Braves Stat of the Day: April 2021

MLB.com is keeping track of a Stat of the Day for the Braves this season, highlighting a unique, interesting or fun nugget from each game.

April 30: Blue Jays 13, Braves 5 -- 6-homer game by opponent
The Braves allowed six home runs by the Blue Jays. This marked just the 10th time in franchise history they have surrendered at least six homers in a game. But it was also the second time in 14 days they did so. When Atlanta allowed six homers during an April 17 loss to the Cubs at Wrigley Field, it marked the first time the Braves had surrendered that many since the Reds homered seven times against them on Sept. 15, 1987. Dave Parker, Barry Larkin, Buddy Bell and Lloyd McClendon were among the Reds who homered that day in Atlanta.

April 29: Cubs 9, Braves 3 -- Another double for Albies
Ozzie Albies recorded his National League-best ninth double while going 2-for-4. Albies has 96 doubles as a second baseman since the start of the 2018 season, with Cesar Hernandez's 68 standing as the second most during that span. Albies' 97 total doubles since the start of '18 rank third among all Major Leaguers, trailing only Braves teammate Freddie Freeman (104) and Rockies shortstop Trevor Story (99).

April 28: Braves 10, Cubs 0 -- Freeman homers in 4-hit game
Freddie Freeman homered during a four-hit performance for the 10th time in his career. The only other players in franchise history to accomplish this feat at least 10 times were Hank Aaron (26), Chipper Jones (20) and Eddie Mathews (14).

April 27: Braves 5, Cubs 0 -- Anderson's dominance
While limiting the Cubs to one hit over seven scoreless innings, Ian Anderson became the first pitcher of the live ball era (since 1920) who, within his first 11 career appearances, has allowed one hit or less in at least three starts of at least six innings.

April 26: Braves 8, Cubs 7 -- Longest streak when leading after eight
With Will Smith tossing a scoreless ninth inning on Monday at Truist Park, the Braves won their 60th straight game when leading after eight innings. This is longest current streak in the Majors, and it dates back to a loss to the Marlins on Aug. 10, 2019. Atlanta is 8-0 in such games this year.

April 25: D-backs 5, Braves 0 (G1); D-backs 7, Braves 0 (G2) -- Wrong side of hit history
The Braves set a dubious record when they totaled just one hit while being swept by the D-backs in a seven-inning doubleheader. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, that is the fewest hits any team has ever recorded during a twin bill. Cleveland previously set this record when it totaled two hits against the Red Sox on April 12, 1992.

April 23: Braves 5, D-backs 4 -- Ynoa's exit velocity
Along with recording his first career win in the series opener against the D-backs, Huascar Ynoa also tallied the first two hits of his career. His two-out RBI single against Luke Weaver in the fourth inning had a 110.3 mph exit velocity. That stands as the hardest recorded hit by a Braves pitcher since Statcast was introduced in 2015. Aaron Blair's 106.8 mph single in Arizona on July 26, 2017, had previously stood as the hardest hit recorded by an Atlanta pitcher

April 21: Braves 4, Yankees 1 -- Anderson's K mark
Ian Anderson recorded four strikeouts while tossing 6 2/3 scoreless innings in a win at Yankee Stadium. His 64 total strikeouts are the most for any Braves pitcher through his first 10 career appearances. Anderson bested the record Brandon Beachy set with 60 strikeouts through 10 starts from 2010-11.

April 20: Yankees 3, Braves 1 -- More crooked numbers, please
The Braves have scored one run or fewer in three of their first 17 games. They did so in just eight of their 60 games in 2020, but it should be noted that last year's great offensive club got off to a similar start. That powerful lineup actually tallied fewer than two runs in three of its first 15 games.

April 18: Braves 13, Cubs 4 -- 4 homers in the 1st
Freddie Freeman, Travis d'Arnaud, Ehire Adrianza and Guillermo Heredia all homered for the Braves during the first inning against the Cubs. This marked the ninth time the Braves have hit four homers in any inning and just the second time they did so in the first inning. The only previous time they homered four times in the opening inning was during a 15-3 win over the Reds on May 28, 2003. Rafael Furcal, Mark DeRosa, Gary Sheffield hit back-to-back-to-back homers to begin the half-inning and Javy Lopez tallied the fourth home run with two outs.

April 17: Cubs 13, Braves 4 -- A journeyman's journey
Sean Kazmar Jr. made his Braves debut after spending 12 years and 206 days in the Minor Leagues. It had been 4,591 days since Kazmar’s most recent big league plate appearance, which came on Sept. 21, 2008, with the Padres. The last player to go that long between MLB games was Ralph Winegarner, who went 13 years and 14 days between appearances for the 1936 Indians and ‘49 St. Louis Browns.

April 16: Braves 5, Cubs 2 -- Acuña raking at historic rate
In the Braves' first 14 games of the season, Ronald Acuña Jr. has already scored 17 runs, which is the most in Braves history through that time frame since 1966. He also has 14 extra-base hits, which matches Hank Aaron's hot start in 1959 as the most in franchise history through 14 games.

April 15: Braves 7, Marlins 6 -- Sandoval nears pinch-hit home run crown
Pablo Sandoval hit a go-ahead three-run homer in the sixth inning to aid the Braves' comeback. Sandoval's three pinch-hit homers are one shy of the franchise's single-season record, which is shared by Johan Camargo (2019), Evan Gattis (2013) and Tommy Gregg (1990). He is also one away from tying the most ever hit in a single month by a big leaguer. Erubiel Durazo set that record with four pinch-hit homers for the D-backs in April 2001.

April 14: Marlins 6, Braves 5 (10 innings) -- Acuña's 110-plus mph exit velo
Ronald Acuña Jr.'s 13 extra-base hits tie him with Hank Aaron (1959) for the most by a Braves player through the first 12 games of a season. But maybe more impressive was the ferocity with which he tallied two of his three extra-base hits in the extra-inning loss to the Marlins. Acuña’s first home run had a 110.8 mph exit velocity and his double came off the bat at the same exact velocity. He's the first Braves player with multiple 110-plus mph extra-base hits in the same game tracked by Statcast (since 2015).

April 13: Marlins 14, Braves 8 -- Run total vs. Marlins
During their 14-8 loss on Tuesday, the Braves surrendered 14 runs to the Marlins for the first time since claiming a 16-14 win over them on Sept. 2, 2008. Current Braves pitcher Charlie Morton actually started that game for Atlanta, allowing seven runs (four earned) over 3 1/3 innings. Marlins starter Anibal Sanchez allowed six runs over three innings. Jeff Francoeur hit a three-run homer off Sanchez, and Ruben Gotay scored Martin Prado with the game-winning double in Atlanta's two-run ninth.

April 12: Marlins 5, Braves 3 (10 innings) -- Acuña cranking out extra-base hits
Ronald Acuña Jr.’s 10 extra-base hits are the second most by a Braves player through 10 games in franchise history (since 1901). Hank Aaron and Dale Murphy each had 11 extra-base hits in '59 and '85, respectively. The franchise record for most extra-base hits before May is 22, set by Ozzie Albies in 2018. Acuña is on pace for 26 extra-base hits this month.

April 11: Phillies 7, Braves 6 -- Freddie's hat trick
Freddie Freeman homered in a third straight game to make him 5-for-28 with four homers on the year. The only time he's homered in four straight games was May 16-19, 2019, a stretch that included one game against the Cardinals and three against the Brewers.

April 10: Braves 5, Phillies 4 -- From 0-4 to 4-4
This year marked the 12th time the Braves started 0-4. But it's only the second time they have followed an 0-4 start by winning four straight games. The only other time it happened was in 2012, when the Braves went on to reach the postseason as a National League Wild Card in Chipper Jones' final season.

April 9: Braves 8, Phillies 1 -- Acuña the HR crusher
Ronald Acuña Jr. hit a 456-foot homer in the fifth inning of an 8-1 Braves win over the Phillies. Including the playoffs dating back to his 2018 debut season, Acuña has hit a MLB-best 10 450+ foot home runs.

April 7: Braves 2, Nats 0 (Game 2 of DH) -- Panda strikes again
With his game-tying two-run homer on Opening Day and a game-winning homer against the Nationals in Game 2 of a doubleheader in this one, Pablo Sandoval became the first Brave to account for all his team's runs via a pinch-hit homer twice in one season.

April 6: Nats 6, Braves 5 -- Acuña's leadoff legend grows
With a leadoff homer -- off Max Scherzer's first pitch of the game on Nationals Opening Day -- the leadoff legend of Ronald Acuña Jr. grew. He has the most leadoff home runs before the age of 24, with 20. Hanley Ramirez had 15 and Barry Bonds hit 13.

The Braves' franchise record for leadoff homers stood at 17 until Acuña broke it last year. Now, the outfielder is creating reason to believe he could one day break Rickey Henderson's all-time record of 81.

April 4: Phillies 2, Braves 1 -- Short on runs
The Braves totaled three runs while being swept by the Phillies to open this season, their lowest run total through the first three games since they tallied two runs while being swept by the Expos to begin the 2003 season.

April 3: Phillies 4, Braves 0 -- Morton's long-awaited return
With this start, Charlie Morton went 12 years and 194 days between appearances as a Brave. According to research from the Elias Sports Bureau, only four other Braves in the modern era (since 1900) had a gap of at least 12 years between appearances, with Bucky Walters’ 17-year, 302-day span the longest. The others were Darrell Evans (1976-1989; 12 years, 296 days), Ray Mueller (1938-1951; 12 years, 203 days) and Johnny Evers (1917-1929; 12 years, 94 days).

April 1: Phillies 3, Braves 2 -- Sandoval steps up
Pablo Sandoval became the fourth Braves player to hit a pinch-hit home run on Opening Day since 1901. The others were Jimmy Johnston (1926), Chuck Tanner (1955) and Matt Joyce (2019). Sandoval, Joyce and Johnston each homered against the Phillies.