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The Braves celebrated Father’s Day by taking Game 2 of the Sunday doubleheader, securing the series victory over the St. Louis Cardinals. They won Game 4 by a score of 1-0. The line run coming from Ronald Acuña Jr.’s 100th career homerun.
The Braves won Games 1 & 2 on the backs of the starting pitchers Charlie Morton & Max Fried. As I outlined last week, if Uncle Chuck can eliminate his “trouble inning”, he’s lights out. Well, Game 1 proved my point when he shutout the Redbirds over his 7.2 innings. He held St. Louis hitless into the seventh inning. The 37-year old Charlie is now the oldest Braves pitcher to hold an opposing team scoreless for that long, since John Smoltz did it in 2006 at the age of 39. The Braves took Game 1, 4-0.
In Game 2, Ozzie Albies was just a triple shy of the cycle. Albies is 2nd in the National League in extra-base hits, tied for first in MLB in triples, & is the National League’s leading vote-getter at 2nd base. And if you thought Chuck’s Thursday performance was spectacular, Max Fried gave him a run for his money on Friday. Who only surrendered one hit over seven innings after a leadoff double from Tommy Edman. Atlanta would go on to win 9-1.
The series-clinching win on Sunday was odd for the Braves in recent years, winning 1-0. Drew Smyly was masterful in his start; only allowing one hit over 5.2 innings, with five strikeouts. Elite reliever Luke Jackson came in to close out the sixth inning. He gave up a hit, but home-plate remained untouched. Ronald Acuña Jr.’s third inning homerun was the game’s only run. The roundtripper was his 100th career homerun, coming in his first Father’s Day.
The Braves are five game out of first place in the National League East, three games away from last place in the National League East.
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