Mike Soroka on the Braves 7-4 win over Tampa Bay
Home Opener: The Braves tonight opened the home schedule of their season against an American League team for the first time…This was their 55 home opener since the franchise moved to Atlanta in 1966 and the Braves moved to 31-24 in those games, including 10 wins in their last 12 such contests and each of the last four.
Home Work: The Braves went 50-31 at Truist Park last season, winning 50 games in their home park in a season for the first time since 2013…Atlanta’s .617 home winning percentage last season was tied for sixth highest in baseball.
Freddie Freeman: Drove the first pitch he saw in the third inning, a curveball from Charlie Morton, out to right field for his first home run of the season… The hit was his first against a curve this season after batting .396 with a .698 slugging percentage against the pitch in 2019, the fourth-highest average in the majors…In his career against Morton, Freeman is 6-for-12 with three extra-base hits and a .917 slugging.
Four Hits for Freddie: Freeman collected the 14 four-hit game of his career and his first since March 30 of last season in Philadelphia… His four hits tonight were double what he totaled in the first five games of the season, and raised his batting average from .143 entering play to .316.
Swanson RBI: Dansby Swanson went 2-for-4 with a pair of RBI to give him nine runs driven in on the season, second most in the majors behind Minnesota’s Nelson Cruz (11)…Swanson’s nine RBI are tied for the most by a Braves shortstop through six games since the team moved to Atlanta in 1966, matching Edgar Renteria’s mark from 2006.
Mike Soroka: Made his first career start against Tampa Bay and allowed four hits and three runs, two earned, over 5.1 innings…He walked three and struck out five…Both earned runs he allowed came following his exit after he opened the season with 11 straight frames without an earned run.
Bullpen: Atlanta’s bullpen allowed two hits and one run over 3.2 innings to lock down its first save of the season…Aside from Touki Toussaint allowing six earned runs in 2.2 innings of relief on July 27, Atlanta relievers have pitched to a 1.52 ERA (4 ER/23.2 IP) to open the season.
Travis d’Arnaud: Was reinstated from the injured list prior to tonight’s game and made his Braves debut, going 1-for-3 with a double, a sacrifice fly and a run scored…Played 92 games with Tampa Bay last season.
Strikeouts: Atlanta batters fanned 10 times tonight and have struck out 74 times through six games, most in baseball…The Braves’ 74 strikeouts are the most in franchise history through six games.