Atlanta walloped Miami 29-9 at Truist Park behind Adam Duvall and Freddie Freeman, who accounted for half the team’s offensive output by themselves. The 29 runs set a franchise record and established a modern (since 1900, per MLB.com) National League standard. The franchise has been playing since 1876.
Unfortunately for the Braves, they fell one run short of tying the Rangers’ modern MLB mark. Texas beat Baltimore 30-3 in the first game of a doubleheader at Camden Yards on Aug. 23, 2007. One of the Braves’ coaches and one of their players remember that game well.
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As always in games like these, there is a lot of fun to be had with numbers. Let’s start with this oddity: This is the first 29-9 final score in MLB history, according to Jeremy Frank at @MLBRandomStats.
Here are five other figures that got our attention:
Duvall knocks in nine
Duvall did his work with three home runs — a two-run shot, a three-run blast and a grand slam, in that order. The progression is a first, according to STATS. He was a solo homer shy of the cycle.
That output makes Freeman’s six-RBI night look light.
“I’ve known that homers come in bunches but something like that is pretty special,” Duvall said, per The Associated Press. “I’m going to enjoy this one tonight.”
Duvall also became the first Brave with two three-homer games, and he did it in an eight-day span. He went yard three times against the Red Sox on Sept. 2.
He’s also the first Brave in 54 years to knock in nine in a game. The last guy to do it was a pitcher:
Duvall now has 13 home runs in 125 at-bats this season.
Atlanta puts up an 11-spot
The Braves were held scoreless in the first by Marlins starter Pablo Lopez. They clearly took offense as they sent 14 batters to the plate in the second.
Atlanta scored nine of the runs with two out after a replay review went in the Braves’ favor — it would’ve been an inning-ending double play had it gone the other way — and kept the frame going. A walk and seven consecutive hits, including Duvall’s first home run, did the damage. Duvall got to bat for a second time in the inning because he was ruled safe on a bang-bang tag play at third, which was later upheld upon review. The Marlins thought replays showed that Duvall was out.
“That cost us 10 runs right there, honestly,” Marlins manager Don Mattingly said of the review, per MLB.com. “That was frustrating, but after that the game got out of hand. We could have made pitches to get out of it.”
Yamamoto serves up a baker’s dozen
Miami right-hander Jordan Yamamoto deserved a cold beverage after taking one for the team. He came on for Lopez in the second and left after the fourth. In between, he surrendered 13 runs (12 earned), allowed four dingers and threw 94 pitches. More importantly, he helped the Marlins use just five pitchers.
“Once he came out of the second inning, I told him I was going to run him out of pitches,” Mattingly said, per MLB.com.
The good news? The game is over. The bad news? Yamamoto’s ERA is now 18.26 and he’s likely to be sent to the alternate site because he won’t be available for five days.
13 runs of support, no win for Milone
The 11-spot was Atlanta’s second double-digit inning with starter Tommy Milone on the mound since Atlanta acquired the left-hander from the Orioles in late August. The Braves put up 10, also in the second inning, at the Phllies on Aug. 30.
In each game, Milone didn’t come close to qualifying for the win. Against the Phillies, he was knocked out in the third inning and ended up being charged with seven runs. Against the Marlins, even after getting two additional runs of support, he lasted only into the fourth and was charged with eight runs. Yes, he made Wednesday’s game competitive for a minute.
Wilson gets 12 outs for the save
Baseball’s scoring rules rule. Atlanta right-hander Bryse Wilson had the best pitching performance of the night, allowing a run on four hits and two walks over the final four innings. And because he entered with a lead and pitched at least three innings, he left the mound with his first career save.
So who got the win? Grant Dayton, who got five outs in relief of Milone.