Uncle Charlie and the Atlanta Braves take down the Cardinals 4-0
Charlie Morton and the Atlanta Braves rebound from a tough stretch to take down the St Louis Cardinals in game one!
Charlie Morton was phenomenal for the Braves tonight.
Morton carried a no hitter into the seventh inning and ended the night throwing 7.2 innings, allowing three hits, ZERO walks, seven strikeouts, and zero runs.
Allowing zero walks for Charlie was huge as his control had been an issue this season. His walk rate was over 9% before tonight.
The impressive performance dropped his ERA from 4.50 to 4.03, and most importantly, helped the Braves break a five-game losing streak.
Morton came back out in the eighth but had two men on with two outs and was relieved in favor of Luke Jackson. Jackson struck out the only batter he faced to keep the Cardinals off the scoreboard.
Will Smith would come on to pitch a clean ninth inning to help seal the deal.
The offense deserves some credit as well, after scoring sixteen runs in a series in which they lost both games, they continued to play well putting up four runs on the Cardinals.
Guillermo Heredia got the offense going in the fifth inning with a home run to left that was his first home run since April 18th against the Chicago Cubs.
Ronald Acuña Jr. would double in the sixth and then moved to third by Freddie Freeman. Ozzie Albies would drive Acuña home with a triple to push the lead to 2-0.
Abraham Almonte would not waste any time bringing in Albies as he would double to give the Braves a 3-0 heading into the seventh.
The Braves would add their fourth and final run in the seventh thanks to an Acuña sacrifice fly that would score Heredia.
This was one of the more complete games of the year for the Atlanta Braves and it came at a crucial time.
Game Notes
Charlie Morton looked like the Charlie Morton of old with tonight’s performance. Hopefully, he is turning things around and becomes that veteran leader in the rotation that the Braves signed him to be.
Freddie Freeman was a victim of some pretty bad luck for the majority of the season; however, it looks like his luck has begun to turn recently.
Overall, Freeman is hitting .246/.360/.475 with sixteen home runs, forty-three runs, thirty-nine RBIs, a .354 wOBA, and a 124 wRC+. That is a solid line, but it is not Freddie Freeman like.
In June, Freeman is hitting .279/.348/.508 with four home runs, ten runs, and ten RBIs. Since June 10th, Freeman is hitting .400. If he gets hot, it would be huge for an offense that currently has a few holes in the lineup.
The Luke Jackson redemption arc has been a fun one to watch. He went from a guy that most of the fanbase dreaded seeing to being a fan favorite. That is what a 1.05 ERA will do for a guy.
With the win, and the Mets loss, the Braves are now 6.5 GB in the NL East. The Braves will play the Mets next week in a four-game series. It may be weird to talk about how important a series is in June, but those four games will go a long way in determining if the Braves are going to be contenders this season.
Keep it going
The Braves need to go on an extended hot streak soon. They can only do that one game at a time and got it started with this win over the Cardinals.
The Cardinals are banged up right now, meaning the opportunity is there for the Braves to have a great weekend and reenergize not only this team but an entire fan base.
Braves country should feel comfortable as Max Fried will take the mound in game two taking on Carlos Martinez and the Cardinals!