Charlie Morton teamed up with three relievers to limit the Texas Rangers to just five hits as the Atlanta Braves secured a 5-2 victory on Saturday night, extending their winning streak to six games.
Travis d’Arnaud, who was a key player in Friday’s 8-3 win with three homers, continued his hot streak by smashing a two-run homer off Austin Pruitt in the eighth inning.
Thanks to solid performances from Morton and Chris Sale, the Braves, currently leading the NL East, have clinched the first two games of the series against the Rangers, who are leading the AL West.
“They kind of set the tone for this homestand,” d’Arnaud said of the starting pitchers. “Two guys who want the ball for the last out of the World Series to start against the previous World Series champions. I think they were ready to go and that showed today and yesterday.”
Morton (2-0) allowed only two runs and four hits in six innings, while Joe Jiménez, A.J. Minter, and Raisel Iglesias each contributed a scoreless inning. Iglesias secured his sixth save in as many opportunities with a flawless ninth inning.
The Braves took the lead with Luis Guillorme’s run-scoring double and Matt Olson’s sacrifice fly in the second inning, breaking the 2-2 tie.
Eovaldi (1-2) struggled, giving up three runs and five hits along with six walks in 5 1/3 innings. He expressed regret over his inability to maintain the early 2-0 lead against Morton. “We had the lead, and you can’t give a guy like that another opportunity,” Eovaldi said of Morton.
Before the game, Rangers manager Bruce Bochy hinted at a surprise from the bullpen. It turned out to be right-hander Jon Gray, who had started four games this season. Gray entered in relief of Eovaldi in the sixth inning and recorded two strikeouts to leave two runners stranded, adding two more strikeouts in a perfect seventh inning.
Ronald Acuña Jr. started the game with an infield single and later completed a double steal with Michael Harris II, tying Rafael Furcal for the Atlanta record with 189 career steals.
