Photo Credit: Credit: Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports
An early barrage of runs in the first two innings, highlighted by Ronald Acuña Jr.’s league-tying 16th home run in the 2nd, plus a decent outing from Charlie Morton helped power the Braves to a 5-3 victory against the Washington Nationals on Memorial Day. The Braves also added three runs in the first on a Dansby Swanson sacrifice fly and a William Contreras two-RBI single.
Ronald is now tied with Fernando Tatis Jr., Adolis Garcia, and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. for the top of the home run leader boards. He is also strengthening his case as a frontrunner for N.L. MVP this season.
Charlie Morton would end up going five innings while allowing three runs (all in the fourth inning), three walks, and striking out six. Aside from his rough fourth inning, he looked as good as he did in his previous two starts against the Red Sox and Mets. The bullpen looked arguably the best they have all season, as they combined for four innings and allowed just one hit.
The Braves (25-26) wrapped up a tumultuous month of May with a 13-12 record and are still in second place in the N.L. East behind the NY Mets. This was also a much needed win for the Braves considering the horrible weekend the team had, headlined by outfielder Marcell Ozuna being arrested in Atlanta for aggravated assault. Though this will be an uncomfortable situation for the team to overcome in the coming weeks, this win gives the team–and fans–hope that they can put this behind them and continue playing baseball.
