Braves blast the Mets 15-2

Just when some thought the Atlanta Braves offense had fallen asleep in the three-game series in Baltimore, it woke up Friday night in game one of the weekend series in New York against the Mets.

The Braves scored only seven runs in three games against the Orioles, but Friday night they hit six home runs, had 17 hits and skunked the Mets 15-2.

Let's just go through the batting order:

Ronald Acuna entered the game with 18 consecutive at bats without a hit, but he was 2-4 Friday with a solo home run (12), a double (8) and a walk.

Freddie Freeman was 3-5 with a walk, two doubles (20 - most in the NL) and two RBI (48 - 1st in the NL). He raised his batting average to .359, best in the National League.

Marcell Ozuna went 2-4 with a walk, a two-run home run (15 - tied for second in the NL) and three RBI (47 - second in the NL).  

Travis d'Arnaud was 3-4 with two walks, a two-run home run (8) and two RBI (30). He increased his batting average to .336.

Austin Riley was 2-5 with a solo home run (8), one walk and three runs scored. 

Nick Markakis went 2-5 with two RBI (14) another double (14). 

And Ozzie Albies was 2-5 with a two-run home run in the fourth inning and a solo home run in the sixth inning. Albies now has five home runs and 14 RBI. He's hitting .378 in nine games since returning from the injured list. 

The Braves got another great start from Max Fried, who was returning from the injured list. Fried allowed just one run on three hits in five innings, with two walks and three strikeouts. He's now 7-0 (tied for the most wins in the NL) with a 1.96 ERA (third-best in the NL).

The bullpen gave up just one run on two hits in four innings, with four walks and four strikeouts.

Atlanta's win puts them at 30-21 with nine games remaining.

The Marlins split their double-header with the Nationals, so they are 3.5 games back of the Braves and three back in the loss column. Miami has now played 50 games, one less than Atlanta. They will catch up with Atlanta Sunday when they have another double-header with Washington. 

Miami will hit Atlanta Monday to start a four-game series with the Braves and the Marlins pitching staff will likely be tired after playing 21 games in the last 17 days.

The Phillies swept their double-header with the Blue Jays, so are four games back of Atlanta and four back in the loss column. The Phillies have now also played 51 games.

Game two of the series is Saturday night at 7:07 p.m. ET. Ian Anderson (3-0, 1.64) goes for Atlanta against David Peterson (4-2, 4.17). The game will be televised on FOX.

Listen to The Bill Shanks Show weekdays at 3:00 pm ET on SportsRadio 93-1 WXKO TheSuperStations.com. You can follow Bill on Twitter @BillShanks and you can email him at thebillshanksshow@yahoo.com.