The Braves scored 20 runs in their victory Friday night, and it seemed that the newfound offensive success carried into Saturday.
Ronald Acuna homered on the first pitch he saw, and the Braves never looked back, defeating the Pirates 6-1 at Truist Park. They’ve outscored Pittsburgh 26-2 over the past two days.
The Braves announced the game was a sellout, with attendance at 40,068 -- about a thousand shy of full capacity. Beginning May 7, the park’s seating capacity was expanded to 100% for the first since 2019, and this was the largest crowd of the season. No fans attended games last season because of the coronavirus pandemic. Saturday’s announced attendance was the first to top 40,000 since Game 5 of the National League Division Series on Oct. 9, 2019 (43,122).
Acuna has homered in three of the past four games. His leadoff shot Saturday against Mitch Keller was his 15th homer of the season, now the most in the majors. Acuna has played in 41 of his team’s 46 games.
The first inning didn’t stop with Acuna. First baseman Freddie Freeman, who’s looked more like himself lately, singled in the ensuing at-bat. He scored on third baseman Austin Riley’s hit. Freeman singled home the Braves’ third run in the second inning. Second baseman Ozzie Albies extended the lead with a two-run homer in the fifth and a solo shot in the seventh.
“It’s started clicking,” Albies said. “It feels better. For the team, it’s a different game we’ve been playing. We hope to keep it going and have better games out there.”
Credit: HYOSUB SHIN / AJC
Credit: HYOSUB SHIN / AJC
Braves starter Bryse Wilson had his second consecutive promising outing. This one was Wilson’s best of the season: He held the Pirates to one run on five hits over 6-2/3 innings. He left with two runners on in the seventh, and A.J. Minter recorded a strikeout to preserve Wilson’s numbers.
Saturday marked Wilson’s first major-league appearance in 11 days. But both his recent starts should leave the team encouraged. In that span, he’s logged 12-2/3 innings, allowing three runs on 11 hits while striking out nine and walking two. His only mistake Saturday was a hanging pitch to catcher Michael Perez, who put the ball in the seats.
The Braves’ rotation has rounded into shape. This was their 14th quality start in their past 18 games. The fifth spot in the rotation remains fluid with Huascar Ynoa sidelined by a broken hand and Mike Soroka nowhere close to returning, if he does at all. Wilson has made his case for more innings in his past two showings. And even as he continues bouncing between the majors and Triple-A, Wilson will maintain a good attitude, he said.
“It’s just the experience of doing it,” Wilson said. “Used to, the immaturity in me, I’d get sent down, and it’d just be like, ‘OK. I’m upset, obviously.’ And we wouldn’t go down there and try to improve on anything. The big thing for me now is I get to go down there, it’s a bunch of great guys down there, great staff, and I can actually take that time and that start and work on things. Get better and figure out what I need to do to be the best pitcher I can be.”
The Pirates are considered among the least talented teams in the majors right now, and the Braves have taken advantage the past two nights. They’ve struggled maintaining their performance after big wins and consistency has eluded the team throughout the season, resulting in their 22-24 record.
Slowly, spectators are beginning to see the Braves’ expected form. As has been the case all season, they’ll have to show it for more than just a couple of games, but there’s reason to be encouraged. Saturday was their third win in four days.
“We’ve had a good couple days here,” manager Brian Snitker said. “I’m cautiously optimistic.”
The Braves will have the opportunity to take three of four from the rebuilding Pirates when the series concludes Sunday. Braves southpaw Max Fried (1-2, 5.46) will face Pirates righty JT Brubaker (3-3, 3.27).
