Ozuna & Acuña homer, back Strider's 10 K's

ATLANTA -- As the Braves have rampaged through a dominant June, surging to the National League’s best record, they’ve thwarted one would-be challenge after another: the big-spending Mets; the reigning league champion Phillies; the upstart Reds.

With the month winding to a close, the American League Central-leading Twins became the latest challenger to take a swing, and they met a similar fate on Monday night at Truist Park. Spencer Strider was dominant, Marcell Ozuna and Ronald Acuña Jr. hit no-doubt home runs, the defense made some nifty plays and the bullpen brought it home in a 4-1 win to open a three-game series.

It was Atlanta’s third straight win, the 11th in its past 12 games and 18th in 22 games this month. The Braves stretched their lead in the National League East to 6 1/2 games over the second-place Marlins, who had a day off. Nobody in the NL is playing better ball, and frankly it’s looking more and more like nobody in the NL is better, period.

Coming off of a grueling series win in Cincinnati, in which every game was close and draining, Atlanta looked positively fresh on Monday. Strider worked quickly and effectively. The lineup took good at-bats even before breaking through in the seventh. The defense was sharp. This is what it looks like when a good team gets rolling.

“[Minnesota] is another first-place team,” manager Brian Snitker said. “A really good team that can really pitch it. They have good athletes. It’s a strong team. I don’t think our guys ever take anybody lightly. I think they come to work every day, they prepare, and it doesn’t happen in your favor all the time but it’s not gonna be from lack of preparation or effort or energy or anything like that.”

Strider showed that he is fully past his first slump as a big leaguer, delivering seven superb innings. He appeared a little bit shaky early, allowing two baserunners in the first and a solo homer in the second before settling in, but after that it was lights out.

Strider finished with 10 strikeouts, allowing just the one run on two walks and three hits. It was his fifth double-digit strikeout game this year and the 11th of his young career. Strider leads the Majors with 146 K's.

“We’re getting to the point in the season where some things are starting to feel a little more comfortable, a little more natural,” Strider said. “And hopefully that more than anything helps -- even within a game when things are starting to waver -- helps to course-correct.”

Still, the game was tied midway through the seventh. Minnesota’s Sonny Gray had been sharp, and the Atlanta offense had not flexed its muscle. Then it did. Ozuna broke the tie with a laser-beam opposite-field leadoff homer, and Acuña followed suit three batters later with a two-run shot to left that salted the game away.

Ozuna had missed a chance in the fourth to break the game open when his sharp liner with two men on was caught by shortstop Carlos Correa. So Ozuna allowed for no such possibility in the seventh, connecting on a ball that left his bat at a Statcast-projected 110 mph and traveled an estimated 408 feet to right field.

“The first at-bat, I struck out for, I don’t know, maybe fifth time or sixth time against him?” Ozuna said. “And then I was a little frustrated because I couldn’t get a pitch. And then the second at-bat, I got him good but it was an out. And then I said, ‘OK.’”

Not long afterward, Acuña also said, “OK,” this time against reliever Emilio Pagán. The MVP candidate launched a long ball 432 feet to left field, scoring Michael Harris II, who had singled. That made it 4-1.

The homers were the Braves’ 140th and 141st of the season, stretching their Major League-leading total. They have 17 more homers than the second-best Dodgers, while also tied for the 11th-fewest strikeouts in baseball.

“We’ve always hit homers, but the thing is -- we’re not striking out like we used to,” said Snitker. “We’re a better hitting team, with the power. We’re maturing as a team and still keeping the power.”

The Atlanta bullpen sealed the win without much drama, though in another show of strength, they did it without their closer. Raisel Iglesias was unavailable due to his recent workload, allowing Kirby Yates to record his first save since 2020.