Despite a rough start, Monday offered plenty of positives.
Despite one bad inning of relief from arguably Atlanta’s best reliever so far this season, Monday was a needed day of positives. Yes, the Braves lost game one of the double-header despite another great start from Reynaldo Lopez and the offense showing life. But they bounced back to win the second game of the day behind another dominant outing from Chris Sale.
On top of splitting the results for the day, Ronald Acuna Jr., Matt Olson, and Marcell Ozuna each had excellent days at the plate. Travis D’arnaud returned to the lineup. And as mentioned above, Lopez and Sale continued their All-Star worthy campaigns. As the Braves enter a bit easier part of the schedule to end May, Monday was a very good start to their week. If Atlanta can carry over some of that momentum as they head out on the road, wins should once again become routine.
Braves News
The Braves made multiple roster moves during the day. Between Games 1 and 2, Darius Vines was recalled to Atlanta while Bryce Elder was transitioned to Gwinnett.
Ray Kerr was also sent to Gwinnett. Kerr’s utilization will be interesting to watch in the coming days after Brian Snitker’s suggestion that he could be looked at as a starter. Justin Toscano of the AJC had more on Kerr’s roster move.
Travis D’Arnaud was back in the lineup for the Braves.
Drake Baldwin ended the weekend on a pretty powerful note down on the farm.
Gabe Burns notes that Sale now has a scoreless innings streak of 20, proving how dominant he has been in May.
Burns also details the latest with David Fletcher. As first reported by ESPN, MLB has officially opened an investigation in the gambling allegations concerning Fletcher.
Chris Sale mentioned to Mark Bowman and mlb.com that one reason for his recent stretch of excellence is how comfortable he feels with the Braves.
Marcell Ozuna was fifth in an “MVP Poll” article posted by mlb.com. The article talked with execs around the league concerning the MVP race in each league.
Braves Podcasts
The latest episode of “755 is forever” is available to enjoy.
MLB News
Francisor Lindor returned to Cleveland as the Mets lost 3-1 to the Guardians.
A big ninth-inning comeback helped the Mariners beat the red hot Yankees.
Red Sox pitcher Garrett Whitlock has damage to his elbow after further examination. Surgery could be the next logical outcome.
Rays starter Zach Eflin was placed on the injured list due to inflammation in his back, similar to an injury that made him miss a short amount of time last year. Eflin was connected to the Braves as a potential trade target over the past few days.