Today's Three Things: Braves Bats Bash Boston to Buoy Sale's Stats

Atlanta hit three home runs as they cruised to a series win

Chris Sale improved to 8-3 after the Atlanta Braves beat the Boston Red Sox 10-2 in Fenway Park on Thursday evening.

Here is Today’s Three Things from the contest.

The Turning Point

Atlanta’s big sixth inning.

The Red Sox chased Bryce Elder in the fourth inning of last night’s game, one where they scored six runs on a plethora of base hits (and got some BABIP luck, too).

The Braves were taking notes.

Atlanta picked up five runs in the frame, including chasing reliever Danny Columbe before he recorded a single out. Michael Harris II, who entered the evening hitting .298 with 12 homers and a .846 OPS, dropped a surprise bunt single to open the frame. This clearly rattled Columbe, as he walked Jorge Mateo and Dominic Smith on a combined nine pitches. When Atlanta called on veteran Mike Yastrzemski to replace Eli White, Boston countered with righty Greg Wissert.

They might have been better served to let Columbe have a shot at Yaz.

Yasztremski got down 0-2 before battling back to draw a bases-loaded walk, bringing home Atlanta’s first run of the inning. And then Ronald Acuña Jr. came to the plate.

The same Ronald Acuña Jr. who was on a brutal 1-20 stretch entering this inning. The same Ronald Acuña Jr. who had only two homers and 12 RBI on the season entering the inning.

Now he’s 2-21, and with one more homer and four more RBI.

Ronald got a 0-1 sinker, knee high and over the middle of the plate, and did not miss it. His grand slam was 107.9 off the bat and would have been over the Green Monster and completely out of the ballpark had it not hit one of the marketing signs behind the seats.

It’s his first grand slam since August 1st, 2023, and the fourth of his career.

Atlanta finished the inning quickly after that, flying out three times, but the damage was done and they’d cruise from this point forward.

Today’s Player of the Game

Receiving 80% of the vote on the Postcast, it’s Ronald Acuña Jr.

As I said on the Postcast, it’s amazing that the Braves are where they are in the standings with Acuña putting up just three home runs (tied for 7th on the team) and 16 RBI (8th). Between the slow start of Acuña and the persistent struggles of Austin Riley (who went 0-5 with four strikeouts today), this team’s missing two of their “aircraft carriers” and have still cruised to the best record in baseball at 38-19 with the largest divisional lead (8.5 games) and the second-largest run differential (+103, behind only the Dodgers at +120).

If this is the home run that spurs a return to form for the former MVP, who has been making quality contact recently, has continued to get on base (.358 OBP), and has started stealing more (he’s now up to 10 stolen bases), this offense could reach a higher plane of existence once catcher Drake Baldwin rejoins the lineup in a few weeks.

What You’ll Be Talking About

The offensive approach for both teams.

While they’re not officially tracked anywhere that I can find, I went through the game log and figured out that the two teams combined for 75 foul balls today, 47 alone by Atlanta.

It’s no wonder Chris Sale needed 96 pitches for five innings of work, and Payton Tolle left in the 4th with 94 on his tally. Both pitchers still got theirs, however, with Tolle picking up 18 whiffs and converting them to seven strikeouts, while Sale had eight punchouts on 17 whiffs and a 33% CSW.

But for Atlanta, you were either incredibly successful at the plate today or you had virtually no success at all.

Michael Harris had two hits, including a homer, on three hard-hit balls. Olson had two hits and Ozzie had three (including a homer), each getting two hard-hit balls. Jorge Mateo had three hard-hit balls (two over 100 mph) and two hits, driving in a run and scoring once, while Ronald’s one hard-hit ball was the grand slam. Those players combined for three walks and just four strikeouts.

It’s time for Mateo to get the Dubón treatment and be in the lineup everyday until he cools down. He’s slashing .387/.441/.548 with a homer and four RBI in the last 15 days, but he’s only gotten 31 at-bats in that span. He needs to be playing shortstop, some second base, and maybe even some time in the outfield while the bat’s red hot.

But on the flip side, Mauricio Dubón and Riley both went 0-5, while Dominic Smith had just one hit and the combination of Sandy Leon and Chadwick Tromp behind the plate went 0-3. None of those players even registered a hard-hit ball, combined for six strikeouts while walking just twice, and scored just twice when they were driven in on Ronald’s grand slam.

Looking for more discussion about this game?

Here’s tonight’s Postcast, with I went live to break down the contest.

What’s Next for the Braves?

In the words of Bill Belichick, “we’re on to Cincinnati.” The Braves start a three-game set against the Reds in Great American Ball Park tomorrow night, with some interesting ‘back-half-of-the-rotation’ matchups for both teams:

Fri: Grant Holmes (3-2, 3.78) vs Chris Paddack (0-6, 6.86)
Sat: Martín Pérez (2-3, 2.70) vs Brady Singer (2-4, 6.26)
Sun: Spencer Strider (3-0, 3.46) vs LHP Nick Lodolo (1-1, 5.57)