Atlanta Braves Offense Continues to Flourish North of the Border
By Scott Ferris
“Wow! This Atlanta Braves team is great!” – Fan who can only see games played in Canada
On Tuesday, the Atlanta Braves continued their hot-hitting ways against the Blue Jays in Toronto.
After taking game one of the series with a 10-run outburst, the Atlanta bats returned and hung a nine-spot on Marco Estrada and the Jays’ pen.
The scoring began early.
Ender Inciarte led off the game with a perfectly placed bunt down the third base line. Brandon Phillips followed him with a double down the left field line. Then, with runners on second and third, Freddie Freeman struck out (after a 10-pitch battle).
Matt Kemp salvaged the scoring situation, though. On the third pitch he saw, Atlanta’s left fielder laced a shoulder-high fastball into left to plate two runs. (2-0 Atlanta)
The team added to their lead in the fourth. With two outs and Tyler Flowers on second, Jace Peterson swatted an RBI single to right. (3-0 Atlanta)
Toronto responded in the bottom of the fourth, using two doubles and a walk to bring in a pair of runs (3-2 Atlanta).
In the fifth, the two teams traded homers (a two-run bomb from Freeman and a solo shot from Kevin Pillar) to make the score 5-3.
Toronto closed the gap in the sixth. Kendrys Morales began the inning by striking out on three consecutive swinging strikes. Then, after Braves starter Jaime Garcia walked Justin Smoak, reliever Jose Ramirez was called on to record the final two outs of the inning.
Though Ramirez has been one of Atlanta’s better bullpen arms this season, he promptly gave up a double, single, and RBI groundout to tie the game 5-5.
In the top of the seventh, Atlanta again jumped ahead, this time on a solo homerun from Dansby Swanson. Ramirez then followed up his rocky first frame with a 1-2-3 bottom of the inning. (6-5 Atlanta)
While that would’ve been enough, Atlanta added three insurance runs in the ninth courtesy of a two-run Kemp double and an RBI single from Nick Markakis to crush any possible late drama.
Arodys Vizcaino and Jim Johnson both pitched scoreless innings to close out the game.
39. 9. 17. Final. 5
Notes:
Freeman’s homer was his 14th of the season, tying him with Yankees slugger (and suspected Soviet-era science experiment) Aaron Judge for the most in the majors.
Swanson’s two-hit game brings his May slash line to .282/.400/.385. While his 2017 numbers are still pretty atrocious, it’s encouraging to see him begin to rebound from his .156/.200/.233 performance in April.
Six different Braves (Inciarte, Phillips, Freeman, Kemp, Markakis, and Swanson) recorded multi-hit games. Every batter except new acquisition Danny Santana hit safely at least once.
The Braves will now travel back to Atlanta for the second half of their home-and-home series against the Blue Jays. Converted reliever Joe Biagini will get the start for Toronto. Mike Foltynewicz will take the hill for Atlanta. First pitch is 7:35 PM EST.