*Photo from Battery Power*
The All Star Break didn't lead to anything different in Atlanta. Matt Olson homered, Ozzie Albies drove in 3 runs, and the Atlanta Braves defeated the Chicago White Sox with a 9-0 shutout victory on Friday night in Atlanta.
In the first game out of the break, the Braves hung 9 runs on the White Sox to continue their impressive season. They've won 8 of their last 10 to improve to 61-29 this season. They've also won 10 straight games at home and lead the majors in home runs with 170. It's halfway through July.
Olson said of coming out of the break that "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. It was good to come out and play the game we played today."
Starting the scoring right away was Olson. With the bases loaded in the first inning, he blasted a grand slam to right field, giving the Braves a 4-0 lead right away. It would stay that way until the 6th inning. With Orlando Arcia at 3rd base, Albies flew out deep enough to be able to score Arcia, extending the lead to 5-0.
Arcia kept the scoring coming in the 7th inning. With two runners on, Arcia singled in Marcell Ozuna to make it a 6-0 score. Eddie Rosario then came around to score on another RBI single, this one from Michael Harris II. Albies then punctuated the win with a two run double, scoring Harris and Arcia to make it a 9-0 final.
It was Charlie Morton taking the mound for the Braves, getting the win to improve to 10-6 on the season. Morton delivered 7 shutout innings, allowing 3 hits while walking one hitter. Ben Heller and Lucas Luetge pitched a scoreless inning each to seal the win.
Michael Kopech started and only got two outs for the White Sox, allowing the first inning Olson grand slam. Touki Toussaint came on and pitched the next 5 1/3 innings, allowing one run. Bryan Shaw allowed 4 runs while getting two outs, with Tanner Banks working 1 1/3 scoreless innings.
Chicago manager Pedro Grifol said of being shut out that "Other than Tim and Andrew hitting those balls hard a couple hits each, we just didn’t get anything going. Hit a ton of ground balls, four double plays. It's a tough league when you’re hitting ground balls. These guys make plays in the infield. They’re in first place for a reason, they make plays and they turn double plays."
Up next, the series continues on Saturday night. The Braves go for the series win with Spencer Strider getting the start, while Lance Lynn starts for the White Sox.
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