We, the spoiled denizens of Braves Country, have made our displeasure known about the recent offensive outages. Some of it warranted (dropping a series to the Nats at home). We may have said things we regret.
I’m taking your Ronald Acuña Jr. apology forms riiight here.
The Braves will finish 4-2 against the Red Sox this season, taking 2 of 3 in both Atlanta and Boston in the span of a week.
The Braves are back in the win column and notched another series win, bouncing back after 1) last night’s shutout
and 2) their second series loss of the year before Memorial Day.
In the battle of lefties on the mound, Chris Sale grinded through five innings of work, throwing 96 pitches and allowing six hits, two earned runs, three walks, and striking out eight. He pitched around traffic in every inning, but got strikeouts in huge spots to end the threats in the first, second, and third.
Thus ends the streak of 6+ inning starts for Sale, but he still got the win, adding to his streak of decisions so far this season. You can’t help but be extra appreciative of Sale when he’s at Fenway. He’s throwing 99 mph on his 92nd pitch of the game for a strikeout for us. For Atlanta. Matt Olson was entirely right to (mildly and apparently amicably) let Willson Contreras know not to chirp our ace. He kept us right in it, believing his offense would break through.
And they would do exactly that – but before we get to the point where they broke it open, I want to give Jorge Mateo his flowers.
Mateo has made the most of his fluid role and limited playing time with the Braves. Called upon to DH, pinch run, or start at short like today, he has contributed in a myriad of underrated ways. He had himself a day today, going 2-for-4 with a double and two-out RBI single to get the scoring started off of Payton Tolle. Tolle was picking right back up where he left off in stealing the souls of Braves hitters. But he proved fallible, and Jorge had the first blow. Mateo’s single also set up a Dom Smith RBI single to make it 2-0 Braves in the fourth. A difference maker!
Those two runs felt huge, but Sale’s unlucky fourth (a barely-fair RBI double and RBI single) brought us a brand-new ballgame tied at 2-2. Ronald Acuña Jr. reached on a leadoff walk and collected a stolen base, but nothing further would be charged to Tolle after being lifted after 4.2 innings.
The top of the sixth was special. When have you seen the first three Braves hitters show bunt? Only Michael Harris II laid one down for a single, but Mateo and Smith took advantage of reliever Danny Coulombe’s lack of command and walked to load the bases. A brief game of chicken ensues: Eli White came in to pinch hit for Sandy León, Boston countered with a pitching change to go to righty Greg Weissert, and then White headed back to the dugout in favor of Mike Yastrzemski. Yaz’s good eye led to a bases-loaded walk to make it 3-2 Braves. Lineup card turned over, and there are still no outs.
Ronald took a ball low. Weissert’s next pitch, a 93 mph sinker, was promptly sent a whopping 417 feet, soaring over the Green Monster for a grand slam. What a moment for Ronnie rocket #3 of the season.
The game continued while we reveled in that high for a while. Tyler Kinley (1.0 IP), Reynaldo López (2.0 IP), and Dylan Dodd (1.0 IP) would combine to throw four scoreless to finish out the game. Harris II and Ozzie Albies also wanted in on the fireworks and would tack on three runs via a solo homer in the seventh and a two-run homer in the ninth, respectively.
The Braves improve to 38-19 and will have a happy flight to Cincinnati. Don’t watch that highlight again without turning in your apology form.
