Travis D'Arnaud Slugs Braves to Series Opening Win over Texas Rangers

The Atlanta Braves watched their catcher crush 1,302 feet of homers on Friday night

Atlanta Braves catcher Travis d'Arnaud watches his grand slam, his third homer of the night, as the Braves mashed their way past the Texas Rangers from a sold out Truist Park. / Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports

The Atlanta Braves mashed their way to a 8-3 win over the Texas Rangers in Truist Park to kick off the three-game series between the teams.

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

Have a night, Travis d’Arnaud

The veteran Braves catcher, taking over as the #1 backstop after the oblique injury to Sean Murphy in the season opener, made his presence felt in this one. d’Arnaud hit his first two homers of the season, both to left field, to break a 1-1 tie in the 2nd inning and then to extend the lead to 3-1 in the 5th. 

And then he came up with the bases loaded in the 6th inning and did this: 

GRAND SLAM!#BravesCountry pic.twitter.com/5ksuJ8PgaT

— Atlanta Braves (@Braves) April 20, 2024

Travis is only the third MLB player this season to hit three homers in a single game, joining Philly’s Bryce Harper and former Braves prospect turned Oakland Athletic Shea Langeliers, who also hit his against the Texas Rangers. 

Just for fun, d’Arnaud’s the last Braves catcher to have a three-homer game since franchise great Dale Murphy did it on May 18, 1979.  

d’Ang. #BravesCountry pic.twitter.com/iKuFuQ81I9

— Atlanta Braves (@Braves) April 20, 2024

Chris Sale delivered a quality start and then some

With conversations about potentially needing to limit Sale’s innings this year, given his injury history and limited workload over the last few years (102.2 innings in 2023, 151 combined the last three), Sale’s determined to prove that he doesn’t need to be handled with kid gloves. 

The 35-year-old went seven innings tonight, allowing three runs on five hits, striking out seven and walking only one. He was tagged for a run at the very start of the game, with Rangers leadoff man Marcus Semien taking him deep in the first, but then settled in and kept Texas from putting more runs up until the top of the lineup saw him for the third time in the sixth inning, scoring two more on three base hits. 

But the best part was the efficiency. Sale threw only 89 pitches (68 strikes) to get through his seven innings, getting twelve whiffs (eight on the slider) and putting up a solidly above-average 34% CSW.   

Chris Sale absolutely abusing Seager. 😲 pic.twitter.com/7eG0dGB6oi

— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) April 20, 2024

Atlanta’s scoring efficiency was off the charts tonight

I don’t know if this is an official stat, but there’s something interesting I noticed tonight - the Braves scored more runs than hits, putting eight on the board despite only six hits. Atlanta drew five walks in the game and was successful both at cashing those in and capitalizing on their scoring opportunities in general - the Braves went 3-for-6 with runners in scoring position and stranded only three runners (and only one in scoring position). 

Again, I don’t know if this is something that’s tracked - there’s a weekend project for me - but it’s still interesting that it happened.  

Some Braves offensive stars, outside of d’Arnaud’s huge night, were Michael Harris II - he went 2-4 with two runs scored, including an 8th-inning homer - and Marcell Ozuna, who picked up an early RBI single in the first to tie the game at one and extend his MLB-best hitting streak to seventeen games.  

What’s next for the Atlanta Braves?

Atlanta’s back it on Saturday, and back to their normal broadcast plans. First pitch on Saturday is scheduled for 7:20 PM ET on Bally Sports South, with Charlie Morton set to take the mound against RHP Nathan Eovaldi.