On special night, Braves’ AJ Smith-Shawver comes six outs from no-hitter

“I haven’t really thought about it, but it was just one of those feelings, that’s what you dream about as a kid, going out there and playing the game you love,” Smith-Shawver said. “Just trying to take it all in right now.”

At the same time the fans applauded Smith-Shawver after he gave up the single, catcher Sean Murphy was behind the plate thinking, not about the crowd, but about the four-seam fastball he called.

“I’m back there like, ‘I think I should’ve called something else,’” Murphy said. “In my head, I’m like, ‘What did I miss? What did I miss? What did I miss?’ But he deserved every bit of (the ovation). He deserves another standing ovation after tonight. He was awesome.”

After completing his eighth and final inning, Smith-Shawver walked off the mound and toward the dugout to an even louder ovation from the fans on hand. He had spun eight innings of one-hit baseball — and that hit didn’t happen until the eighth.

This was easily the best of his 11 major-league starts. In it, he validated all the promise and potential the Braves have seen and believed.

On Smith-Shawver’s right arm, Atlanta beat the Cincinnati Reds, 4-0, in Monday’s series opener. The Braves are 16-18 as they try to creep back toward .500.

The coolest part: On the biggest stage, their talented young arm, the one who has been through so much and is still only 22, displayed his full potential. From the dugout, his manager, Brian Snitker, watched. Snitker’s job has many difficult moments, from tough conversations with players to brutal losses.

But a night like this?

Watching a young arm like Smith-Shawver, whom Snitker saw debut at 20, have the game of his life?

“That’s kind of what keeps you coming back, because there’s a lot of nights that aren’t this enjoyable, obviously,” Snitker said. “But to see a young kid like that out there, the way he was going about it — I know in the seventh, I said, ‘He knows what’s going on.’ Because he had a couple reactions when that inning was over, he knew that he was nearing something. Which it’s just so hard to do that. It just shows you it’s just so hard to make that happen.”

Smith-Shawver’s final line: eight innings, one hit, no runs, four walks, five strikeouts, 99 pitches — and one night to remember.

First inning, no hits. Second inning, no hits. Third inning, no hits. Same with the fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh frames.

“I probably started really noticing in the fifth, and then everybody really got away from me (in the) sixth and seventh, and I was like, ‘OK, this is real,’” Smith-Shawver said.

In the dugout, teammates also didn’t say a word about the no-hitter. No jinxes allowed.

“Yeah, you just don’t say anything,” Murphy said. “You don’t want to be the guy. I’m not sure I believe in it, but you just definitely don’t want to be the guy that says something, and then it happens. Can’t be that guy.”

The Braves’ offense gave Smith-Shawver a four-spot in the third inning.

The key play was gruesome: Matt Olson earned a two-run, inside-the-park home run because Reds left fielder Tyler Callihan, sprinting toward the left-field wall in foul territory to make a catch near the line, slammed his arm into the wall and fractured his left forearm in multiple parts. He caught the ball but eventually let go of it after breaking his forearm.

The Reds challenged the play, but it was ruled to not be a catch, and Olson was given an inside-the-park homer.

Smith-Shawver did the rest. He walked two batters in the first and two more in the fourth. Both times, he escaped. He went to the fifth. Then to the sixth. Then to the seventh. And the eighth.

Along the way, shortstop Nick Allen, now the primary starter, made multiple terrific defensive plays.

“I’ve said thank you a few times for his plays tonight,” Smith-Shawver said. “Him, (Murphy), I got a few thank-yous to dish out tonight.”

Any pressure on those grounders because of the no-hitter?

“I don’t know about pressure, but you want to make the play for him,” Allen said. “It’s not like it’s necessarily pressure, but it’s like, ‘Ay, I want to get it done for you.’ And also you want to make the play for the team, but I want to get it done for the pitcher who’s going out there and giving it his all.”

Smith-Shawver said his four-seam fastball, with which he had a difficult time earlier in the season, felt great and natural. He also used his splitter and curveball.

One encouraging moment: After giving up the single, Smith-Shawver didn’t unravel. He regrouped and completed the inning.

“It’s one of those things where (a pitcher’s) adrenaline goes away, and (it’s like), ‘Ah, well’ and then all of the sudden two more guys get on and things get hairy,” Murphy said.

“You’ve seen it before where guys have a great outing and one thing goes wrong and it kind of goes sideways on them. He got a pop-out and a double play immediately right after, and you’re like, ‘Oh my gosh, that’s a huge inning, just to get through that inning.’”

At that point, he was at 99 pitches. The question on everyone’s minds at the time: Would he get the ninth?

But Enyel De Los Santos ended up trotting out of the bullpen and throwing a scoreless ninth.

“I didn’t really lobby too hard,” Smith-Shawver said. “I was at 99 pitches. Snit told me if I still had the no-hitter going, I had, like, 120 in the tank, so we would’ve seen how it would’ve gone.”

Smith-Shawver has had ups and downs. He has been optioned to Triple-A — as recently as a few weeks ago. He’s started a postseason game on short notice. He’s had an injury derail a season. So his teammates were elated he experienced this.

“He does everything right,” Murphy said. “He’s been up and he’s been down, and we’ve asked him to do some tough things and put him in some difficult spots. For any of my pitchers to go out and have a night like tonight is great, but for AJ, for a guy who’s trying to find his footing, I hope this is just an enormous confidence boost.”

“Yeah, it’s great,” Olson said. “It’s not an easy game, by any means. It’s not easy to get to the big leagues; it’s even harder to stay up here. A lot of guys have to go through the ups and downs and kind of weather the storm a little bit. He’s always had a good attitude any time he’s gone down or come back up — kind of seamlessly fit back in. Good dude in the clubhouse and a great pitcher, so you get really excited for nights like this.”

When the Braves optioned Smith-Shawver to Gwinnett after his start in Tampa against the Rays, he tried to take it with a level head. Obviously, he said, anyone wants to play their games at the big-league level. But he focused on the reasoning for the decision and chose to evaluate what he could improve.

He was optioned April 13.

He came six outs away from a no-hitter May 5.

And after he exited, his teammates greeted him in the dugout. Snitker had nice words for him. The manager told Smith-Shawver he seemed to have discovered his fastball.

After the game, teammates raved about Smith-Shawver, who put all of his weapons together for a special performance.

“It means everything,” Smith-Shawver said of the support. “Whenever the guys in the clubhouse are believing in you and they want you to take the ball and go win games — as a pitcher, that’s your ultimate goal. You want those guys to trust you and know what they’re going to get out of you every night. I mean, we have a great team. Great teammates and just great people in our clubhouse. That support is everything.”

Oh, and this was the first time Smith-Shawver pitched in the eighth inning in the majors.

“After the game, I was talking to (president of baseball operations and general manager) Alex (Anthopoulos). I was like, ‘I don’t know if I’ve pitched in the eighth before,’” Smith-Shawver said. “Now I have.”