The Atlanta Braves traveled down to Miami to take on the Marlins for a three-game set with their division rivals. It was a repeat of a pitching matchup that took place in Atlanta just last week. Bryce Elder faced off with Sandy Alcantara and he was absolutely brilliant.
Elder pitched seven shut out innings allowing just three hits with no walks and six strikeouts. He did so on just 96 pitches and 64 of those were in the strike zone. He looked absolutely cool, calm, and collected out there on the mound. Bryce just exudes confidence when he's out there and looks like he belongs on a baseball diamond.
His opponent, Sandy Alcantara, did not pitch up to his usual standards in his second start against the Braves. Alcantara allowed three earned runs on six hits with three walks and five strikeouts. He just couldn't find the consistency that he was looking for in the game.
He allowed a solo homer to Ozzie Albies in the second inning and then with the bases loaded, Eddie Rosario grounded into a double play with no outs in the third inning and this allowed Matt Olson to score. Rosario would also drive in another run in the fifth inning as he singled to right field. Alcantara was able to finish the inning but his day was done after five innings of work.
Matt Barnes would then check in to the game and allow a single to Marcel Ozuna. Ozuna had two hits on the day and also drew a walk. However, nothing came of the inning as the Braves went quietly in the sixth. The Marlins bullpen kept the Braves at bay until the eighth inning rolled around.
Ozzie Albies lined out to center to start the inning but Michael Harris II then doubled to give the Braves a shot at an add on run. Johan Quezada would then walk the next two batters faced to load the bases. Ronald Acuna Jr then hit a sacrifice fly to score Harris from third and give Atlanta a 4-0 lead.
Started the series with a W!#ForTheA pic.twitter.com/OLcycjBPLR
— Atlanta Braves (@Braves) May 3, 2023
The inning continued from there as Quezada would then walk three consecutive batters (Olson, Riley, and Murphy) to give the Braves a 6-0 lead heading into the bottom of the eighth inning. After seven amazing innings from Elder, Kirby Yates checked into the game and pitched fairly well. His pitches are starting to look a lot better. He walked two batters but also struck out two in the inning. However, he did not allow any runs and that's the most important part.
After that, it was up to Joe Jimenez to finish things off for the Braves in Game 1. Jimenez induced a ground ball out to Jorge Soler in the first at-bat. Then allowed a double to Yuli Gurriel but was able to bear down to get the next two batters out and give Atlanta their 20th win of the 2023 season.
Game two will be at 6:40 PM EST and Kyle Wright takes the mound for Atlanta. He will face off against the Marlins pitcher Braxton Garrett.