Braves Blank Rangers in Series-Opening Rout

Photo by Chris Leduc/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

May 15, 2023

Braves 12, Rangers 0

ARLINGTON, Tex. (May 15) — The Atlanta Braves kept the Texas Rangers quiet on Monday night, beating them by a final score of 12–0. Home runs by Kevin Pillar, Ronald Acuña Jr., Orlando Arcia, and Austin Riley were the difference makers in this one. This was a bit of a shock for the Rangers, who had just returned from a ten-game road trip in which they won seven of ten. The second game of this three-game series is set for Tuesday at 7:05 pm Central. Lefty Jared Shuster (0–1, 8.31 ERA) will start for the Braves. The Rangers, meanwhile, will be sending right-hander Dane Dunning (3–0, 1.72 ERA) to the mound in the middle game.

Braves’ Offense Lets Loose

The Braves got their offense started in the top of the second. This happened on a two-run homer by Pillar. Sean Murphy was the man on base at the time. Three batters later, Acuña followed suit with his own two-run shot to make it 4–0 Braves. Their fifth run of the evening came in the top of the fifth. Matt Olson doubled to center to drive in Arcia, who was standing on second.

That brought Ozzie Albies to the plate. Albies immediately plated Olson with a double to left. The Braves stretched their lead over the Rangers to 8–0 in the top of the sixth. A two-run shot by Arcia gave the Braves an eight-run cushion to work with. Their lead over the Rangers grew to 10–0 on yet another two-run blast in the top of the seventh. This time, it was third baseman Austin Riley who provided the spark with a line drive home run to right center. The home run parade continued in the top of the ninth. This time it was off the bat of Marcell Ozuna, and history repeated itself. This home run, like all the others, was of the two-run variety, and it went to left-center. What’s even more interesting is that it came with a position player pitching, and that was Rangers catcher Sandy Leon.

Tough Debut for Bradford

Rangers lefty Cody Bradford took the loss in his major league debut after allowing six runs (all earned) over five innings (L, 5 IP, 7 H, 6 R-ER, 2 BB, 3 SO, 2 HR, 90 pitches/56 strikes). Bradford surrendered a pair of two-run home runs (Pillar and Acuña Jr. in the second inning), but recovered to retire ten of the final 13 batters he faced. He recorded his first career strikeout in the second inning (Ozuna). Six of seven hits that Bradford allowed went for extra bases (2 HR, 4 2B). The Aledo, Texas native became the second Rangers pitcher to make his major league debut with a start since the beginning of 2022 (also Cole Ragans on 8/4/22 against the Chicago White Sox).

Catcher on the Mound

As previously mentioned, Rangers catcher Sandy Leon made his eighth career appearance as a pitcher (1st since 7/5/22 against the Detroit Tigers as a member of the Cleveland Indians). Leon retired three of five batters he faced in the top of the ninth. He became the 19th position player (25th instance) in Rangers history to appear as a pitcher. He was the first since Charlie Culberson on 9/2/22 against the Boston Red Sox (1 IP, 1 H, 0 R). Leon surrendered the two-run home run to Marcell Ozuna on an 82.9 mph “changeup,” per Statcast.

Postgame Comments

In his postgame media session, Rangers manager Bruce Bochy discussed Cody Bradford’s start with reporters. He said, “Cody was okay. It’s fair to say that he made some mistakes, especially with his off-speed pitches. He had trouble keeping the ball in the ballpark tonight. He didn’t give up a lot of hits, but the ones he did give up did some damage. It was a tough debut against this club. He battled and gave us five innings. It’s always good to get your first start, and he’ll learn from this.”