Albies and Swanson reach career milestones in win over Nationals
By Steven Teal
The Atlanta Braves earned a series split with Washington as they took game 4 by a final score of 5-1.
It was a bit of a frustrating series for the Atlanta Braves as they weren’t able to win their series against the last-place Nationals.
However, the team was able to take the final game and split the series.
Tucker Davidson took the mound for Atlanta on Thursday after Ian Anderson‘s start was pushed back to Friday when the Dodgers come into town.
https://twitter.com/Braves/status/1400511067286126592?s=20
Davidson absolutely impressed on the mound as he pitched 5.2 innings of 1-hit shutout ball.
He did walk five batters but besides that, Tucker looked very good out there and I look forward to hopefully seeing him pitch again.
This game was scoreless until the sixth inning but that’s where the Braves offense decided to wake up.
Ozzie Albies got things started as he beat the shift to drive in Ronald Acuña Jr from second.
Albies would then score thanks to a double down the first base line off the bat of Austin Riley. That was Riley’s 9th double of the year.
Dansby Swanson extended his hitting streak to 12-games as he launched a 440-foot blast for his tenth home run of the season and his 500th career hit. This was also the longest homer of his career.
Dansby's 500th career hit is long gone 🚀 pic.twitter.com/T66R5nBXLl
— Bally Sports: Braves (@BravesOnBally) June 3, 2021
Not to be outdone, Ozzie Albies would join the 500 hit club in the bottom of the seventh as he drove a ball deep off the top of the bricks in right field and scored Acuña for the fifth run of the game.
This was Albies third hit of the game and his 16th double of the season. It seems he has enjoyed batting third in the lineup as he has a slash line of .316/.381/.526 in 5 games when batting there.
The bullpen did a fairly good job on Thursday as well. Josh Tomlin, Sean Newcomb, and Will Smith all combined to allow just one run on 3 hits. They struck out five batters and did not issue a single walk.
This was one of the more complete games played by the Atlanta Braves in 2021.
#Braves win 5-1 to salvage split of 4-game series w/ Nats. Swanson hit his 10th homer and second in as many days, and prospect Tucker Davidson and 3 relievers combined on 4-hitter in Davidson’s third MLB game. Nats' only run and half their hits came with 2 out in 9th off WSmith.
— David O'Brien (@DOBrienATL) June 3, 2021
We need the team to become more consistent and play more games like this especially with a team like the Dodgers coming into town next.
Ian Anderson looks to bounce back from his last outing which was less than ideal.
Next. Trade Targets to Replace Ozuna. dark
He will have his hands full with a potent LA lineup that has begun to figure some things out.
Game 1 with the Dodgers starts on Friday at 7:20 pm EST.