Braves topple Rodon, enjoy soft sell in 8-1 win over Yankees

It hasn’t happened very often this season, but if you were looking for a look back at the 2023 Braves offense, you certainly got it on Friday night, as the Braves beat the Yankees by a final score of 8-1. They had a 2-0 lead after two pitches in the game, and only added to it from there, as Chris Sale crossed and the Braves earned a fourth straight victory.

After a first pitch from Jarred Kelenic to start the game, Ozzie Albies destroyed the very next pitch, an elevated fastball, into the left field seats for a 2-0 lead. A few minutes later, it was Austin Riley’s turn to continue his streak of excellent offensive output, as he took a 3-1 Carlos Rodon fastball and deposited it to right center to give the Braves their third sleeve. the framework.

Things continued from there. In the second, Adam Duvall and Ramon Laureano broke liners to left to put runners on second and third with no outs. Kelenic then sent a ball to the right to score Duvall. The third began with a single by Matt Olson and a walk to Riley; Laureano then sent a ball up the middle for a double that scored Olson. The fourth started with a Kelenic barrel, but unlike the other games, the Baseball Gods decided to call it home almost immediately, as Albies hit a double off a bouncer down the left field line, and Olson then collected a home run on a not particularly well-hit liner to right. After Riley took another walk, Sean Murphy followed Albies’ move with another bouncer that went into the left field corner, capping the Braves’ score at 8-1.

That was it for Rodon, who ended up with a very horrible line of three home runs allowed, with three strikeouts and two walks, in just 3 minutes. ²⁄₃ work sleeves. I noted earlier that Rodon’s season really benefited from some HR/FB elements that were potentially driven by the number of soft fly outs he collected, but the Braves weren’t exactly in the soft flyout business tonight, and after the three home runs, Rodon’s FIP and xFIP are now just 0.01 – he entered the game with a FIP 0.22 lower than his xFIP.

For the Yankees, a small measure of salvation was provided by Yoendrys Gomez, who was recalled from Triple-A before this game. Gomez ended up throwing 78 of 4 pitches ²⁄₃ scoreless innings, during which he managed a K/BB ratio of 5/3. He actually benefited from two outs from the Braves (Kelenic, Again, and Riley). but he gave the Yankees what Rodon couldn’t: some relief in the bullpen, in what turned out to be two straight beatings for the Bombers.

On the pitching side, well, Chris Sale and the Braves rolled. Or sailed. Or… aeronautics? Gone? You got the idea. Sale started his night with a walk, but then retired the power duo of Juan Soto and Aaron Judge, before Sean Murphy threw out the runner on an attempt to steal while Sale counted 0-2 on Giancarlo Stanton. To start the bottom of the second, Sale struck out Stanton looking. The only blemish against Sale in the box score ended up being a Jahmai Jones “triple” that was misinterpreted by Duvall, followed by an RBI groundout from DJ LeMahieu. This was actually the first time Sale had struck out LeMahieu in their last seven games, and it was the only run the Yankees would make that night.

After that, Sale’s evening passed without incident. He struck out Soto and Judge again in the fourth, as those two combined for four of his eight punchouts on the night. Sale issued back-to-back walks to start the fifth, which was a little weird to see from a guy who doesn’t even walk when the game is close, but then went one out, one out, a withdrawal to end his evening. by completing this fifth image.

Daysbel Hernandez, Jesse Chavez, Dylan Lee and Grant Holmes finished the game facing the minimum over the remaining four innings. Chavez and Holmes both allowed singles (including a 117 mph screamer right off Stanton), but erased them on double play balls, with Holmes forcing Judge to hit a 4-6-3 to end the game.

The score of this one turned out to be magnificent for the Braves and truly putrid for the Yankees. Six Braves had multi-hit games, and things would have looked even gaudier if Kelenic’s two deep barrels in center hadn’t died so the other barrels could survive. While Orlando Arcia went 0 for 4 with a hit by pitch, perhaps much more surprising is that Marcell Ozuna went 0 for 4 with a walk while his teammates were frolicking.

Meanwhile, Soto and Judge combined to go 0 for 8 with five strikeouts, while the Yankees collected only six baserunners, an extra base hit that was just a bad defensive play in the outfield, and no ball aside from that misplayed fly that went away. over 355 feet.

The Braves will now have two chances to win the series this weekend, but they will also have the opportunity to extend their winning streak to five games tomorrow. Oh, and the Phillies lost to the Diamondbacks, so the division deficit fell to six games. Are the injury-riddled Braves returning to anything resembling preseason expectations? Stay tuned and find out.