Braves Bring Big Bats to New York, Taking Down Mets in Series Opener

The Atlanta Braves used a big offensive inning and a shutdown effort from Charlie Morton to take down the New York Mets 4-2 in the series opener on Friday night from Citi Field.

Atlanta Braves first baseman Matt Olson celebrates his third-inning home run, the third in a four batter span against New York Mets starter Jose Quintana / Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports

The Atlanta Braves used a big offensive inning and a shutdown effort from Charlie Morton to take down the New York Mets 4-2 in the series opener on Friday night from Citi Field. 

Here’s what you need to know about from the contest.

Atlanta brought the BIG bats

One of the big storylines this season has been the lack of power from the top of the Braves order - the top-of-the-order quartet of Ronald Acuña Jr, Ozzie Albies, Austin Riley, and Matt Olson entered tonight’s contest with a combined ten homers...Two less than Marcell Ozuna has by himself. 

Those totals are going up after this one. 

The Braves hit 1,213 feet of homers in the 3rd inning off of José Quintana, all with two outs - Ronald Acuña Jr. and Ozzie Albies went back to back, and after Austin Riley walked, Matt Olson did exactly as we predicted and launched a bomb of his own. 

Three dingers in the third as heard on @BravesRadioNet!#BravesCountry pic.twitter.com/2Nx13OlzTa

— Atlanta Braves (@Braves) May 11, 2024

The Braves have now hit eight homers in their last 36 innings of baseball.  

Charlie Morton spun a gem

Believe it or not, there were folks who were worried after Spencer Strider went down for the year, asking the team to ship out prospects for starting pitcher reinforcements.  

Apparently, the rest of the rotation took that personally. 

Charlie Morton gave the Braves his fourth consecutive quality start, going seven innings with just one run allowed (a Francisco Lindor solo homer to open up the 7th inning). It’s a dominant streak for Morton, with just five total runs allowed over his last 26 innings, lowering his season ERA to 3.14.

Morton threw 99 pitches (65 strikes) and allowed three hits and one walk, striking out seven.

With A.J. Minter entering the ballgame for the 8th, Charlie Morton's night is over and it's his fourth consecutive quality start: 7IP, 3H, 1R, 1BB to 7Ks on 99 pitches (65 strikes). pic.twitter.com/TiXKe3mzwP

— Lindsay Crosby, big baseball guy (@CrosbyBaseball) May 11, 2024

Raisel Iglesias hit a milestone tonight 

Atlanta’s closer picked up his tenth save of the season. It’s his 200th save of his career, just the 2nd Cuban-born player to reach that milestone. His 200 saves make him the 54th player in MLB history to reach that milestone.   

2️⃣0️⃣0️⃣ career saves for Raisel Iglesias!#BravesCountry pic.twitter.com/6Ufi3tEH7z

— Atlanta Braves (@Braves) May 11, 2024

What’s next for the Atlanta Braves?

The Braves are back in action tomorrow night against the Mets, with Max Fried taking the mound against prospect Christian Scott. First pitch is scheduled for 4:10 PM ET on Bally Sports Southeast and FS1 (out of market only).