Stat of the Day: Albies joins exclusive club

October 3rd, 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.

Oct. 3: Braves 5, Mets 0 -- Albies' historic 40th double
With a double in the first inning of Sunday's win over the Mets, Ozzie Albies became the 10th player in MLB history to have three seasons with at least 40 doubles, 20 homers and five triples. The only other players to do this were Stan Musial (6), Lou Gehrig (6), Rogers Hornsby (6), Hank Greenberg (5), Chuck Klein (4), Mookie Betts (3), Ted Williams (3), Al Simmons (3) and Joe Medwick (3).

Oct. 2: Braves 6, Mets 5 -- Braves' homer-happy 2021
The Braves hit a pair of home runs for the second straight night, boosting their season homer total to 238. That ranks second in franchise history behind only the 2019 team, which hit 249 homers.

Oct. 1: Mets 4, Braves 3 -- Ozzie joins 30-20-100 club
Ozzie Albies recorded his 20th stolen base of the season on Friday against the Mets. The All-Star second baseman is the seventh different Braves player to tally 30 homers, 20 stolen bases and 100 RBIs in a season. The others: Hank Aaron (1961, '63 and '66), Dale Murphy (1982-83), Ron Gant (1991 and '93), Chipper Jones (1999), Andruw Jones (2000) and Ronald Acuña Jr. (2019).

Sept. 30: Braves 5, Phillies 3 -- Soler's long blast
Want to get a clinching game off to a good start? Hit a leadoff homer. Jorge Soler has 120 career dingers, but his 465-foot blast was his first leading off a game. Oh, and about that 465 feet ... it was the Braves' fifth longest in the Statcast era (since 2015).

Sept. 29: Braves 7, Phillies 2 -- Fried's fantastic finish
After allowing two runs (one earned) in seven innings, Max Fried lowered his ERA to 1.74 in 14 starts since the All-Star break. Assuming he isn't needed to pitch again during the regular season, his second-half ERA will be the third best by an Atlanta (since 1966) pitcher who has made at least 10 starts after the All-Star break. Those with better marks were Kris Medlen (0.94 in 2012) and Greg Maddux (1.62 in 1995). Phil Niekro also had a 1.74 ERA during the second half of the 1974 season.

Sept. 28: Braves 2, Phillies 1 -- 37 and dealing
With a 10-strikeout performance, Charlie Morton increased his season strikeout total to 213, the third-highest total by a Braves pitcher age 37 or older. Phil Niekro recorded 262 strikeouts in 1977 and 248 in 1978, when he was 38 and 39 years old. John Smoltz had previously owned the third-highest total with the 211 strikeouts he recorded during his age-39 season in 2006.

Sept. 26: Braves 4, Padres 3 -- Joc's HR makes history
Joc Pederson's solo homer in the second inning was the sixth homer he has hit since joining the Braves. Atlanta now has 12 players who have hit at least six homers this year. That matches the 2019 team for the most to reach this mark in any season in franchise history.

Sept. 25: Braves 10, Padres 8 (10 innings) -- Productive tandem
Austin Riley secured his first 100-RBI season when he drove in a pair of runs. Riley and Ozzie Albies both have reached 30 homers and 100 RBIs in 2021. They are the fifth set of teammates at 24 years old or younger to reach both marks in the same season. The others are Ryan Braun and Prince Fielder (2008 Brewers), Mark Teixeira and Hank Blalock (2004 Rangers), Mark McGwire and Jose Canseco (1987 A’s) and Don Hurst and Chuck Klein (1929 Phillies).

Sept. 24: Padres 6, Braves 5 (completion of suspended game); Braves 4, Padres 0 -- Maddux for Max
While needing just 98 pitches to complete a three-hit shutout, Max Fried became the fourth Braves pitcher to throw multiple Madduxes -- a nine-inning shutout that requires less than 100 pitches -- in a single season going back to 1988. The only other Atlanta pitchers to record multiple Madduxes in a season within this span were Greg Maddux (three in 1998, two in both 2000 and 1995), Shelby Miller (two in 2015) and Tom Glavine (two in 1993).

Sept. 23: D-backs 6, Braves 4 -- Morton reaches 200
Charlie Morton exited his start with 203 strikeouts on the season. The veteran hurler was 34 years old when he recorded his first 200-strikeout season in 2018. But he stands with Max Scherzer, Aaron Nola and Gerrit Cole as the only pitchers who have had three 200-strikeout seasons since the start of 2018.

Sept. 22: Braves 9, D-backs 2 -- ATL keystone history made
During the win over the D-backs, Ozzie Albies became the first Braves second baseman to hit 30 homers and tally 100 RBIs in the same season. Davey Johnson fell one RBI short of the century mark when he hit 43 homers for Atlanta in 1973.

Sept. 21: Braves 6, D-backs 1 -- Riley hits 30th homer
Austin Riley secured his first 30-homer season with a two-run homer in the first inning. Riley is the 10th Braves player to ever hit 30-plus homers at 24 years old or younger. The others who have accomplished this include Wally Berger (1930), Eddie Mathews (1953-56), Hank Aaron (1957-58), Earl Williams (1971), Bob Horner (1979-80 and 1982), Dale Murphy (1980), Chipper Jones (1996), Andruw Jones (1998 and 2000-01) and Ronald Acuña Jr. (2019).

Sept. 20: Braves 11, D-backs 4 -- Braves love the XBH
The Braves tallied nine extra-base hits on Monday, marking the third time this season that Atlanta has reached this total. The Blue Jays, Astros, Cubs and Red Sox were the only teams that entered Monday having tallied at least nine extra-base hits four times this year. Atlanta totaled nine extra-base hits in an April 28 win over the Cubs and then produced 14 such hits in a May 21 win over the Pirates.

Sept. 19: Braves 3, Giants 0 -- 4 at-bats, 5 pitches, 1 cycle
Eddie Rosario saw only five pitches while hitting for the cycle, the fewest number of pitches needed for a player to achieve the feat since at least 1990, per the Baseball-Reference database. The previous low over that span came when the Rockies' Neifi Perez saw eight pitches while hitting for the cycle on July 25, 1998.

Sept. 18: Giants 2, Braves 0 -- No spark up top
Atlanta's tablesetters are struggling in San Francisco. Leadoff man Ozzie Albies and No. 2 hitter Jorge Soler are a combined 1-for-16 with six strikeouts through the first two games of the series.

Sept. 17: Giants 6, Braves 5 (11 innings) -- Woes in extras
The Braves are 7-for-49 (.142) in extras this season, which is the worst extra-innings percentage in MLB. On Friday, they did not have a single batter reach in the 10th and 11th, nor did they advance the automatic runner on second base.

Sept. 15: Rockies 3, Braves 2 (10) -- Streaks stay alive
Jorge Soler and Adam Duvall extended their respective hitting streaks to 12 games, both standing as the longest current streaks in MLB. Soler has hit .296 with two homers and a .833 OPS during his streak, while Duvall has hit .283 with six homers and a 1.087 OPS during his streak.

Sept. 14: Rockies 5, Braves 4 -- Duvall's homers
Adam Duvall's two-run homer marked his 35th of the season and his 13th since being acquired by the Braves from the Marlins at the July 30 Trade Deadline. The only other National League players to hit at least 13 homers since that date are Bryce Harper (16), Brandon Belt (13) and C.J. Cron (13).

Sept. 12: Braves 5, Marlins 3 -- Freeman's third 30-homer season
With his solo homer in the eighth inning of a 5-3 win over the Marlins on Sunday, Freddie Freeman became the ninth player in Braves history to produce three 30-homer seasons. The others to do so are Hank Aaron (15), Eddie Mathews (10), Andruw Jones (7), Chipper Jones (6), Dale Murphy (6), Ron Gant (3), Bob Horner (3) and Wally Berger (3).

Sept. 11: Marlins 6, Braves 4 -- Morton makes 'em K
Charlie Morton used his great curveball to conclude five of the seven strikeouts he notched against the Marlins. Morton has recorded an MLB-best 115 strikeouts with his curveball this season. Toronto's José Berríos entered Saturday ranked second with 87 strikeouts via his curveball.

Sept. 10: Braves 6, Marlins 2 -- Anderson ties career high
While limiting the Marlins to two runs over five innings, Ian Anderson matched a career-high nine strikeouts. This marks the third time he has reached this total through his first 27 career starts. The only Braves pitcher to record nine or more strikeouts at least three times through his first 27 starts was Brandon Beachy, who did so six times. John Smoltz, Huascar Ynoa, Julio Teheran, Tommy Hanson, Mike Minor and Anderson are the franchise's only other pitchers to reach this mark at least three times within this span.

Sept. 9: Braves 7, Nationals 6 (10) -- Duvall's extra-base streak
Adam Duvall's go-ahead homer in the eighth inning gave him an extra-base hit in seven straight games. He is one game away from matching Freddie Freeman (July 8-20, 2012) and Ronald Acuña Jr. (Aug. 8-14, 2018) for the longest such streak by any Braves player since 2010.

Sept. 8: Nationals 4, Braves 2 -- Rosario's low homer
During the sixth inning, Eddie Rosario homered against a pitch that was 0.83 feet off the ground. That is the lowest pitch anyone has hit for a home run this year and the third-lowest hit by anyone for a homer under Statcast tracking since 2015.

Sept. 7: Braves 8, Nationals 5 -- Fried dialed in
Max Fried allowed one run over six innings. Fried has posted a 1.97 ERA in 10 starts since the All-Star break. The only qualified National League starters with a lower ERA within this span are Max Scherzer (1.61), Logan Webb (1.64) and Adam Wainwright (1.92).

Sept. 5: Braves 9, Rockies 2 -- Morton's brilliance
With his brilliant seven-inning performance, Charlie Morton became just the second visiting pitcher in the last six seasons to throw at least seven frames while giving up two or fewer hits at Coors Field -- the other is Lance Lynn, who did it for the Rangers on Aug. 14, 2020.

Sept. 4: Rockies 7, Braves 6 -- Albies, Swanson make history
Not only did Ozzie Albies' 25th homer of the season make the Braves the second team in MLB history to have all four starting infielders hit 25 or more homers (also the 2008 Marlins), but it made him and Dansby Swanson (26 homers) only the fifth pair of middle infielders on the same team to do so in the same season. Prior to Albies and Swanson, Red Sox middle infielders Bobby Doerr and Vern Stephens accomplished the feat (1948 and '50), as did the the Phillies' Chase Utley and Jimmy Rollins (2006), the Marlins' Hanley Ramirez and Dan Uggla (2007-08) and the Yankees' DJ LeMahieu and Gleyber Torres (2019).

Sept. 3: Rockies 4, Braves 3 -- Another close one
The Braves' loss in the second of this four-game set was their 47th game decided by one run this season. That ranks second in MLB behind only the Mets, who have played 52 one-run games.

Sept. 2: Braves 6, Rockies 5 -- Stepping up in Denver
With Jacob Webb, Jesse Chavez, Richard Rodríguez, Luke Jackson and Will Smith combining for six scoreless innings in the win over the Rockies, the Braves' relief corps became only the third visiting bullpen in the last five seasons to turn in six or more scoreless frames at Coors Field. The others belonged to the Padres, who threw seven scoreless at Coors on May 11 of this season, and the Mets, who threw six scoreless on Aug. 2, 2017.

Sept. 1: Dodgers 4, Braves 3 -- Players with at least one homer
With his game-tying two-run homer in the loss to the Dodgers, Eddie Rosario became the 20th different player to homer for the Braves this year. This marks the fifth time in franchise history a Braves team has had at least 20 different players homer. If Rosario hits another, this year's team will join the 1957 club as the only ones to have at least 19 different players hit at least two homers.