After giving the Philadelphia Phillies their first win since April 13th yesterday in extras, the Atlanta Braves took advantage early on in today’s matchup and secured the win 6-2.
Kicking the game off with a three-run homer is not so shabby a way to set the tone. Matt Olson took the opportunity in the bottom of the first on a fly ball, bringing in Ronald Acuña Jr. and Drake Baldwin to take an early lead (3-0).
Eli White followed suit in the second with a two-run homer of his own to drive in Mauricio Dubón, extending the Braves’ lead (5-0). It didn’t take long for Baldwin to secure an RBI-single to drive in Acuña for the team’s final run of the afternoon. However, that didn’t mean the job was over.
The Phillies remained scoreless until the eighth, where Kyle Schwarber saved the team from a shutout with a two-run homer to decrease the Braves’ lead by four runs (6-2).
Only going through 4.2 innings with 101 pitches thrown, Phillies’ pitcher Aaron Nola has now raised his ERA to 6.03 after giving up six earned runs, seven hits and three walks with six total strikeouts.
His velocity for his four-seamer averaged around 92.4 mph, but his overall command was out of the zone most of the day as he let the game get away from him from the start.
On the other hand, for the Braves lefty Chris Sale, he not only had a successful outing in his six innings (1 H/ 0 ER/ 9 K), but he also reached a new achievement. Increasing his career strikeout total to 2,612, he surpassed five-time All-Star Chuck Finlay (2,610 strikeouts), placing him 28th on the all-time list.
Now, Sale did run into a little trouble in the third after loading the bases, but he immediately got out of it, throwing a 98 mph fastball to close out the inning in prime Chris Sale fashion. As if that wasn’t enough, both his sinker and slider were extremely difficult to touch today.
An overall satisfying win to secure another win against their division rivals, to enter a well-deserved break before taking on Detroit on Tuesday. Until then, the Braves remain leading the MLB with their 20 wins, and hope to carry it out as long as they can with a target on their back, but a determined team that seems to be immune to defeat.
Do you think the rest of the MLB is on high alert?