ATLANTA — As the line kept moving and the scoreboard kept turning during an offensive eruption on Wednesday night, it was as if the Braves were releasing a couple weeks’ worth of frustrations within the span of just one inning.
And that was just the start of it. The seven-run fourth produced during a 20-2 win over the Mets at Truist Park served as just a portion of the onslaught the Braves delivered. Ronald Acuña Jr. got things started with a loud leadoff homer and Ozzie Albies homered twice while tallying a career-high five hits and a career-high seven RBIs.
“It has been frustrating, but the bats are coming and a night like this can turn everything around,” Albies said. “So, it’s very special for the whole team.”
With his eighth-inning homer off Mets outfielder Albert Almora Jr., Albies joined Joe Adcock as the only Braves to ever tally five hits, two home runs and seven RBIs in a game. Adcock did this during the four-homer game that propelled the Milwaukee Braves to a 15-7 win over the Brooklyn Dodgers on July 31, 1954.
Once the Braves gained a 4-2 lead with Austin Riley’s two-run single in the third, they seemed to bid adieu to the frustration they had felt while scoring three runs or fewer over nine of their previous 10 games. This win brings them back to within 4 1/2 games of the first-place Mets in the National League East. It also creates some energy in preparation for Thursday’s matchup against Jacob deGrom.
“Guys go up there when you’re not doing it and they’re pressing and trying to do too much,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said. “And then when one guys does [get a big hit], it’s amazing how it does relax everybody. I can’t explain it, but it’s usually the way it happens.”
By the time the Braves tallied their six-run eighth against Almora, they had matched the season-high hits (20) and runs totals they tallied in a 20-1 win over the Pirates on May 21.
This is the first time the Braves have scored 20 runs twice in a season. The 20 runs also matched the combined total of their past seven games, dating back to June 22.
If attempting to determine who was the offensive performer of the night, you could easily go with Albies, who boosted his All-Star bid by hitting .321 with six homers and a .974 OPS in June.
Albies is one of the three finalists to be elected the NL’s starting second baseman. By the time balloting ends on Thursday at 2 p.m. ET, Freddie Freeman will also know whether he will once again be elected a starter.
Freeman reached safely in each of his four plate appearances on Wednesday. Also reaching safely four times was backup catcher Kevan Smith, who entered the game having done so in just 10 of his 40 plate appearances this season.
Even when Freeman exited to rest in the seventh, Ehire Adrianza pinch hit and drilled his fourth homer. It was one of four home runs hit by the Braves.
“It was good to see guys going the other way and staying in the big part of the diamond and all those kinds of things,” Snitker said. “That’s really encouraging to see the bats heat up.”
This was certainly a timely offensive onslaught.
First of all, the Braves and Mets have now split the six games played against each other dating back to last week. A win in Thursday’s series finale would allow Atlanta to inch a little closer before ending the season’s first half with six games against the Marlins and three against the Pirates.
Secondly, the Braves haven’t been able to get out of their own way much of this season. Even with Charlie Morton constructing a strong start in Tuesday’s series opener, they found a way to fall to 33-8 when leading after six innings. One way to expel the ugly taste of yet another disheartening loss is with a blowout win.
Acuña got the Braves started when he drilled David Peterson’s third pitch of the game deep into the left-field seats. It was the 23-year-old outfielder’s 22nd homer of the season and his 23rd career leadoff home run.
But the biggest hit of the night might have been delivered by Riley, who began his three-hit night with the two-run single in the third. The single came at the end of a 10-pitch plate appearance and it may have expelled some of the demons that had gathered as the Braves had hit .148 (9-for-61) with runners in scoring position over their previous 11 games.
“When you get two-out hits like that, especially two-out hits, for whatever reason it’s just the mindset now more than anything,” Snitker said. “It isn’t mechanical. It isn’t anything but a mindset.”
