BALTIMORE — Reynaldo Lopez matched his season high with eight strikeouts while pitching six scoreless innings in the Atlanta Braves’ 6-3 victory over the Baltimore Orioles on Thursday, lowering his ERA to an MLB-best 1.69 in the process.
Afterward, the 30-year-old right-hander from the Dominican Republic revealed the catalyst for what has been an exceptional season so far: his wife.
“She was constantly telling my agent to keep looking for opportunities where I could be a starter somewhere. She was the one who kind of kept the faith,” Lopez said through an interpreter.
Lopez hadn’t pitched regularly in a rotation since the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, but he signed a three-year contract with the Braves last November with the intention of returning to a starting role.
It’s safe to say Jhilaris Lopez was onto something.