Spencer Strider dominates as Braves beat Marlins
Spencer Strider turned in a spectacular performance and the Atlanta Braves homered five times in an 11-0 win over the Miami Marlins.
The Braves threatened in the second against Edward Cabrera, but came away empty handed. Eddie Rosario got things started with a single. Ozzie Albies then bounced to second, but Jon Berti’s throw was wide and sailed into the outfield putting both runners in scoring position. Cabrera came back and struck out Marcell Ozuna for the first out. Sam Hilliard then grounded to Garrett Hampson, who threw home in time to nab Rosario at the plate. Ehire Adrianza then walked to to reload the bases, but Ronald Acuña Jr. grounded out on the first pitch to end the inning.
The Braves broke through against Cabrera in the third when Sean Murphy connected for his sixth home run of the season to put Atlanta in front 1-0.
Atlanta extended the lead in the fourth as Cabrera walked Ozuna with one out and then Sam Hilliard made him pay with a two-run shot to center to increase the lead to 3-0.
The Braves continued to add on in the fifth. Austin Riley walked to start the inning. Cabrera then struck out Murphy for the first out before giving way to left-hander Steven Okert. Rosario stepped in and then launched the second pitch he saw over the wall in center to extend the lead to 5-0.
Atlanta continued to play home run derby against Marlins’ pitching in the sixth. Hilliard led off the inning with his second homer of the game, a monster shot that traveled into the stands above the Braves’ bullpen.
Three batters later, Austin Riley followed with a two-run shot to left to make it 8-0.
Despite all of the offensive fireworks, the story of this game was Spencer Strider’s performance on the mound. Strider retired the first 18 batters he faced while recording 10 strikeouts. He became the first Braves pitcher ever to strike out at least nine hitters in nine straight games.
Spencer Strider, 97mph ⛽️
9th K.
9 Consecutive games with at least 9 Ks. pic.twitter.com/15b7GuX76e — Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) April 25, 2023
Strider’s perfect game bid ended in the seventh when Jazz Chisholm Jr. reached on an error by Matt Olson to start the seventh. Strider got Garrett Cooper to fly out, and then struck out Jorge Soler before Riley made a nice stab on a line drive off the bat of Bryan De La Cruz to end the inning.
Stider retired Avisail Garcia to start the eighth before Jean Segura lined a soft single to left center to end the no-hit bid. Jon Berti then singled to put runners at first and second. Strider came back and struck out Jacob Stallings and Garrett Hampson to end the inning.
Strider was magnificent, allowing two hits to go along with 13 strikeouts in eight scoreless innings. He threw 101 pitches with 81 going for strikes.
Atlanta tacked on three more runs in the eighth when Ozzie Albies lifted a deep drive to right center that De La Cruz and Jesus Sanchez misplayed into a triple with the bases loaded.
Joe Jimenez finished things off in the ninth to seal the win.
The Braves snapped their four-game losing streak in a big way and improve to 15-8 on the season. The series will continue on Tuesday with Charlie Morton scheduled to start for Atlanta.
Source: Battery Power
