Atlanta clobbers Miami, extends win streak to six games

A franchise-breaking night for the Atlanta Braves, as they roll over Miami on Friday at Truist Park, 16-4.

With the win, the Braves extend their current win streak to six games, and their lead in the NL East over the Marlins to seven games.

The night started with the Braves tying, then breaking a franchise record for most home runs in a single month. Following an Austin Riley RBI double to open the scoring, Matt Olson hit his 28th home run of the season to push the Braves lead to 3-0. A few batters later, Eddie Rosario hit the record-breaking home run to right field to give the Braves a 5-0 lead after the opening frame.

Before the home runs started flying, all eyes were on Michael Soroka, making his return to the Braves rotation after getting called back up to the major league squad on Friday morning. It was his first start at Truist Park since August of 2020, when he tore his Achilles against the Mets and missed almost the next three years.

Soroka opened the game by retiring the first seven batters he faced, striking out three of them. He ran into some trouble in the third inning, with Jesús Sánchez and Jorge Soler hitting home runs to trim the Braves lead to just two runs.

After that, Soroka shut out the Marlins the rest of his night, ending his night with six innings pitched, with seven strikeouts and no walks. He would pick up his first major league win since September 19, 2019. A total of 1,380 days between wins!

He got all the run support he needed from the Braves tonight. Riley hit a 3rd inning home run, followed by a Sean Murphy sacrifice fly to push Atlanta's lead to 7-3. Two innings later, Riley singled home another run to put him a triple shy of hitting for the cycle. Next batter, Olson went deep again to plate two more runs. An Rosario RBI groundout would make it 11-3 for the Braves after five innings.

Riley wasn't the only Brave coming close to hitting for the cycle. Olson hit an RBI single in the sixth to extend the lead, and put him just a double away from a cycle. Next batter, Murphy hit the 60th home run of the month for the Braves 459 feet for some not-needed insurance. This season, Atlanta has hit 18 home runs more than 450 feet. No other team has more than six.

A few innings after stealing his 37th base of the season, Acuña hit his 20th home run to push the Braves to a season-high 16 runs scored. It's the second time he's joined the 20/20 club in his career.

With the win, Atlanta finishes the month of June tying a franchise record with 21 wins, breaking the record for best winning percentage in a month previously set by the 1914 Braves, and posting the best record in MLB.

Now, the calendar turns to July, and the Braves will look to start the new month 1-0 with the second game of the series against Miami. First pitch is at 4:10 p.m. ET with Charlie Morton getting the ball against Marlins rookie ace Eury Perez.