<img alt="Atlanta Braves v Cincinnati Reds" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/cACbJ_ND-VR9XiOzAkJ5H5U170I=/0x0:2905x1937/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/73597113/2173179516.0.jpg">
Photo by Justin Casterline/Getty Images
Yes sir! More of this, please! Matt Olson and Michael Harris II both put the cherry on top of what was a fantastic series for both of them at Great American Ball Park, as their home run barrage today was part of a huge day at the plate for the Atlanta Braves. This game eventually turned into a comfortable 15-3 win over the Cincinnati Reds.
Olson didn’t waste much time getting going in this one, as he took the first chance he got once he made his first plate appearance in the second inning to re-affirm his continued presence in Cincinnati. Five pitches into the at-bat, Julian Aguiar threw a sinker that didn’t do a good enough job of sinking and Olson sent it flying like a laser beam over the fence in right-center field to get the Braves going in this one. It stayed 1-0 once this inning was done but it wouldn’t stay that one for long.
The third inning ended up being a consequential one, as it basically decided which direction this game would go in for both teams. With two men on and two out in Atlanta’s half of the third inning, Ramón Laureano saw one single pitch from Aguiar and made absolutely no mistake with it. His fly ball went soaring and landed a couple of rows deep into the seats in right field for a huge three-run homer that gave Chris Sale a lot of breathing room.
With that being said, Sale certainly didn’t go into complete shutdown mode, as things certainly got a bit more interesting than I think any Braves fans wanted it to be. Blake Dunn led off the third inning with a single, then he stole second and then took third base as well with one out. Jonathan India made sure that Dunn wouldn’t be stranded out there, as he hit a scalding grounder that ate up Orlando Arcia on its way to the outfield as Dunn scored on the play.
Elly De LA Cruz singled and then Spencer Steer walked to load up the bases with just one out. With the potential go-ahead run at the plate in the form of Ty France, Sale was able to get France to bounce a ball directly into the ground. The ball went perfectly in the direction of Arcia, who charged the ball and started up the 6-4-3 double play to end the scoring threat right then and there.
Things remained quiet in the fourth inning but Atlanta got their offense going once again once the fifth inning rolled around. It started with both Michael Harris II and Jorge Soler getting hit by pitches to start the inning. Once we all got over the initial fear of injury that has come with basically every HBP here in 2024, Marcell Ozuna assuaged all concerns by hitting a deep fly ball to right field that landed on the warning track and bounced over the wall for an RBI ground rule double.
That was the end of Julain Aguiar’s day, as Yosver Zulueta entered the game to make his first big league appearance since August 30. Matt Olson gave him an incredibly rude welcome back to the majors, as he got hold of a sinker from Zulueta and sent it soaring clear over the fence in right-center to make it an 8-1 game for the Braves. Atlanta didn’t score any more runs in the fifth inning but the damage had certainly been done after Olson’s second dinger of the day.
The fifth inning of the day ended up being Chris Sale’s final inning but the Reds didn’t let him leave without a parting gift. Blake Dunn hit his first career home run to dead center off the batter’s eye to make it an 8-2 game. Sale then gave up a double to Luke Maile but then he sat down the Reds in order to end his day after five innings pitched, 93 pitches total, five hits, two walks, two runs and six strikeouts on the day.
I do have to mention that Sale’s velocity was noticeably down for long stretches of the start. Given that this is 2024, it was understandable to think that this could be a sign of something to be depressed about but our own Austin Cain-Reach suggested that this could be Sale doing a bit of self-regulation. I’d tend to agree with that — especially since Sale was still able to hit 96-mph on the radar gun at some points during this game. I’d imagine that he’ll be asked about this after the game and we’ll receive a concrete answer about what was going on.
It should be noted that Sale's velo was down in each of his two starts before the Dodgers series, too. Then it was normal in the Dodgers game. Hopefully he's just self-regulating a bit vs. weaker opponents like COL and CIN. pic.twitter.com/2UoElhf7NU— Austin Cain-Reach (@reach_baseball) September 19, 2024
While Chris Sale might’ve been done pitching for the day, the Braves certainly weren’t done hitting for the day. Charlie Leibrandt’s son Brandon Leibrandt came in for relief after Yosver Zulueta exited and the Braves treated him even worse than they did Zulueta. Orlando Arcia and Michael Harris II hit back-to-back one-out singles in order to set the stage for Jorge Soler. Soler continued his recent resurgence by putting a real charge into a ball that eventually landed in Cincinnati’s bullpen. Once Soler figured out that it cleared the fence, he finished the trip around the basepaths in order to make it 11-2 Braves as this game entered into laugher territory.
Luke Jackson entered the game after Chris Sale was done and he did a solid job covering just under two innings for the Braves, as he gave up three hits and one walk while striking out four batters in the process. He did give up a run after Elly De La Cruz cashed in a leadoff walk from Blake Dunn with an RBI single. John Brebbia finished off the seventh inning for the Braves with a strikeout and then went on to pitch
Leibrandt remained in the game through the eighth inning and he was unable to escape further punishment. This time, the man doing the damage was Michael Harris II, who refused to go at least one game without letting the fans in Cincinnati know that he was there. Money Mike’s latest deposit ended up a few rows deep into the seats in right-center field in order push the rout to 12-3.
In fact, the Braves still weren’t done after that and Money Mike in particular wasn’t done, either. Thanks to a pair of singles after Harris’ homer in the eighth inning and then another pair of leadoff singles to lead off the ninth, it was time for Michael Harris II to get another crack at Brandon Leibrandt. Once again, it didn’t go well for Leibrandt and it went wonderfully for Money Mike, as he sent a liner into the seats in right field for a three-run homer to bring it to our final score of 15-3. This was Michael Harris II’s second home run of the day, his fourth home run of this series alone and Atlanta’s fourth three-run homer of the day. That’ll play.
Needless to say, this was a very, very comfortable win for the Braves as they took care of business and picked up a massive series win. They’re now heading to Miami at 83-70 and can actually watch the scoreboard tonight with a bit less tension than usual. Chris Sale took care of business on his side of things and Atlanta’s offense continued to show some serious signs of life. It’s especially encouraging to see guys like Matt Olson, Michael Harris II, Marcell Ozuna and Jorge Soler all heating up as the Braves are going to need them to keep this up for the remaining portion of this season if they want to have a real chance of getting into October.
They’ll now be traveling to Miami with a chance to pick up an elusive third-straight win. It’s been a bit too long since they’ve won three-straight games and now would be as good of a time as any to pull off that particular trick. For now, it’s time to ride this good wave into Miami and hopefully keep it going as Charlie Morton gets the start tomorrow night at 7:10 pm E.T.
<img alt="Atlanta Braves v Cincinnati Reds" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/cACbJ_ND-VR9XiOzAkJ5H5U170I=/0x0:2905x1937/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/73597113/2173179516.0.jpg">
Photo by Justin Casterline/Getty Images
Yes sir! More of this, please! Matt Olson and Michael Harris II both put the cherry on top of what was a fantastic series for both of them at Great American Ball Park, as their home run barrage today was part of a huge day at the plate for the Atlanta Braves. This game eventually turned into a comfortable 15-3 win over the Cincinnati Reds.
Olson didn’t waste much time getting going in this one, as he took the first chance he got once he made his first plate appearance in the second inning to re-affirm his continued presence in Cincinnati. Five pitches into the at-bat, Julian Aguiar threw a sinker that didn’t do a good enough job of sinking and Olson sent it flying like a laser beam over the fence in right-center field to get the Braves going in this one. It stayed 1-0 once this inning was done but it wouldn’t stay that one for long.
The third inning ended up being a consequential one, as it basically decided which direction this game would go in for both teams. With two men on and two out in Atlanta’s half of the third inning, Ramón Laureano saw one single pitch from Aguiar and made absolutely no mistake with it. His fly ball went soaring and landed a couple of rows deep into the seats in right field for a huge three-run homer that gave Chris Sale a lot of breathing room.
With that being said, Sale certainly didn’t go into complete shutdown mode, as things certainly got a bit more interesting than I think any Braves fans wanted it to be. Blake Dunn led off the third inning with a single, then he stole second and then took third base as well with one out. Jonathan India made sure that Dunn wouldn’t be stranded out there, as he hit a scalding grounder that ate up Orlando Arcia on its way to the outfield as Dunn scored on the play.
Elly De LA Cruz singled and then Spencer Steer walked to load up the bases with just one out. With the potential go-ahead run at the plate in the form of Ty France, Sale was able to get France to bounce a ball directly into the ground. The ball went perfectly in the direction of Arcia, who charged the ball and started up the 6-4-3 double play to end the scoring threat right then and there.
Things remained quiet in the fourth inning but Atlanta got their offense going once again once the fifth inning rolled around. It started with both Michael Harris II and Jorge Soler getting hit by pitches to start the inning. Once we all got over the initial fear of injury that has come with basically every HBP here in 2024, Marcell Ozuna assuaged all concerns by hitting a deep fly ball to right field that landed on the warning track and bounced over the wall for an RBI ground rule double.
That was the end of Julain Aguiar’s day, as Yosver Zulueta entered the game to make his first big league appearance since August 30. Matt Olson gave him an incredibly rude welcome back to the majors, as he got hold of a sinker from Zulueta and sent it soaring clear over the fence in right-center to make it an 8-1 game for the Braves. Atlanta didn’t score any more runs in the fifth inning but the damage had certainly been done after Olson’s second dinger of the day.
The fifth inning of the day ended up being Chris Sale’s final inning but the Reds didn’t let him leave without a parting gift. Blake Dunn hit his first career home run to dead center off the batter’s eye to make it an 8-2 game. Sale then gave up a double to Luke Maile but then he sat down the Reds in order to end his day after five innings pitched, 93 pitches total, five hits, two walks, two runs and six strikeouts on the day.
I do have to mention that Sale’s velocity was noticeably down for long stretches of the start. Given that this is 2024, it was understandable to think that this could be a sign of something to be depressed about but our own Austin Cain-Reach suggested that this could be Sale doing a bit of self-regulation. I’d tend to agree with that — especially since Sale was still able to hit 96-mph on the radar gun at some points during this game. I’d imagine that he’ll be asked about this after the game and we’ll receive a concrete answer about what was going on.
It should be noted that Sale's velo was down in each of his two starts before the Dodgers series, too. Then it was normal in the Dodgers game. Hopefully he's just self-regulating a bit vs. weaker opponents like COL and CIN. pic.twitter.com/2UoElhf7NU— Austin Cain-Reach (@reach_baseball) September 19, 2024
While Chris Sale might’ve been done pitching for the day, the Braves certainly weren’t done hitting for the day. Charlie Leibrandt’s son Brandon Leibrandt came in for relief after Yosver Zulueta exited and the Braves treated him even worse than they did Zulueta. Orlando Arcia and Michael Harris II hit back-to-back one-out singles in order to set the stage for Jorge Soler. Soler continued his recent resurgence by putting a real charge into a ball that eventually landed in Cincinnati’s bullpen. Once Soler figured out that it cleared the fence, he finished the trip around the basepaths in order to make it 11-2 Braves as this game entered into laugher territory.
Luke Jackson entered the game after Chris Sale was done and he did a solid job covering just under two innings for the Braves, as he gave up three hits and one walk while striking out four batters in the process. He did give up a run after Elly De La Cruz cashed in a leadoff walk from Blake Dunn with an RBI single. John Brebbia finished off the seventh inning for the Braves with a strikeout and then went on to pitch
Leibrandt remained in the game through the eighth inning and he was unable to escape further punishment. This time, the man doing the damage was Michael Harris II, who refused to go at least one game without letting the fans in Cincinnati know that he was there. Money Mike’s latest deposit ended up a few rows deep into the seats in right-center field in order push the rout to 12-3.
In fact, the Braves still weren’t done after that and Money Mike in particular wasn’t done, either. Thanks to a pair of singles after Harris’ homer in the eighth inning and then another pair of leadoff singles to lead off the ninth, it was time for Michael Harris II to get another crack at Brandon Leibrandt. Once again, it didn’t go well for Leibrandt and it went wonderfully for Money Mike, as he sent a liner into the seats in right field for a three-run homer to bring it to our final score of 15-3. This was Michael Harris II’s second home run of the day, his fourth home run of this series alone and Atlanta’s fourth three-run homer of the day. That’ll play.
Needless to say, this was a very, very comfortable win for the Braves as they took care of business and picked up a massive series win. They’re now heading to Miami at 83-70 and can actually watch the scoreboard tonight with a bit less tension than usual. Chris Sale took care of business on his side of things and Atlanta’s offense continued to show some serious signs of life. It’s especially encouraging to see guys like Matt Olson, Michael Harris II, Marcell Ozuna and Jorge Soler all heating up as the Braves are going to need them to keep this up for the remaining portion of this season if they want to have a real chance of getting into October.
They’ll now be traveling to Miami with a chance to pick up an elusive third-straight win. It’s been a bit too long since they’ve won three-straight games and now would be as good of a time as any to pull off that particular trick. For now, it’s time to ride this good wave into Miami and hopefully keep it going as Charlie Morton gets the start tomorrow night at 7:10 pm E.T.
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