Freddie Freeman led the way for the Braves with a big night at the plate against the Rays. His four hits and three runs batted in helped to push Atlanta past Tampa Bay for a 7-4 win in the Braves’ home opener.
If this game had gone in favor of the Rays, then the main story would have been Kevin Kiermaier’s defensive efforts. He got off to an early start in the first inning, which is when he started off a perfect relay play that led to Ronald Acuña Jr. being thrown out at the plate. Hunter Renfroe barely missed catching a fly ball from Freddie Freeman, but Kiermaier made up for it by uncorking a laser to the cutoff man, who placed a perfect throw to home plate in order to rob the Braves of a run in the first inning.
Us and relays, we just get along pic.twitter.com/0DycNY29Rq
— Tampa Bay Rays (@RaysBaseball) July 30, 2020
However, once the third inning came around, Freddie Freeman came up with an ingenious idea to foil Tampa Bay’s defensive efforts. Instead of hitting a ball that landed in the ballpark, Freddie left no doubt in his next trip to the plate and sent the baseball flying into the seats to put the Braves up 2-0 in the third inning.
It's good to be back home!#ForTheA pic.twitter.com/R6Hx4Eq5hn
— Atlanta Braves (@Braves) July 30, 2020
While this was going on, everything was going swimmingly for Mike Soroka on the mound. He rarely found himself in any serious trouble for an extended period of time and it felt like this was going to be another night where Soroka pitched deep into the game. Then the fifth inning rolled around and bad luck bit him. With two outs already on the board and just one strike away from getting through another clean inning, Soroka slipped while throwing a pitch. Travis d’Arnaud fielded the wild pitch and tried to throw out Willy Adames at third base. d’Arnaud’s throw went into left field and Adames scored.
On the board!
— FOX Sports Sun: Rays (@FOXSportsRays) July 30, 2020
Watch @RaysBaseball on FOX Sports Sun & FOX Sports Go: https://t.co/HbIzq1GPGH #RaysUp pic.twitter.com/ikrUd6jOsG
Once Soroka returned to the mound for the next inning, he gave up a single and a walk to lead off the sixth inning. After Soroka struck out Yoshi Tsutsugo, Brian Snitker decided to pull him and let Darren O’Day get the final two outs. Unfortunately, things didn’t go well for O’Day tonight. After getting ahead 0-2 on Kevin Kiermaier, O’Day threw a slider right down the middle and Kiermaier sent it into center field for a game-tying single. Hunter Renfroe followed up with a single that put the Rays ahead 4-2 at that point. The Rays put up three runs in that inning as the Braves fell victim to yet another big inning at the hands of Tampa Bay.
The big difference between the games at Tropicana Field and the one game at Truist Park was that the Braves emphatically responded after getting hit hard. Travis d’Arnaud and Dansby Swanson led off Atlanta’s half of the sixth inning with a pair of doubles to cut Tampa Bay’s lead down to one at that point. Then Ozzie Albies eventually came up to the plate with runners on the corners and two out. Thanks to his blazing speed, he was able to force Willy Adames into rushing his throw and the Braves ended up getting the game-tying run on an infield single.
Freddie Freeman came up after Ozzie and continued his best night of the season so far by looping a hit into center field to plate Atlanta’s fifth run of the night. Ozzie got thrown out to end the inning but the Braves ended the sixth the same way they started it: Up by one run.
Atlanta ended up making the lead stick by adding some insurance runs in the very next inning. For the second straight inning, the Braves led things off with a pair of doubles. However, Johan Camargo’s double was a bit bizarre. You’d think that the second double in a row would be a surefire RBI. However, Camargo thought his double was going out of the park and spent some time at the plate watching it go. Marcell Ozuna decided to stay at second base since he probably figured it was staying in the yard and didn’t want to get doubled off if Kevin Kiermaier did what he usually does in that situation and made a great play at the fence. Kiermaier ended up missing out on the catch, and so Ozuna advanced tothird while Camargo ended up with a double. It was a weird moment, but it ended up going well for the Braves as both players eventually came around to score.
With the Braves holding on to a three-run lead, Chris Martin and Mark Melancon were tasked with finishing off the game and they did so with barely any problems. Chris Martin committed an error in the eighth inning with two outs, but Ozzie Albies made a great throw to eventually pick up the third out. The Braves locked down the final out of the game with an excellent defensive play from Austin Riley to finish things off.
Austin called game.@austinriley1308 caps the win with a defensive gem. pic.twitter.com/uvL5G2MmkB
— FOX Sports: Braves (@FOXSportsBraves) July 30, 2020
The Braves are now at .500 again, and there’s a lot to be happy about. The person who’s probably the happiest guy in the clubhouse right now is Freddie Freeman. Atlanta’s cornerstone first baseman was able to wipe away the nasty memories of his four-strikeout game on Tuesday by picking up four hits on Wednesday, coming a triple away from the cycle. That’s a nice way to bounce back and the Braves now have a chance to split this four-game set against the Rays with a win tomorrow.