Atlanta Braves Make Home Run History on Friday Night

The Atlanta Braves have passed the Minnesota Twins for the most home runs in the first half of a baseball season with 167.

Atlanta Braves catcher Sean Murphy hit a home run on Friday night in a 2-1 win over the Tampa Bay Rays as the Braves set the record for the most home runs in the first half of a season in baseball history.

Per ESPN Stats & Info:

Sean Murphy's HR in the 4th inning gave the Braves their 167th HR this season. That passes the 2019 Twins for the most by any team prior to the All-Star break in MLB history

Sean Murphy's HR in the 4th inning gave the Braves their 167th HR this season. That passes the 2019 Twins for the most by any team prior to the All-Star break in MLB history pic.twitter.com/s5FDnNkxI7

— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) July 7, 2023

The home run has certainly become more important in baseball over the last 15 years and the Braves are doing it better than anyone. For Murphy, that was his 16th home run of the season. The team has seven players with double-digit homers and three players with 21 or more.

Throw in that Ronald Acuna Jr. is the easy frontrunner for the National League MVP at this point and it's easy to see why the Braves have the best record in baseball at 59-28.

The Rays, who have been the best team in baseball for much of the season, have now lost six straight games and are now 57-34.

On the mound, Charlie Morton got the win for the Braves. He's now 9-6 with a 3.43 ERA. He went 6.1 innings with six strikeouts. He allowed just one run.

The two teams will play again on Saturday at 7:15 p.m. ET. Spencer Strider will pitch for Atlanta against rookie Taj Bradley for the Rays.

Strider is 10-2 while Bradley is 5-4.

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