Sean Newcomb limited Washington’s offense to just a pair of runs and Atlanta’s bats and legs produced enough offense to pull out a 4-2 victory, ending Washington’s win streak and putting the Braves back in first place.
Even though things eventually went very well for Newcomb in this one, things got off to a rocky start for him at the very beginning. Washington’s batters both reached base via walk and it sure seemed like a very bad omen when it came to Newcomb and his control. A double steal made matters worse and Anthony Rendon brought home Trea Turner via sacrifice fly for the first run of the game. Fortunately, that’s where it stayed as Newcomb eventually found the strike zone and limited the damage to just one run.
The Braves responded in the bottom of the second inning by manufacturing a couple of runs. Nick Markakis led off that frame with a double and then a walk for Tyler Flowers put the Braves in business. Business ended up going well as Preston Tucker eventually brought home Markakis to put the Braves on the board and then Sean Newcomb beat out what should have been a double play chopper. Instead, Newcomb was safe and Flowers scored in order to put the Braves in the lead.
Both teams scored a single run in the next inning — Washington’s run came via RBI from Anthony Rendon after Trea Turner singled, stole second and made it to third following a ground out from Bryce Harper. Atlanta’s run came after Ozzie Albies blooped a single into left that forced Juan Soto into making a rookie mistake. Freddie Freeman immediately capitalized by lining one up the first base line. Ozzie easily made it from first to third but Freddie’s aggressiveness in trying to take second base forced a bad throw out of Harper, which allowed Ozzie to score and put the Braves back in front.
That'll work!#ChopOn pic.twitter.com/1UPfshJe5h
— Atlanta Braves (@Braves) June 1, 2018
From that point forward, Sean Newcomb settled into a very nice groove and he proceeded to take full control of the game. He only picked up two strikeouts on the night but outside of the first inning, he never really looked like he was wild or in any sort of major trouble. He eventually left the game after 93 pitches following a 1-2-3 inning in the seventh.
.@SeanNewk threw a career high-tying 7.0 innings to win his 6th game of the season & finish the month of May 5-0 with a 1.54 ERA & no HRs allowed in 6 starts. His 5 wins this month are the most in the majors, while he ran his homerless innings streak to 36.0 straight.#ChopOn pic.twitter.com/3VFr7tVWOr
— Atlanta Braves (@Braves) June 1, 2018
Meanwhile, the bottom of the seventh inning ended up being very good to the Braves as they were able to add on some insurance in that frame. Ender Inciarte reached base via single and then Ozzie Albies brought him home with a double (and made it to third on the throw) in order to make it 4-2. Ozzie himself was unable to make it the final 90 feet to home plate but by then the damage had already been done.
Arodys Vizcaino came on to close things down and while there was a mini-scare when Matt Adams came about 30 feet away from wrapping one around the foul pole for what would have been a game-tying home run, he eventually struck out Big City on a very dubious called strike to end the game and put the Braves back in first place.
So, the calendar is about to flip from May to June and here are your Atlanta Braves, still hanging around in first place. That’s a pleasant way to wrap up the second full month of the season, right?