With Chris Sale on the mound, the Braves were going for a much-needed series win against the Mets with Chris Sale on the mound. Sale pitching is always comforting, but the Braves were unable to win a Chris Sale start in the month of June.
Both Sale and Sean Manaea worked around a base hit in the first to keep things scoreless. Eli White broke the deadlock with a two out solo homer in the second over the left field wall. It was an incredibly unimpressive batted ball for a homer, hit 93.5 MPH off the bat with a .130 xBA, but it counts as a run nonetheless.
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After another clean inning from Sale, the Braves loaded the bases with two outs on a Baldwin walk, an Olson single, and Austin Riley being hit by a pitch ahead of Michael Harris. Mike delivered with an RBI single and then the Mets absolutely botched an easy pop-up off the bat of Eli White in a bases-clearing calamity with Eli ending up on second base.
Mauricio Dubon gave Eli White’s soft homer a run for its money with one out in the fourth, as he hooked a 95.0 MPH exit velocity ball just inside the left-field pole for a solo homer to make it 6-0 Braves. Tyrone Taylor pulled a run back in the fifth with a solo homer off of Sale. Sale allowed another single and a homer in the sixth, making it a 6-3 ballgame. Sale gave up another single and hit Francisco Alvarez after a long at-bat and was ultimately pulled from the game without recording an out in the sixth. The All-Star lefty really labored in those last couple innings uncharacteristically. All-Star snub Dylan Lee came in to attempt to escape the jam and needed just 11 pitches to strike out the next three Mets, thoroughly extinguishing the threat, emphasizing his All-Star snub. That preserved Chris Sale’s line at 5.0 innings pitched, 3 runs allowed, but only 3 strikeouts.
Manaea’s night was over as the sixth inning started, and the Braves took advantage of the bullpen, as Mike Yastremski worked a leadoff walk and Joey Bart scalded an RBI double off the base of the wall. Jorge Mateo tried to move Bart to third on a bunt, but the Mets struggled to field it properly and he reached first, still with no outs. Dubon brought Bart home and moved Mateo to second on a groundout to the right side, giving the second baseman only one play. Two more groundouts ended the inning, but the score was a much more comfortable 8-3 going into the seventh inning.
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JR Ritchie entered the game with the additional insurance runs and grazed Francisco Lindor’s jersey to give the Mets a baserunner, but worked his way out of the inning on two strikeouts and a soft groundout. A Michael Harris single and Mike Yastrzemski homer gave the Braves another two runs in the seventh, making it a 10-3 ballgame.
Ritchie got himself into some trouble in the eighth with a single, walk, and single, all with two outs. He got out of it with a strikeout to keep the score at 10-3. Walks from Albies and Dubon preceded an Austin Riley homer to cement the blowout, making it a 13-3 game, his first homer since May 20th. Hopefully that is the beginning of a hot-hitting July for Austin. At this point the Mets went the position-player-pitching route and Michael Harris capitalized with a solo homer to the Chop House. With the massive cushion, Ritchie got the ninth and worked around a single to close out the game, covering 3.0 innings to give the bullpen a nice rest.
Join us tomorrow as the Braves go for a sweep at 12:30 PM ET.
