Braves News: Acuña propels Atlanta to win in the Bronx

BRAVES NEWS

Start spreading the news: Atlanta beats New York in a tense one

The Braves traveled to New York on Monday, looking to extend their win streak to four games against the team owning the best record in baseball. The two teams traded early solo homers by Aaron Judge and Johan Camargo, then the Yankees plated another run on a wild pitch, which staked them to a 2-1 lead. The Braves bounced back in the fourth inning, stringing together three straight doubles to take the lead 3-2. New York tied the game in the fifth inning on a Didi Gregorius sacrifice fly, knotting the score at three as the two teams prepared for a battle of bullpens down the stretch. The game would remain tied at 3, despite multiple scoring opportunities for each side in the late innings, until the 11th inning. Ronald Acuña blasted a two-run homer to right field, which narrowly escaped the reach of Aaron Judge at the wall, to give Atlanta a 5-3 lead. The bottom of the inning saw AJ Minter enter the game, and though he walked Judge on four pitches with two outs, bringing the tying run to the plate, Minter was able to strike out Gregorius to seal the win.

Braves calling up Michael Reed, Evan Phillips from Gwinnett, place Peter Moylan on DL

Prior to Monday’s game, the Braves announced four roster moves as they recalled Michael Reed and Evan Phillips from Triple-A Gwinnett, optioned Matt Wisler, and placed Peter Moylan on the disabled list. The promotions of Reed and Phillips are significant in that each player has enjoyed incredible success in the minor leagues thus far in 2018, and could certainly be counted upon to fill major roles going forward if they can duplicate that success in the coming weeks.

Braves close to locking up three All-Star starters in last update before end of voting

The Braves, according to the final All-Star balloting update, are close to locking down three starting spots. Freddie Freeman leads all first basemen by a very wide margin and is the leading vote-getter overall, while Ozzie Albies and Nick Markakis each lead their respective positions as well. Albies has seen his lead shrink considerably, but he still figures to beat out Scooter Gennett and Javier Baez for the nod. Markakis leads all outfielders in votes, just ahead of Matt Kemp... what the eff is happening right now. Anyway, things are looking good for the Braves to be well-represented at the All-Star Game in two weeks.

MLB NEWS

Latest: Machado, deGrom, Braves

Rumors continue to bounce around regarding players like Manny Machado, Jacob deGrom, and multiple relievers. The Braves are reportedly interested in some of the available relief help on the market, according to Joel Sherman of MLB Network.

Sherman points to Orioles right-hander Mychal Givens and Padres relievers Brad Hand, Kirby Yates and Craig Stammen as possible trade targets for Atlanta. The Braves could tap into a stacked farm system, which was ranked No. 2 overall in baseball entering the season, per MLB Pipeline, to acquire a veteran reliever.

Predicting destinations for 10 top trade targets

Speaking of trades, Jim Duquette of MLB.com compiled some fake trade proposals for the deadline, and of his ten listed, the Braves are involved in two. These proposals are, in a word, just awful. Check out the package he suggests for Moustakas...

Prediction: Moustakas goes to the Braves for a pair of prospects, left-hander Kolby Allard (MLB.com’s No. 50 prospect) and right-hander Touki Toussaint (Atlanta’s No. 11 prospect).

Prediction: Britton joins Atlanta for left-hander Max Fried (MLB.com’s No. 73 prospect).