The Braves crushed the Royals 10-3, behind a five homer attack. Almost as importantly (at least to my emotional state), the Tampa Bay Rays lost to the Blue Jays. More on the latter in a moment.
I wasn’t able to watch much of the Braves game, as we have traveled to a family wedding and had dinner with relatives.During that dinner, I did sneak a few peaks at the MLB app on my phone. I hope I wasn’t too obvious, but I suspect my dinner companions may have been curious why I seemed so chipper. A seven to one lead after two innings set the tone for the game and my mood during dinner.
In fact, it was 3-0 within minutes of the first pitch: single by Ronald Acuña Jr. followed by Matt Olson and Austin Riley going back to back. Sam Hilliard hit a solo homer in the second, Sean Murphy the same in the fifth, and Ronald clubbed a two run shot in the sixth. You want to feel good about this Braves offense? Check out the OPS of these five consecutive hitters in last night’s lineup: 1.073; 1.056; 1.070; .967; .982. That is spots 9, 1, 2 ,3, and 4 in the lineup—Hilliard, Acuña, Olson, Riley, and Murphy.
Charlie Morton pitched a serviceable six innings and got the win, giving up 3 runs, two of which were earned. He’s now 2-1 and leads the team in victories. I offer that stat for those of you who are missing Chip.
Back to the Rays and their 13-0, now 13-1, start. Some of you remember the 1982 season which featured the Braves winning their first 13. Since the Rays lost last night, the Braves remained tied for the all time record for season opening win streak. Thanks to their 13-0 start that year, that team was one of only two division winners in the first 25 years of their tenure in Atlanta. Truth is, the 1982 team wasn’t especially good. They finished with 89 wins, but apart from the first 13, they were only four games over .500 for the season. They may not have been a great team, but they were one of the streakiest. They lost 19 of 21 during August to fall out of first, but came roaring back to win 13 of 15 to retake the lead, fell behind by 3 games after losing 7 of 9, but clinched the pennant in the final week with a 7-2 stretch. Whew! That was a wild ride on the roller coaster and the most compelling season of the first quarter century in Atlanta. But it also taught me not to get too wrapped up in short term results, either good or bad.
The Braves are off to a 10-4 start, while going without their number 1 and 3 starters, their closer and top right handed set up guy, their ROY center fielder, and various other folks for all or most of the young season. So far so good. But there are still 148 games to play. I’m not drawing any conclusions about the season yet. With one exception: Ronald appears to be healthy and back to his pre-injury self. That makes him one the best and most exciting players in the game.
Bryce Elder goes for his second win this afternoon and will attempt to keep his ERA at zero.
TFloyd, one thing that I can always look forward to in your recaps is a trip down memory lane. Thanks for keeping us updated on the past and present.
I can see it now! When the announcement for NL MVP comes, they’ll just say the Atlanta Braves 9, 1, 2, 3, and 4 hitters.
Seriously, this team can smash.
Eddie Rosario is showing signs of life and that’s encouraging. That and Hilliards play have to put more pressure on the Ozuna albatross situation. As many have said there’s just no reason to keep him if he can’t even hit left handed pitching. When Harris comes back I expect to see Hilliard in left and Rosario dh against rhp and the other outfielders along with whoever is not catching rotate thru dh against lhp. That strengthens the outfield defense and makes the lineup truly 1-9 a threat. Ryan has been on it; this team can really mash. It may turn out to be the best offense in team history.
Thanks, T. It’s always a pleasure.
There will be days when our hitters don’t, and the staff is all that stands between us and DOOM. Enjoy the blowouts when they come.
Win today, boys. It is the only game that counts.
Go Braves.
Fixed a typo in the headline and URL – the Braves are 10-4, but they won last night by a score of 10-3!
Thanks, Alex. 10 4, good Buddy!
I like Jay’s work, but in this piece on Ronald he’s citing defensive metrics from last year after a knee injury.
To cap it off, he floats the idea Ronald could be this generation’s Eric Davis.
Agreed. I like Jay’s work too, but the thesis is a little undercooked. Of course, I could be a homer and he could be right – guess we’ll see! From the early returns, though, Ronald looks like the MVP candidate he left off as.
Jaffe does great work, and he’s a lot smarter than I am, but he’s way off base here. We have far too small a sample this season to infer anything about his speed or his defense. I think his arc is closer to Griffey than to Eric Davis.
I think it’s worth mentioning that second division winner in the first 25 years. 1969 was the year I first started loving baseball and I became a Braves and Orioles fan. Guess which team I hate the most…… The Braves of the late 60s and early 70s could always mash but never had decent pitching. I wonder if that 1969 team wasn’t better than the 1982 team. Both got screwed in the playoffs.
Only one player was on both teams (guess who). In fact, only three players were even in the majors from that 1982 team in both years (one was real young in 1969 and nearly done by 1982). I think there were as many as four players from 1969 still playing in 1982 but three were not Braves (two were very young and not regulars in 1969).