Huascar Ynoa took the mound looking to get the Braves back to .500, with a chance to end the day with the divisional lead. He started out well, working around a two out walk in a scoreless first with two strikeouts. Ronald Acuna got just under a ball for a fly out leading off the home first. Freddie Freeman hit a line drive single to left field and Marcell Ozuna went mammo to give the Braves an early two-run lead. Ozzie Albies continued the early offense with a double. Dansby lined out for the second out before Austin Riley absolutely smoked a line drive homer over the short Truist left field wall at 112.2 MPH off the bat to make the score 4-0.
Ynoa got through the second allowing only a triple and no runs. Huascar also started the threat in the bottom of the inning with a single, as he continues to rake. Acuna followed him with a single of his own to put runners on first and second with one out for Freddie Freeman. Freddie delivered with a two run double to right center, which was assisted by the centerfielder falling over as he fielded the ball and throwing from his knees, as well as Ronald Acuna being absurdly fast and a good baserunner. The threat ended there as Ozuna and Albies were retired. Ynoa worked around two singles for another scoreless inning in the top of the third. The only Braves baserunner in the bottom of the inning came from a Guillermo Heredia single. Ynoa cruised in the fourth, striking out the side in dominant fashion.
Ynoa was the leadoff hitter for the next inning AND THE MAN HIT A HOME RUN 104.4 MPH OFF THE BAT BECAUSE OF COURSE HE DID! That put Ynoa at four straight plate appearances with a hit, including a homer and a double.
DH = Designated Huascar!#ForTheA pic.twitter.com/Epy6BZT9xO
— Atlanta Braves (@Braves) April 29, 2021
Freddie and Ozzie each singled, but the Braves were unable to score any more runs in the fourth inning. Ynoa breezed through a 1-2-3 fifth but was clearly tired, with his velo down around 93. Consecutive doubles from Austin Riley and Heredia brought another run home for Atlanta. Alex Jackson flied out to left field and Ynoa struck out before Acuna grounded out to end the inning. Ynoa for some reason was left in the game to pitch, despite being clearly tired, having thrown 86 pitches, and facing the third time through the order. He got a leadoff groundout, but gave up a walk and a single to the next two batters. He exited the game having pitched 5.1 innings with 9 strikeouts, 2 walks, and 4 hits allowed, making way for Luke Jackson. The Sliderman got a groundout for the second out, as the runners advanced to second and third. Fortunately, Jackson struck out the next batter to end the inning scoreless, and preserve Ynoa’s scoreless outing.
Freddie Freeman led off the home sixth with a homer of his own, just to show Ynoa that he isn’t the best hitter on the team yet (or maybe Ronnie is? Good players are fun). Ozuna grounded out, but Ozzie gave us a nice round number of runs at 10 by hitting a home run of his own. A Riley single and a Heredia walk both with two outs gave Alex Jackson the chance to break the even number lead and add even more, but he grounded out to keep us at an even 10. Luke Jackson stayed in and kept the shutout alive, despite a baserunner reaching on an error.
We had a position player pitching appearance in the seventh, as the Cubs threw out a combination of Anthony Rizzo and Matt Duffy to record a scoreless inning, working around an Acuna walk, highlighted by a Rizzo strikeout of a swinging Freddie Freeman, which was pure comedy.
Take a seat, FREDERICK.@ARizzo44 pic.twitter.com/ArqdIRVuM3
— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) April 29, 2021
There were a few more position player pitching shenanigans in the next inning, including a 65 MPH HBP received by Alex Jackson. Jesse Biddle worked around a two out walk to finish out the game, which was the second straight shutout pitched by the Atlanta professional baseball team.
The Mets lost a game in which deGrom pitched 6 innings of 1 run ball with 9 strikeouts, because Mets, and the Phillies are currently winning as I write this, so the Braves will either be tied with the Phillies or in sole possession of the NL East lead when we wake up Thursday.