In a game that seemed to speed up within each inning, the Atlanta Braves secured a 7-3 win against the Toronto Blue Jays to secure the three-game mid-week series.
Looking at the highlight of the night first, Mauricio Dubón’s three-run homer is what forced a stop to Patrick Corbin and the Blue Jays.
After a grounded double-play by Jays’ Jesús Sánchez to kick the game off, Ha-Seong Kim hit an RBI single in the bottom of the second to bring in Eli
White for the Braves’ first run of the night. Blue Jays Nathan Lukes answered back in the top of the third with a homer off Grant Holmes’ slider (2-0).
That put Atlanta on notice and brought Dubón out for his go-ahead three-run home run to drive in Matt Olson and Ozzie Albies for a two-run lead (4-2) against Toronto.
The Blue Jays stayed stuck for the remainder of the game as Corbin tried to get settled in his five innings, while keeping his team in the contest, but it only amounted to one strikeout and four earned runs off of the six hits and two walks he gave up.
Tonight was Corbin’s 22nd career start and 24th total appearance against the Braves, and the loss marked his 12-game losing streak against the team dating back to September 2019.
The story didn’t end there, however. The Braves decided they wanted to extend their stretch towards the end, so Ozzie Albies hit a three-run homer of his own in the bottom of the seventh to drive in Dominic Smith and Olson for a five-run lead, 7-2.
Fun fact: all of the Braves’ runs were scored with two outs against them.
The Blue Jays not only could get a runner in scoring position, but also couldn’t get a hit until a single from Ernie Clement in the eighth, yet it didn’t amount to a productive result until the ninth, where Brandon Valenzuela homered in an attempt to climb back in contention (7-3).
That would be the final run of the night before Tyler Kinley closed out with a string of sliders to strike out Blue Jays’ Myles Straw and seal the win.
As for Holmes, he ran into a bit of trouble with bases loaded and no outs in the top of the first inning, but ended with a quality start (6 IP/ 2 ER/ 5 H/ 2 BB/ 4 K) on 89 pitches to keep the Braves’ defense in the game and hold the Blue Jays scoreless for the remainder of his outing.
Tomorrow, the Braves look to close out their series finale with Chris Sale on the mound. Tune in at 7:15 p.m. EDT to see if the Braves pick up where they left off with the left-handed ace to back them up.
