The Braves entered the game on Tuesday with a seemingly favorable matchup, having Charlie Morton on the mound while the Yankees countered with Jameson Taillon. Morton was outstanding, allowing just one run in six innings of work, but was not aided by the Atlanta offense. Taillon and the Yankees bullpen held the Braves to just one run, taking the first game of the two-game series by a 3-1 score.
The game had the makings of a pitcher’s duel early, as each team failed to score in the first two innings. The Braves broke through with a run in the third inning, as back-to-back doubles from Guillermo Heredia and Ehire Adrianza gave Atlanta a 1-0 lead. The lead would stand until the fifth inning, when Morton allowed a solo homer to Gio Urshela, which tied the game 1-1.
Taillon would exit after working five innings, having allowed one run on four hits with five strikeouts. He entered play with atrocious numbers this season, including a 6.09 FIP. The Atlanta offense had a couple chances, but could only punish the right-hander once. The next scoring opportunity for Atlanta came in the seventh when they had two on against Chad Green, but they could not push across the go-ahead run.
This marked the end of the night for Charlie Morton, who exited after six innings with one run allowed on three hits with six strikeouts. He was outstanding, but as noted above, lacked the necessary run support to come away with a victory.
AJ Minter worked a scoreless seventh inning, but the eighth was a different story for Tyler Matzek. He allowed two hits and a walk before exiting the game in favor of Nate Jones, who promptly threw a wild pitch that allowed the go-ahead run to score, giving the Yankees a 2-1 lead. A bases-loaded walk to Mike Ford pushed across another run, giving Aroldis Chapman some insurance in the form of a 3-1 lead.
Chapman looked like his usual self, throwing fireballs over 100 MPH with ease. He retired the first two batters before issuing a two-out walk to Austin Riley after a lengthy battle. Guillermo Heredia came to the plate representing the tying run, but fouled out to first base to end the game. The Braves were ineffective when presented with opportunities and paid for it against the Yankees, whose offense was also quiet but did just enough.
On Wednesday the Braves will look to jump start an offense that appeared in dire need of a spark, which is mildly defensible given the absence of Ronald Acuña, but a favorable matchup against Taillon should still present more opportunity than what was evident on Tuesday. Atlanta will turn to Ian Anderson as they look to build on the great work from Morton.