April 23, 2024
ATLANTA (AP) — Charlie Morton was dominant on the mound, Matt Olson and Robbie Grossman went deep, and the Atlanta Braves won their eighth straight game with a 5-0 blanking of the NL East-leading New York Mets on Tuesday night.
After dropping four of five in New York less than two weeks ago, the Braves haven't lost since. They made it two in a row over the Mets, pulling within 3 1/2 games of the division leaders.
New York has been outscored 18-1 at the midway point of the four-game series.
Morton (6-5) surrendered three hits and a walk in 6 2/3 innings, posting his fourth double-figure strikeout game of the season with 12 Ks.
That was quite a contrast to the Mets' starting situation.
For the second night in a row, their pitcher was lifted after two innings because of an injury. This time, it was 10-game winner Taijuan Walker making the early exit because of back spasms.
The previous night, Carlos Carrasco went out with a strained left oblique. A 13-game winner, he was placed on the injured list before the game and is expected to miss up to a month.
R.J. Alvarez, who was called up from Triple-A Syracuse before the game, took over for Walker and surrendered a 413-foot homer to Grossman, the second batter he faced. The blast into the right-field seats was Grossman's first homer for the Braves since being acquired from Detroit ahead of the trade deadline.
Alvarez (0-1) also marked a couple of firsts.
The 31-year-old right-hander made his first appearance in the majors since 2015 — a span of nearly seven years spent mostly in Triple-A — and finally earned his first big league decision.
Just not the one he wanted.
Before he was done, Alvarez served up an even deeper homer to Olson, a two-run shot for his 25th of the season. Right fielder Starling Marte didn't even budge as the 443-foot drive sailed far over his head — a no-doubter as soon as it left the bat.
Olson added a run-scoring single in the seventh to finish with three RBIs on the night.
Alvarez worked 2 1/3 innings, giving up four hits, three runs and three walks. At least he managed to stay on the mound longer than either of New York's last two starting pitchers.
Dylan Lee took over for Morton in the seventh and struck out Jeff McNeil with two runners aboard to end New York's biggest threat.
