant: Albert Suarez threw 2.0 scoreless innings and Anthony Nunez added another clean frame, combining for no hits allowed across three innings, though each issued two walks.

The game turned for good in the 11th. With Baltimore holding a 63% win probability at home, Riley stepped up and doubled to right, scoring Mateo and dropping Baltimore's chances to 26% — a 37-point swing on a single swing of the bat. That's the kind of moment that defines a road win. Atlanta's offense finished with contributions spread across the lineup: Drake Baldwin went 2-for-3, Matt Olson scored a run, and Taylor Ward went 2-for-5 for Baltimore in a losing effort. Alonso's homer was electric, and it looks like he's been one of Baltimore's most dangerous bats, but one big swing wasn't enough to overcome a Braves team that found a way to answer every time Baltimore pushed back. Atlanta takes this one, 3-2.