ATLANTA — Matt Olson hit a first-inning grand slam, Charlie Morton received his fifth straight begin and the most important league-leading Atlanta Braves routed the Chicago White Sox 9-0 on Friday evening.
Olson, an All-Star first baseman and the NL chief with 30 homers and 76 RBIs, made it 4-0 along with his seventh profession grand slam and his second this season. Atlanta, which has received 10 straight house video games, leads the majors with 170 homers and started the evening with 20 greater than the No. 2 crew, the Los Angeles Dodgers.
“We were playing good ball before the break and leading up to it, and sometimes when things are going well you’re not sure if you want the days off, but I think everybody, throughout the course of the season, you need that blow midway through,” stated Olson, the primary participant in franchise historical past with 30 lengthy balls within the membership’s first 90 video games. “It was good to come out and play the game we played today.”
The Braves (61-29) have gone deep in 27 straight video games, the longest streak within the franchise’s trendy period. Olson’s blast sailed 434 toes to proper.
Morton (10-6) gave up three hits, walked one and struck out 4 in seven innings, decreasing his ERA 23 factors to three.20. The 39-year-old right-hander retired the primary 10 batters he confronted earlier than Tim Anderson singled within the fourth. Luis Robert Jr. promptly grounded into one in every of three double performs by the White Sox.
“I feel like a lot of those balls were hit in the right place at the right time,” stated Morton, who has allowed one earned run in his final three begins, a span of 19 innings. “Any time you can go deeper in the game and not have to throw as many pitches is great. Try to save the bullpen a little bit. Just work a decent tempo, but it was nice to get in a little bit of a rhythm. I did my job.”
PHOTOS: Olson, Morton energy MLB-leading Braves to a 9-0 rout of White Sox
Michael Kopech (3-8) gave up 4 runs, one hit and 4 walks in two-thirds of an inning. He had been on the injured record since June 29 with proper shoulder irritation. He threw strikes on simply 14 of 38 pitches.
“I don’t know if there’s a way to explain it, really,” he stated. “In this game, you have to be able to go out there and be consistent. I wasn’t able to take one pitch to the next. I put us in a hole. Obviously I wanted to come back from the break and set a tone and change the pace a little bit. I wasn’t able to do that.”
Chicago has misplaced six of seven, eight of 10 and 19 of 28. The White Sox are 1-8 of their final eight collection openers and have been shut out for the seventh time this season.
Robert was within the lineup after tweaking his proper calf in Monday’s Home Run Derby and sitting out the All-Star Game. He went 0 for 3.
Touki Toussaint, going through his former crew, pitched 4 1/3 scoreless innings of reduction earlier than operating into bother within the sixth when he loaded the bases with no outs. He restricted the harm to Ozzie Albies’ sacrifice fly that made it 5-0.
Eddie Rosario and Michael Harris II added RBI singles and Albies drilled a two-run double off Bryan Shaw within the seventh for an 9-0 lead.
TRAINER’S ROOM
White Sox: 3B Yoán Moncada was scheduled to start a rehab project Friday with Triple-A Charlotte. He has been out since June 14 with decrease again irritation.
Braves: LHP A.J. Minter, tied for the most important league lead with 44 appearances, is day-to-day after leaving final Saturday’s win at Tampa Bay with tightness in his left pectoral muscle. … LHP Max Fried is about to make his second rehab look on Saturday, this time with Class A Rome. The crew’s ace has been out since May 6 with a strained left forearm. … RHP Nick Anderson (shoulder pressure) was positioned on the 60-day injured record and LHP Lucas Luetge’s contract was chosen from Triple-A Gwinnett.
STARTING HOT
Atlanta’s 95 first-inning runs lead the majors. It’s probably the most runs scored by any crew, in any inning this season – 15 greater than Texas’ fourth-inning whole of 80. The Braves‘ franchise mark for first-inning runs is 127, set in 1999. The 2000 St. Louis Cardinals maintain the NL file with 147.
STAYING PUT
Chicago supervisor Pedro Grifol stated earlier than the sport he’s sticking Anderson, the crew’s struggling shortstop, within the No. 2 spot within the batting order. The two-time All-Star went 2 for 4 as his common rose 4 factors to .227, however he’s nonetheless with no homer and has simply 13 RBIs in 69 video games.
UP NEXT
Braves RHP Spencer Strider (11-2, 3.44 ERA) will face RHP Lance Lynn (5-8, 6.03) on Saturday because the groups play the second sport of a three-game collection. Strider, a first-time All-Star, leads the majors with 166 strikeouts.
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