If the weather cooperates this afternoon, Atlanta Braves flamethrower Spencer Strider will deliver the opening pitch of the first inning against the Miami Marlins at precisely 1:35 p,m.
Why is that important for all those wishing to watch the Braves go for their eighth straight victory, their 16th win in their last 17 games and their second straight series sweep?
Because if you’re late reaching your seats, whether those seats are at Truist Park or your den sofa, you just might miss all the fireworks, given that Atlanta has scored at least five runs in the opening inning three times in its last eight games.
To quote Saturday’s winning pitcher Charlie Morton on these early explosions after the Braves’ eventual 7-0 win, “Nothing much surprises me, but this is ridiculous.”
Added Braves skipper Brian Snitker: “I’ve never seen anything like that first-inning thing.”
How lethal have the Big Boppers from the Big Peach become in the earliest inning lately, especially in just-ended June? Beginning nine days ago in Cincinnati, the Braves have scored a total of 21 first-inning runs in five of their last eight outings, with at least four runs scored in four of those. Just this weekend against the Marlins they’ve totaled an astounding 11 first-inning runs over Friday’s 16-4 rout and Saturday’s victory.
“It’s a really good top half and bottom half of a lineup,” said Marlins skipper Skip Schumaker after watching his team lose for the eighth time in nine outings against the Braves this season. “And the league hasn’t done a good job yet of figuring out that first inning.”
Indeed, the first inning is blowing away the competition before most players are breaking a sweat, other than the nervous sweat that comes with facing these Bravos. When Atlanta takes the field today it will have scored 87 first-inning runs this season, by far the most in Major League Baseball. The Los Angeles Dodgers are a distant second with 66.
It has all only accelerated an offense that now leads the National League in runs, home runs, batting average and on-base percentage. The Braves have scored 10 or more runs 11 times through 82 games and eight or more runs 25 times.Their 61 homers in the month of June set a MLB record for most home runs in any single month by an NL team. And the National League is 147 years old.
But to better understand why no one in Braves Country should be late to the party these days, let’s return to Saturday afternoon and the start of the bottom of the first, the Braves coming to the plate for the first time.
When Morton exited the mound in the middle of the first, the clock read 4:17 p.m., which meant the top of the inning lasted seven minutes. When he returned for the top of the second, it was 4:43 p.m., 10 Braves had batted and the lead was 6-0. Over those 26 minutes, lead-off man Ronald Acuna Jr. and No. 2 hitter Ozzie Albies both homered to put Atlanta up 2-0. Austin Riley and Matt Olson followed that opening salvo with singles, then catcher Sean Murphy _ already headed to the All-Star game with Acuna and Orlando Arcia _ doubled home Riley, followed by Marcell Ozuna driving in Olson and Murphy. Arcia closed the scoring with an RBI double to knock the gifted rookie Eury Perez out of the game after just 35 pitches and a single recorded out.
This run of frenzied firsts could certainly end this afternoon against expected Marlins starter Sandy Alcantara, the NL’s reigning Cy Young winner, though the righty Alcantara’s 3-6 record and 4.82 ERA to date have certainly failed to match last year’s effort.
Then again, Perez entered Saturday having thrown 21 straight scoreless innings and a gaudy 1.34 ERA. What he hadn’t faced before Saturday was a lineup that includes Acuna leading MLB in first-inning categories runs (28), hits (33) and doubles (10). His nine stolen bases in that inning stands second. But Acuna is just the head of a very dangerous snake. According to MLB.com, Olson leads the Majors with 10 first-inning homers and Riley is second with eight. Acuna (33), Olson (25) and Riley (25) are the only NL players with at least 25 first-inning hits.
Ironically, those five runs the Braves scored in the opening inning of the June 23 game in Cincy, somehow fell short in that 11-10 loss, which is also the last time Atlanta has lost. Of course, even in that one the Braves hit three home runs in the eighth to make it close.
“They grind at-bats,” Snitker said after Saturday’s win. “I think all the runs we’re scoring and all the damage we’re doing is a byproduct of that.”
Look to October and that’s the recipe for offensive success. It’s what’s made the Dodgers offense so dangerous come the playoffs. It’s what has made Houston so lethal. It’s what the Braves did better in October of 2021 than they’d done the rest of the year on their road to becoming world champs.
But it’s something else the 39-year-old Morton observed Saturday that makes one believe this epic season is yet to reach its zenith.
“They are just really humble for how good they are,” he said of Atlanta’s position players. “I don’t think they realize how good they are, which is awesome.”
It certainly is. Just don’t miss the Braves’ first inning at the plate or you might miss the best offense in all of baseball at its most awesome.