TAKEAWAYS: Braves' offense flexes its muscles in 6-2 win over Minnesota

Red-hot Atlanta wins the series as it buries the Twins under an avalanche of early homers

Will Moon | Jun 27, 2023

In an extremely entertaining contest, the Atlanta Braves extended their newest win streak to four by defeating the visiting Minnesota Twins 6-2 tonight. Here are some takeaways.

Off the Chain

It was Ronald Acuña Chain giveaway night at the yard this fine Tuesday evening, and RAJ certainly wasn't going to let the occasion pass without showing exactly why we have giveaways like that.

✅ Play ball
✅ Hoist Jesse
✅ #VoteBraves: https://t.co/WpMLapxOjD pic.twitter.com/Otts8Bewum
— Atlanta Braves (@Braves) June 27, 2023

Ronnie loves hitting rockets on the first pitch of the game, and tonight was no exception. This would be the beginning of an absolutely brutal outing for Twins starter Joe Ryan. But like his teammates, Ronald was far from done.

It'd been about 30 minutes since @ronaldacunajr24 hit a homer so he was due.#VoteBraves: https://t.co/WpMLapxOjD pic.twitter.com/KY2FbpHvBF
— Atlanta Braves (@Braves) June 28, 2023

When Acuña came up for the second time, the game was already getting out of hand and Ronnie was not in the mood to show the struggling Ryan any mercy. He got his hands in on a splitter and muscled it into the Twins' bullpen for his second dinger of the night. But wait, there's more...

2 home runs. 1 amazing catch.

It's only the fourth inning.

That's our All-Star🥹 pic.twitter.com/xealxTRsKh
— Bally Sports: Braves (@BravesOnBally) June 28, 2023

On the day of a major Hollywood casting announcement, we all know who the real Superman is. With a catch that's becoming almost routine, Acuña leaped up and stole a double from Royce Lewis. Somebody get this man a cape.

Twin Killing

The final score doesn't really properly convey the feel of this contest. Kudos to the Minnesota bullpen, which isn't very good, for being able to restore order in their five innings of work, but the damage was already done. The Atlanta lineup is hotter than the Georgia asphalt right now, and they burned the aforementioned Joe Ryan over and over again.

Austin Riley and Sean Murphy followed Acuña with more first-inning dingers, while the absolutely scalding Michael Harris II cranked a own tater of his own in the following frame (with Acuña immediately following with his second dinger of the night). Ryan has been very good for the Twinkies this year, so don't be fooled into thinking he's some ham-and-egger. No, this was just a deep and dangerous lineup dominating one of the better pitchers in the American League.

Damage Control

Bryce Elder had the ball for the Bravos, and he really did not pitch very well. Through the first four innings, he struggled to consistently locate any of his pitches, allowing four hits and issuing four walks over that span. But the one thing Bryce did well was find a way to win with his C-game. The Twins are not a good offensive team, and they certainly helped Elder out by putting together some pretty brutal ABs with runners on base (looking at you, Carlos Correa). But don't discount a young pitcher such as Elder being able to grind through innings on a night where he clearly didn't have it.

Fortunately for Bryce and manager Brian Snitker (who voiced reservations about the bullpen's availability before the game), Elder settled in and faced the minimum over his final two frames, somehow getting through six innings in fewer than 100 pitches. That looked like it was completely out of the question for most of the evening, but Elder was a bulldog tonight and made those early taters stand up.

The defense as a whole turned in a similar performance. They compounded Elder's struggles with some early errors, somehow piling up four of them in the first four innings, though the Twins couldn't take any real advantage. (The less said about the play where Joey Gallo almost wound up with a little league home run, the better.) But there was also some serious glovework turned in.

In addition to Acuña's leaping catch mentioned above, Ozzie Albies and Orlando Arcia made a beautiful play to end the fifth and Austin Riley snuffed out a possible rally-starter to open the eighth. At any point, any of several Braves could've turned to the crowd Gladiator-style and shouted, "Are you not entertained?" It was that kind of night.

On Deck

Atlanta goes for the sweep tomorrow afternoon. The Twins will send former Dodger Kenta Maeda (1-4, 6.86 ERA, 3.74 FIP) to the hill. The Braves have surprised many by announcing lefty Kolby Allard as their starter in his season debut. Allard has spent the bulk of the season on the IL with an oblique strain and will now make his first appearance for the Braves since 2018. (He's spent the last four-plus seasons with the Texas Rangers' organization.) He's made two starts for AAA Gwinnett and posted a 2.70 ERA/2.05 FIP/4.32 xFIP in 6.2 innings.

Note the early start time of 12:20 Eastern. The game broadcast, with Voice of the Braves Brandon Gaudin, is available inside Braves Country on Bally Sports South and is available on MLB.TV outside of the broadcast area. The radio call, with Ben Ingram, is available locally on 680 AM/93.7 FM The Fan or outside the Atlanta market on the Atlanta Braves Radio Network or MLB.com.

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Published Jun 27, 2023

WILL MOON

Former Auburn radio personality, writes about pop culture and other topics at octopus-man.com and covers the Braves for bravestoday.com