Braves extra base hit their way to a 6-3 victory against division rival Miami Marlins to cap off a division series win.
Coming off a disappointing offensive outing Saturday afternoon against the Marlins, the Atlanta Braves knew they would have to pick up the pace at the plate to win the series. With Max Fried on the mound and Ronald Acuña back in the lineup for the Braves, they looked ready to take the series against the Marlins.
Both teams didn’t hesitate to put some runs onto the scoreboard early. Jorge Soler started off the Marlins with a blast into left center. The Braves were quick to answer with back-to-back blasts from Marcel Ozuna and Austin Riley.
Fried was able to settle in after giving up the run in the first, allowing only 2 base runners over the next 3 innings. The Braves offense, on the other hand, did not stop their damage after the first inning.
Ozzie Albies led off the 2nd inning with a long battle of an at bat before hitting a double on the 13th pitch of the inning. Contreras followed Ozzie with a double down the 3rd base line to bring the score to 3-1.
Ozuna continued his attack on the Marlins with a monstruous 458-foot homerun to lead off the 3rd, bringing his homerun total to 2 in the game.
After cruising for a few innings, Max Fried found some trouble once again in the 5th inning, allowing the first 2 hitters of the inning to single. With runners on first and second and no one out, Fried was able to strike out the next 2 batters to get to 2 outs. He would wake the bases loaded before making a nice play on a ground ball hit right back to him to end the inning.
Dansby Swanson led off the 5th with a line drive single to left before stealing both second and third base. Austin Riley kept up his impressive series against the Marlins with a double sliced down the right field line scoring Dansby Swanson. Matt Olson followed with a shot off the wall right below the Chop House for his 2nddouble off the game and the 6th run of the game.
Marcel Ozuna wasn’t the only player on Sunday to have a multi-homer game. Former Braves post season hero Jorge Soler launched a a 2-run homerun in the 7th to bring the Braves lead to only 3.
Braves offense was stagnant from the 6th inning on, with Ozzie Albies 2nd double in the game being the only offensive production from that point on.
A.J Minter continued his impressive 2022 campaign in the 8th with a shutdown inning striking out two to set up a close for Kenley Jansen.
Jansen closed out the game in an uneventful 9th inning leading the Braves to a 6-3 win in Atlanta.
The Braves now sit at 23-25 and in 2nd place in the division 8 games behind the first place Mets.
The Braves will travel to Arizona to face the Diamondbacks on Memorial Day, where Spencer Strider is slated to make his first career start.