The Atlanta Braves returned home to a capacity crowd of 40,363, and had the sixth inning of a lifetime during an 11-5 victory over the Cleveland Guardians on Friday night.
It was a special night as the debut of the new City Connect jerseys took place on 80s night at Truist Park. Braves’ all-time great Dale Murphy even made an appearance, making his way on the field to throw out the first pitch. Murphy, one of the best players in franchise history and a two-time NL MVP, arrived in a DeLorean.
The Guardians and the Braves began the three-game series with identical 8-5 records.
The series against Cleveland could be seen as a quality test for the Braves. The Guardians were arguably the best team they have played thus far this season. In the third inning, the Braves continued to get output from the bottom of the lineup when Dom Smith and Michael Harris II had singles to start the inning. With both runners on second and third, Ronald Acuna, Jr. singled to drive in Smith and give the Braves a 1-0 lead. With runners on first and third, Drake Baldwin, Major League Baseball’s leader in RBI with 15, grounded into a double play to end the inning.
Byrce Elder, in his third start, brought his impressive 0.00 ERA into the game. That scoreless streak ended when Guardians first baseman Kyle Manzardo hit his first home run of the season, a solo shot down right field, to tie the game at one in the fourth inning. Elder got himself in a jam after giving up a single to Guardians’ left fielder Angel Martinez in the fifth, a walk to Brayan Rocchio, and then an RBI single to Steven Kwan to put Cleveland ahead 2-1. With the bases loaded and one out, Elder (4.2, two earned runs, three strikeouts) got a big strikeout of Jose Ramirez to calm things down a bit before leaving the game. Aaron Bummer came on in relief to get the final out of the inning.
Tylr Kinley started the sixth inning for Atlanta. The Braves’ bullpen has pitched well this season and would be needed to salvage this game for the home team.
Acuna, Jr. tied the score at two with a solo home run to start the sixth inning. The pitch from Guardians starter Slade Cecconi was the 75th of the game. The home run was Acuna’s first of the season. Four pitches later, Cecceoni gave up a two-run home run on a 3-0 count to Matt Olson that put Atlanta ahead 4-2. That home run was Olson’s fourth of the season. Guardians manager Stephen Vogt left Cecconi in the game after giving up a single to Austin Riley, but pulled him after getting one more batter out. Dom Smith, playing DH in this game, came up with Riley on third and continued his hot play. He singled down the right field line on the first pitch he saw from Guardians reliever Matt Festa.
Acuna, Jr.’s home run was his first of the season. Asked about finally getting one out of the park, the former NL MVP said, ” I can control what I can’t control.”
Ahead 5-2, the next Braves batter at the plate didn’t wait to test Festa either. Harris II homered to right-center field to give the Braves a 7-2 lead. The home run was Harris’ second of the season, and his second hit of the game.
After the game, Harris II addressed the strong performance he had and the rough start to the season he’s been having. “At some point it’s got to turn around,” he said. “I just have to keep swinging.”
All told, the Braves recorded seven hits, two home runs, and six runs during the inning.
Abies joined the RBI hit parade in the seventh inning with a single up the middle that scored Matt Olson from second. Smith drove in his second run of the game with a single to left field that scored Mike Yastrzemski to make the score 9-2.
Braves’ relievers Kinley, Dylan Lee, Joel Payamps, and Jose Suarez did their best to keep the Guardians at two runs, but it was Suarez who had the roughest outing. The lefty gave up RBI singles to Rhys Hoskins and 24-year-old Dominican left fielder Angel Martinez in his time on the mound in the eighth.
With the score 9-5 in the bottom of the eighth, Baldwin drove in his first run of the game with a single to center off the fourth Guardians pitcher of the game, Kolby Allard. Riley drove in his first run of the game as well, when he singled to left and made the score 11-5.
Seven of the nine Braves hitters had at least one RBI during the game.
Osvadlo Bido came on in the ninth inning to get Chase DeLauter to hit into a double-play. With two outs, Jose Ramirez flew out to center to end the game.
