Atlanta Braves win dinger battle against Seattle in game one
By Bel Garcia
Seattle, WA - The defending Champion Atlanta Braves came to Seattle, riding a seven-game winning streak and the chance to take the top standing in the NL East from the New York Mets. Prior to the game, Atlanta was a half-game behind the Mets. A team doing as well as the Braves didn’t need the extra fire to propel them, but I’m sure it certainly helped.
Ronald Acuna Jr leaves the batters box (Photo by Birdzeyeviewvisuals)
Tonight’s game marked the first matchup between Seattle and Atlanta since August 23rd of 2017, in which the Mariners walked away victorious. Unfortunately, that would not be the case tonight as the Mariners lost 6-4 in the first game of the series. Although the Mariners were coming off a series loss to the White Sox, they have also had a good stretch, they were 8-2 in their previous 10 games.
Eugenio Suarez recorded his 1,000th hit on Wednesday at T-Mobile Park against Chicago, but that night was spoiled by a loss. Before tonight’s match up against Atlanta the team rolled out the pink T-Mobile Park carpet to celebrate Suarez’s accomplishment. Unfortunately, it was once again overshadowed by a Mariners loss.
Robbie Ray gave up a two-run homer early (Photo by Birdzeyeviewvisuals)
Something that the Mariners have come to rely on and be excited about are their pitchers and the efficiency they have provided, they were even granted a collective name, Los Bomberos. Leading the charge on the mound tonight was Robbie Ray, who entered the game having not allowed a run over his last 13 innings pitched, this dated back to August of this year. The Braves started hot on offense and changed that in the first inning that Ray pitched, going up 2-0 early in the game on a two-run homer by Dansby Swanson. Ray allowed a another run in the fourth by Michael Harris II, who doubled to center, made his way to third, and then all the way home on a single by Robbie Grossman. In the top of the fifth, Travis d’Arnaud would add another home run allowed to Ray’s pitching line for the night. It wasn’t the greatest Ray day, as his night ended in five innings pitched with a line of eight hits, four runs (all earned), six strikeouts, and two home runs allowed. Matt Festa relieved Robbie Ray and didn’t have the best night either. He allowed two home runs in just the top of the sixth, as the Braves offense just proved to be too good.
Carlos Santana did all he could, slamming two homers on the night (Photo by Birdzeyeviewvisuals)
That’s not to say that the Mariners didn’t have some offense going for them at all, they ended the night with four runs. Three of those were on home runs, two of which came from Carlos Santana to keep the Mariners deficit at a small margin. J.P. Crawford also had a home run in the bottom of the fifth to bring the Mariners within one run of the Braves. Every time it looked like the Mariners had a chance to rally the Braves would build a comfortable lead again. The dagger being the two home runs in the top of the sixth by Grossman and Harris II. Overall, this was a game of homers, both teams combined for a total of seven, favoring the Braves with four. The biggest difference in this one was that the Braves were able to get some of their players already on base home. The long ball is great, but the Mariners must find a way to get their offense going without it. Once again, they left players on base in crucial moments where a hit might have made the difference.