Tuesday night felt a little weird after losing in walk-off fashion to the Guardians. With as hot as the Braves have been of late, it almost seems as if they can never lose. But they still had a chance on Wednesday to take yet another series, this time on the road against a competent team in Cleveland.
Michael Soroka was on the bump for the second time since returning to the majors from Gwinnett. He didn’t have his best stuff, but he made some big pitches in critical situations to get out of jams, and once again, Atlanta’s offense had his back.
Stop me if you’ve heard this before. The Braves struck first in the opening frame, tallying four runs before Soroka even took the mound, capped off by a two-out double from Eddie Rosario, bringing in Matt Olson and Sean Murphy to score.
Soroka would find some trouble in the first after a one-out double put runners on second and third. However, he would get out of it unscathed, striking out the next batter he faced before getting Josh Bell to ground out to second base. That was the theme in this one.
The Maple Maddux would find himself in another jam in the second; this time, putting runners on first and third with nobody out following back-to-back singles. However, once again, Soroka would get out of it without any damage. He struck out the next two batters he faced before getting Steven Kwan to groundout to shortstop.
Sean Murphy homered in the top of the third to extend the Braves lead, and Soroka found himself in another jam in the bottom half of the inning. After getting Ahmen Rosario to fly out, he put the next two batters on base with a walk and hit-by-pitch. However, Josh Bell would strike out before Will Brennan flew out to center to end the threat.
The Guardians would also put on two runners in both the fourth and fifth innings, but Soroka kept coming up with the right pitches to keep them off the board. Unfortunately, he was removed with two outs in the fifth, so he wasn’t eligible for the win, but the Braves had no problems the rest of the way.
Michael Tonkin pitched splendidly, allowing just one hit over 3.1 innings. He would wind up getting the win, and the Braves would continue to add to their lead via the long ball, courtesy of Austin Riley and Matt Olson.
Atlanta continues to be the hottest team in baseball. They haven’t lost a series since late May, against the Oakland Athletics of all teams, and they have an opportunity to cap off the greatest first half in franchise history on the road versus the best team in the American League–the Tampa Bay Rays–this weekend.
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Zac BonDurant/Icon Sportswire
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