Before fans could get settled in their seats the Braves offense unloaded on Pittsburgh Pirates starter Vance Worley. Just a week ago we were talking about how anemic the Braves lineup has been, but on Monday night Atlanta jumped out to a 6-0 lead in the first inning leading to a 7-3 victory.
Jason Heyward started the barrage with a leadoff homer and before fans could regroup Andrelton Simmons followed with a solo shot himself giving the Braves a quick 2-0 lead. After a Freddie Freeman walk and a Justin Upton single, Chris Johnson added an RBI single bringing the score up to 3-0.
Gerald Laird continued the offensive assault with an RBI single. Emilio Bonifacio walked in front of pitcher Ervin Santana to load the bases with only one out. Santana barreled up a four-seam fastball up the middle, shortstop Josh Harrison made a diving grab getting the runner at second but second baseman Neil Walker made a wide throw to first base allowing two more runs to score giving the Braves a 6-0 lead.
Ervin Santana battled through 5.1 innings allowing three runs on nine hits, while walking two and striking out four. All three runs given up by Santana were solo homeruns, two of which were off the bat of Starling Marte the other off the bat of Neil Walker. You would expect the veteran Santana having a better outing with an early 6-run lead but unfortunately every inning was a struggle as he never recorded a 1-2-3 inning.
The first inning success for Atlanta was great but the fact they couldn’t muster up any more runs against Worley is disappointing. After the six runs on five hits in the first inning, Vance Worley settled in going five more innings only allowing four hits during that span. Worley’s final box score came out six innings allowing six runs on nine hits, while walking two batters and striking out eight.
The Pirates slowly cut into the deficit making it a 6-3 game heading into the bottom of the six inning. The Pirates looked as if they were going to further cut into the deficit as Starling Marte and Travis Snider led off the inning with doubles that put runners at 2nd and 3rd with nobody out. Ervin Santana left the game in the six after striking out Brent Morel. Luis Avilan entered the game with runners at 2nd and 3rd with one out and forced Ike Davis to line into an inning ending double-play.
Jason Heyward added an insurance run in the eighth inning with a sacrifice fly putting the Braves up 7-3. Heyward ended the day going 3-4 with two RBI’s but the leadoff homer was the catalyst for the Braves breakout first inning.
The Braves are riding a four game win streak and remain within striking distance of the first place Washington Nationals in the NL East. If it wasn’t for three consecutive walk-off wins by the Nationals, the Braves could be closer than six games in the division. Nonetheless, Atlanta is now only one game back in the Wild Card. For right now the Braves need to focus on just getting in a playoff spot and worry about the division later when they face off against the Nationals in September.