Designated hitter Marcell Ozuna stayed hot and the Braves (81-44) edged the Mets (59-68) 3-2 Tuesday at Truist Park.
Here are five observations:
1. Bryce Elder loaded the bases in the fourth inning, hitting Pete Alonso with a pitch and issuing walks to Francisco Lindor and Daniel Vogelbach, but struck out DJ Stewart and, after quite the battle, eventually got Francisco Alvarez to fly out to close the inning.
Elder pitched 5 ⅓ innings, giving up one run on two hits, walking three with three strikeouts. He was pulled in the sixth with Lindor on third base (after his leadoff double).
Before bouncing back with a scoreless seven innings in a 5-0 win vs. the Yankees Aug. 15, Elder had back-to-back rough outings (giving up seven runs in 4 ⅓ innings in an 8-6 loss to the Cubs Aug. 5 and giving up five runs in five innings pitched in a 7-5 loss to the Pirates Aug. 10). He was happy to come away from that trouble in the fourth unscathed: “That fourth was pretty long and I had to kind of pitch out of some trouble and it was kind of a little bit of a grind, and I was pleased with how I worked my way through it and got out of it.”
AP
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2. After two home runs in the Braves’ 10-4 loss to the Mets Monday, Ozuna picked up right where he left off with another home run in the fifth inning Tuesday, putting the Braves up 3-0.
Ozuna has hit 25 home runs since the beginning of May, the eighth-most in the majors, and he’s hitting .287 with 61 RBIs over that span. He went 3-for-3 Tuesday, falling a triple short of the cycle.
“Him and Eddie have kind of been carrying us lately,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said of Ozuna and Eddie Rosario. “And again, that happens. It’s just like, we had a little pitching glitch, starting, and it’s bound to happen, so it’s good that we’ve got a couple guys that are moving the ball around.”
3. After an Ozuna single, Rosario’s home run in the second inning allowed the Braves to jump out to a 2-0 lead. Rosario is another Brave on a hot streak, batting .542 (13-for-24) since Aug. 14, adding four home runs and 12 RBIs.
Rosario became the seventh Brave to reach the 20th home run mark, joining Matt Olson (43), Austin Riley (29), Ronald Acuña Jr. (28), Ozzie Albies (28), Ozuna (26) and Sean Murphy (20). The 2021 Blue Jays were the most recent team to have seven players reach 20 home runs, and the record is the 2019 Twins’ eight.
4. With one inherited baserunner, Braves reliever Pierce Johnson gave up a two-run home run to designated hitter Daniel Vogelbach, narrowing Atlanta’s lead to 3-2 in the sixth inning. Johnson had a scoreless streak of 10 2/3 innings entering Tuesday. But ultimately, Joe Jiménez, A.J. Minter and Raisel Iglesias combined to pitch a scoreless seventh, eighth and ninth.
5. Acuña Jr. stole two bases, bringing his season tally to 58 in 125 games, by far the most in the majors. Oakland’s Esteury Ruiz is second with 49 (99 games).
Stat to know
4 - Mets starter Tylor Megill set a franchise record (since 1962) with four wild pitches, also a career-high
Quotable
“It’s kind of unbelievable. ... For the way that he’s bounced back and just continued to have quality (at-bats), it’s been one of the more impressive things I’ve seen.” - Elder on Ozuna’s turnaround this season.
Up next
Charlie Morton (12-10, 3.54 ERA) is slated to face lefty Jose Quintana (1-4, 3.03 ERA) Wednesday in the final contest of this three-game series vs. the Mets.
