The Atlanta Braves started a six-game homestand on Tuesday night when they welcomed the Oakland Athletics in for the series opener of a two-game set.
The Atlanta Braves returned home from a 5-2 western road trip playing their best baseball of the season. Winners of 11 of their past 17 games, the Braves sent Kyle Wright to the mound looking to extend their current win streak to six games. The Athletics countered with left-hander Cole Irvin, looking to halt Oakland’s six-game losing streak.
After the A’s jumped on Kyle Wright for a pair of first-inning runs, Ronald Acuna, Jr. cut that early lead in half with his first leadoff home run of 2022 with a 108-mile-per-hour bullet to center field.
Ronald Acuna, Jr. led off the third inning as well and he would do what we have come to expect Ronald to do by blasting a home run into the left-field seats, tying the game at two.
It'd been about a half hour since Ronnie last hit a homer so he was due.#ForTheA pic.twitter.com/h8xJnwbnyD
— Atlanta Braves (@Braves) June 8, 2022
With the game still knotted at two, Acuna, Jr. strolled to the plate to lead off the fifth looking for his third solo home run in as many at-bats. It was not to be this time, as Acuna grounded out to short. Irvin would work through the fifth and the game would head into the sixth still tied at two apiece.
Kyle Wright held the Athletics at bay through seven, and in the bottom half of the inning, the Braves would get their third leadoff homer of the game, this time from an unlikely source. Guillermo Heredia put his best Ronald Acuna, Jr. impression on display by ambushing a first-pitch fastball off of Lou Trivino into the left-field seats, giving the Braves their first lead of the night at 3-2.
Kenley Jansen came on in the top of the ninth and set the A’s down in order, preserving the 3-2 win for Kyle Wright and the Atlanta Braves.
The Atlanta Braves won their sixth game in a row by beating Oakland 3-2 on Tuesday night.
Kyle Wright was absolutely dialed in tonight. After starting the game by giving up three straight hits that scored two runs, Wright would retire 23 of the next 25 batters he faced and would go on to finish his night retiring fourteen hitters in a row, striking out seven, and walking no one in a dominant performance.
Luckily for the Braves, Wright did not need much offense. The Braves were unable to string hits together and put up a crooked number against the Oakland staff but used three solo home runs to get the job done.
The deciding blow came from Guillermo Heredia, who was only in the lineup because Adam Duvall was a late scratch and Heredia made the most of his opportunity both at the plate and in the field.
The Braves and the A’s will finish their two-game series tomorrow night as Ian Anderson will be on the mound for Atlanta. Oakland will counter with Jared Koenig, who will be making his major league debut.
The Braves will be looking for their seventh straight victory, while Oakland will try to avoid losing their eighth straight game. First pitch is scheduled for 7:20 pm EST.