LockedOn Braves POSTCAST: Atlanta Braves score early and often in 6-1 win over Pittsburgh Pirates

LockedOn Braves POSTCAST: Atlanta Braves score early and often in 6-1 win over Pittsburgh Pirates

you are a locked on Braves postcast part of locked on Sports Atlanta your team every day and hello and welcome into the Braves postcast part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day Grant mcau alongside Jake mastriani after the Braves they got the bounceback effort they were looking for as they begin a niname home stand on the right track on the right foot as some would say with a six to1 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates in the opener of a three- game series it’s still going to have some Intrigue this weekend which we’ll get into later but we really wanted to see if the Braves offense could shake off a couple of bad games and get back on track the way it had been over the final couple of weeks of June the answer to that question was yes in the form of a five-run third inning we’re going to talk all about that the performance of Charlie Morton and of course preview that Max freed versus Paul SK matchup that comes our way on Saturday before we do any of that though make sure you hit the Thumbs Up Button subscribe to lockon sports Atlanta here on YouTube subscribe to lock on Braves wherever you get your podcast and today’s episode is brought to you by booking.com booking the right way to make you a fan of any City even your Rivals check out booking.com for your stay today well Jake I think the Braves are happy to have an extended stay if you’ll part in the pun at truis Park it’s a great opportunity for them to beat a couple of teams that have struggled this year and have battled even just to get to 500 and there’s a little match up with the Philadelphia Phillies looming around the corner as well but you have to as you would say take care of business and the Braves did that on Friday night at truis Park they did and it’s something they it hasn’t been given this year as much as they did it last year they they beat up on these teams that they really should be we haven’t seen that a lot this season so great to see them do that after you know as we talked about yesterday winning or losing one of the most winnable games I think they’ll have all year on paper to bounce back like that and and have a pretty you know stress-free win in this one on Friday night to get a series started ahead of that great pitching matchup on Saturday good to be back home yeah and there was some great pitching on the mound for the Braves and this night in the form of Charlie Morton and I know we’ll talk about the offense which broke out scoring five times in the third inning building up a six nothing lead the Pirates able to break up the shut out in the ninth but really that may be more of a moral Victory than anything else for Pittsburgh to avoid the shut out but either way a 61 win for the Braves who Moved themselves back to 10 games over 500 and a large part of this in addition to some offense that the Braves very much wanted to get back to was the pitching of Charlie Morton who worked into the seventh inning scoreless baseball three hits seven strikeouts Jake I thought he looked great and really seemed to have everything working on this night the control the command the execution whatever you want to call it it was all there for Charlie Morton and the results speak for themselves especially after that first couple of innings he walked about hit B in those first couple Innings but outside of that I really dialed things in the curveball was was working all night that change up through some really good change UPS in this one so this is just you know it’s Charlie Morton I mean again it’s a 40-year-old who’s going out there we say it all the time any team in baseball would take him as their fourth starter he has his up and downs but when he’s on like this he’s still capable of racking up the strikeouts you know seven strikeouts in this one a great performance mentioned he just had the one walk and only allowed three hits and it’s it’s what he is capable of doing when he is dialed in with that command so it’s why Charlie Morton is still know a very good pitcher in this Braves rotation he has the opportunity and the ability to go out and give you per performances like this as he did on Friday yeah and it was a performance that the Braves very much wanted to see to help lay that Foundation to allow the offense to get to work and they did so early Austin Riley Homer in the second to get the Braves on the board but it was Marcel ozuna’s three-run double that highlighted a five-run third inning rally that put the braise firmly in the driver’s seat and gave Charlie Morton all the support that he was going to need on this night but you know Jake as far as the offense goes and I know we weren’t harping on you know a couple of Bad Games means the Braves were all the way back to square one the way they were as they struggled all all the way through the month of May and into the month of June but I will say this and maybe it’s the most obvious statement I’ll make on the show but tune in for the remainder of the final 25 minutes or so to see if I can outdo it you just needed to see it again for the Braves to have a big inning and have everybody contributing you did and this was one of those nights again I talk about it on here where everybody you know contributed in some way everybody except RC had a hit and he had a walk in this one so everybody reached base in this game and that’s what you want to see did it a little unusual only five hard- hit Balls by the Braves in this game that is not something we’re accustomed to seeing but again they ended up with 10 hits had several walks in this game as well I think you saw a little bit different approach from some hitters in this one Matt Olson in particular who’s been struggling lately we saw him just shoot a couple balls to left field for some easy singles maybe hopefully get him on track you saw Luke Williams get that rally started in the third inning by just shooting a ball on the out Outer half the other way so uh again I’m not it’s going to be hard for the Braves to just sit here and St change strategy and I’m not necessarily saying they need to but I have said they need to find other ways to try to manufacture runs and piece hits together to have these big Innings and this was a good example of them being able to do that and it helps when you get your best hitter up in the biggest spot of the game and that’s what happened there in that inning yeah and he was able to hit a ball that couldn’t be tracked down by an opposing outfielder which was not the case when he could have really turned things around in that one nothing lost to the White Soxs but Ozuna had himself an opportunity in the very next day to come in up in a big spot and deliver for the Braves and he did just that scoring three runs on that double you’re talking about hard hit balls i’ say Austin rley hit the ball pretty hard his first time up the Home Run for him just continues to turn it around and completely you know get his season on track he has played some great Third Base I think we saw a couple of more plays tonight examples of just how good Austin Riley’s been with the leather but he has really I think made his name by being one of the best slugging third baseman in all of baseball and that’s what he’s become over the last couple of weeks back on the 13th of June I would have told you to look at the stats for Austin Riley and you would have said he’s batting 220 with three homers well all he’s done since then is hit six home runs and get his season on track hitting nearly 400 over the last couple of weeks Jake you’re talking about things you needed to see that are nice to see whatever you want to call it Austin Riley getting back to his slugging ways that’s something that the bres very much need to get this offense on track and going the way that they know that it can and the way that they know that it needs to be yeah I mean he has been your number three hitter for you know a couple of Seasons now I know Marcel’s kind of moved into that role but this is the guy you really leid on to be there and provide that power so it’s great to see him getting back to that this ball that he hit tonight I you know just story time for a minute I was eating dinner with the family and I just heard it hit the bat and I just immediately said that’s gone I mean it made that kind of sound on the broadcast you could hear it now I did turn around to see uh oh it’s going to center field and with the baseballs this year I don’t know but this one I mean he absolutely tore it 107.2 29 degree launch angle 423 ft I mean he got every bit of that baseball so you know even in some of these games like I said on Thursday he also had a ball that I thought was gone was ripped into the alley and Luis Robert able to to run it down he’s been you know making a lot of great contact here lately so good to see him getting that power stroke back like I said being back at home where the bravs have had a little bit more success offensively maybe the ball is traveling a little bit better there but either way that one was just tattooed so it’s great to see that from Riley it’s a guy you knew he’s going to get going at some point struggle to the beginning of the year like a lot of Braves hitters but he seems to be back on track yeah even some of the outs are starting to get pretty loud or have been pretty loud the past couple of weeks for Riley you said Story Time and went through that whole thing talked about the sound of the ball it reminded me of buck O’Neal and Kim Burns baseball talking about here in Babe Ruth or Josh Gibson hit that ball while Austin Riley is starting to really make some connections I don’t know if he’ll end up in the stratosphere of baseball’s alltime greats or have a documentary about this ball he hit tonight but again the Braves needed to see this Riley has been giv them some really steady production over the past couple of weeks and if he can keep that up he’s a big key to what the Braves are trying to accomplish at the plate no two ways about it you know nice to see the big inning most certainly and for Charlie Morton to get this solid outing it has been an up and down season for him at times we talked a little bit about it already we’ll talk some more about it as we go along the Braes Bullpen also able to come in and pretty much keep the Pirates handcuffed for the most part over the final what two and two3 innings this one and the Ageless Wonder Jesse Chavez who followed Charlie Morton right out of the bullpen the only set of 40-year-old teammates in baseball they were at it again and just showing that I guess Jake in a lot of ways age is just a number it certainly is for Jesse Chavez and Charlie Morton and you know Chavez can’t even keep his glasses on straight and he’s still striking batters out up there but it’s just you know it’s incredible story it’s incredible you know having both these guys you know it’s it feels good for for me to getting closer to that point where everybody in the big leagues is going to be older than me so it’s nice to have these couple of guys who make me feel like maybe I still got a chance to get back in there Grant no you mean you’re going to be older than everybody in the big leagues yes okay well see I was hanging on to Albert phol that was the only guy I had left and when he retired that was the end of it for me there’s now a manager in baseball who’s younger than I am maybe two actually there are two because Steph vot’s younger than I am anyway that’s a story we can say for another edition of the show that may never air but the Braves happy to pick up to 61 win and we got a lot more to talk about here on on the Braves postcast we will get inside the line score the box score the performance by Charlie Morton some other interesting facts from this outing by Charlie that I think will be uh quite interesting to get into and of course we got to talk about the marquee pitching match up of the weekend which happens tomorrow afternoon at truist Park Saturday to be more specific Paul skes on the mound for the Pirates Max freed for the Braves we’ll get into all of that as the Braves postcast continues summer travel is heating up especially travel for baseball games so it’s time to explore those US cities you’ve always secretly wanted to know more about we’re talking about your rival cities with hotels bed and breakfast vacation rental Resorts and so much more on booking.com you might just find your perfect stay even in your baseball rival City because goodness knows fans like to follow their favorite team around but you might as well have some fun in some of these different locals whether it’s a trip up to Philadelphia maybe all the way up to New York I don’t know you could stop over in DC do the whole tourist thing and see if the Braves can figure out a way to possibly beat the Nationals this year up there we’ll see if that can be a thing that they do but either way from hotels that Overlook the stadiums to familyfriendly Resorts booking.com has so many choices across the US that your summer travel is covered this MLB season the right day can make you a fan of any US city even your Rivals book today on booking.com on the site or the booking.com app summertime means nothing but great baseball and the Braves have been playing better of late and looking to keep things going and you can bet on all the action on FanDuel right now new customers get $200 in bonus Bets with any winning $5 bet that’s 200 bucks you can bet on anything from MVP to who’s going to hit one out of the park visit fanduel.com lockon and add a big win to your summer bucket list FanDuel is America’s number one Sportsbook let’s get inside the line score and box score of a 61 brace win of the Pirates on Friday night at truis Park the Braves improved to 45 and 35 six runs 10 hit no errors and they left Eight Men on base the Pirates one run it came in the ninth inning six hits no errors and they left seven men aboard Charley Morton picks up the win he improves to five and four gets that season erra down under four as well with his six and the third Innings of scoreless baseball Martin Perez meanwhile takes the loss brayes got to him for six runs over four Innings of work as they took the opener talked about some of the interesting things and facts that come out of this Charlie Morton performance let’s talk a little bit about it here because because Charlie six in the third Innings shut out ball three hits one walk one hit batsman seven strikeouts you talked about how he got a little bit stronger as the night went on as well but how about a cool stat that comes from the Victory and I know the pitcher win is everybody’s favorite statistic but now with that win over his former team Charlie Morton has now beaten all 30 Big League clubs Jake he’s just the 22nd pitcher in baseball history to do that yeah I mean that’s that’s a pretty great accomplishment especially you know in today’s game where you know wins aren’t NE necessarily a big focus of a lot of players and a lot of times you know pitchers don’t hang around sometimes to get those wins but for Charlie Morton you know obviously it speaks to the long longevity of his career speaks to how good he has been and just you know it’s a great accomplishment like you said not not a lot of people have done it so great to see that for Charlie Morton on on this night uh and you’ll be able to pick up a a team a win for the Braves obviously but to be able to get that accomplishment I’m sure that’s something that he’s going to just make it extra special yeah just go ahead and throw that baseball in the trophy case yeah again it’s Beast of longevity and the win is a little bit harder to get I mean I know starters obviously are going to have probably the more traditional route to get it than a reliever is going to have but beating all 30 teams just a little feather in the cap or at least the answer to a trivia question for Charlie Morton the Pirates offense though we knew it was not among MLB’s best but he had I felt like some really good stuff going tonight and you talked about as he got going then he really started to just refine I feel like what he was doing out there on the mound uh regardless of the strength of the opponent you still got to go out there and execute and Jake we’ve seen times this year where that may have been the hardest part for Charlie Morton but tonight it seemed like he was able to figure it out and make the adjustments he needed to as he went along to get even better yeah and you know the one thing with Charlie Morton in these you know bad starts that he’s had it’s usually just one inning a lot of times where things just kind of get away from him and he didn’t really have that tonight as I said early on you know hit a batter he walked batter to start the second inning but was just really able to kind of dial things in and really didn’t have a ton of pressure in this game on him so You’ love to see that from Charlie Mor to be able to do that you have to have you know your full arsenal working and I feel like he did tonight you mentioned it had everything going but for me particular that that curveball and that change up you know had seven of 16 seven whiffs on 16 swings on the curveball but he had six whiffs on 10 Swings with that change up so being able to have both of those pitches working for him having some good fast ball command obviously goes long way a called strike plus whip percentage of 35 again anything over 30 is really good so I just you know had it all kind of dialed in in this one threw a couple of really good sinkers some cutter B some Cutters in there so uh again it’s you know Charlie Morton when he is on when he has good command of that that curveball you know he’s able to to back door some got you know a hitter looking in the game as well with that curveball when he’s able to control it like that way on both sides of the plate it’s just it’s still really hard for for batters to pick up Charlie Morton that curveball is still one of the best in the game It’s just sometimes it gets away from him a little bit and again sometimes it’s just one inning and it’s hard for him to kind of find control of that quickly and dial it back in but he really didn’t have that issue tonight no and it seems like he is really and I know we’ve talked about this a lot throughout the course of his starts here in the first half use the curveball as a pitch to get over at times I know it’s a swing and Miss pitch to expand the Zone but he’s also been able to I feel like at least get more called strikes on it this year than I had Rec IED in the past maybe that’s just anecdotal but it seems like that’s something he’s done and you mentioned the change up you know Charlie Morton is no secret fastball curveball is what has been his big success what will continue to be a big part of his success but adding a few new pitches to that overall Arsenal or get utilizing them more and throwing different versions of the fast ball has also made him I guess a little bit more crafty if a right-hander is allowed to be just that we saw something I’m going to call a version of the 4040 Club in this game Morton was relieved by Jesse Chavez who went an inning and a third couple of strikeouts for him we talked about it a little bit earlier but not too many pitchers in baseball older than this pair I believe it’s just Justin Verlander Max Scherer joining the age 40 club here this season as well but it’s a rarity to see one 40-year-old pitcher let alone two of them one of them relieving the other and it’s a really fascinating tale if you think about this as well Jake because Charlie Morton and Jesse Chavez they were teammates way way back with the Pirates in the early years years of their career now their teammates again here in their age 40 season and what very M very well may be the last year for both Chavez has already said as much Morton I think is just kind of taking it year to year right now that’s crazy I forgot about that they cross pass in Pittsburgh as well so kind of coming full circle there but you know it’s it’s it’s great to have those guys in the clubhouse because they can bring a lot of experience you know it helps with the younger guys but when they also can perform like they’re doing at that age I mean that just adds another layer to it I don’t know when the Jesse Chavez statue is going to get built but they should probably get to work on that I mean what he’s done in a Braves uniform and what he’s done in other uniforms is just completely ridiculous the legend of Jesse Chavez will never die here in Atlanta so um you know just happy for his success happy again to have both of those guys who are again just great Clubhouse leaders but they’re also getting it done on the field yeah if I did my research right on this as well because I heard Ben Ingram and Joe Simpson talking about a cool stat that the only other 40-some pitchers who have thrown more scoreless appearances or as many as Charlie has this year with three of six Innings or more so six Innings of scoreless baseball six plus Innings the only guys who’ve done it as many or more times Warren span and Phil nro I thought that was a cool stat that got me to thinking who’s the last 40-some year old Braves pitcher to even do this had to go on back to Tom glavin in his final year I believe it was his second start back with the Braves Tom glaam was calling the game on TV tonight former teammate of Charlie Morton and if you really want to get crazy in inside baseball or at least inside the Braves you can go all the way back to the early 1940s on just four pitchers in Braves history Charlie Morton teammate of Tom glavin who was a teammate of Phil negro who was a teammate of Warren spawn and you can get yourself all the way back to the early 1940s pretty crazy to think that that’s the case and uh as far as trivia is concerned so I can round out this portion of the show and we can get back to our regularly sched Braves talked Jesse Chavez and Charlie Morton also some of the last players in the league managed by Bobby Cox two of them still right here in Atlanta entire lineup was producing you talked about this everyone reached base at least once R had a walk uh in this game he’s the only one without a hit great to see that and to go back to Marcel Ozuna we haven’t really had to talk about you know the struggles of Marcel because that has really not been a thing for most of this year but I feel like he kind of needed that three-run double over his previous 11 games he knocked in just two runs had just one home run was batting 150 in those 11 games coming into the night and it also gave him the national league lead in RBI back as he passed Alec bow who had came into the day with 65 and Marcel now sitting on 67 yeah great good to see that for Marcel I’m not really concerned I don’t get concerned anymore about Marcel when he goes a couple of games here not hitting it’s just it’s a long track record now and even in the past couple of games he’s just been squaring up baseballs and hasn’t been getting the results so you knew it was just it’s a matter of time but good to see him come through like you said on Thursday I thought he had the game-winning hit there I thought that was in the bag either a three-run homer or at least you know a double off the wall to tie the game unfortunately wasn’t the case but to come back you know the next night and be able to come through and clear the bases I mean that’s who you want W up in that situation he has been your guy all year long and that’s who you want up in those clutch spots so good to see him get another chance like that to come through big and with the way Morton was pitching I mean it was game over once that happened yeah everything was coming up the Braves way exactly what they wanted in they return to truis park after a road trip that began with such promise with the win the series win in New York and ended with just a bit of a whimper as losing two out of three to the Cardinals and any game to the Chicago White Sox I think this year will probably make most teams feel but that they were able to put behind them with the 6-1 win over the Pirates on Friday night when we come back we will talk about Saturday’s matchup it’s going to be Max freed against Paul SK one of the most heralded pitching prospects we may ever see in our lifetime and he has been showing off the goods here in his first eight starts in the big leagues we’ll talk about that get you set up for the middle contest for this three- game series as the Braves postcast continues game time is now an authorized ticket Marketplace of Major League Baseball which makes getting tickets even faster and easier prices on the game time app actually go down the closer it gets to first pitch so with killer last minute deals all in prices views from your seat and their lowest price guarantee game time takes the guest work out of buying your MLB tickets and they’ve got last minute deals where you can save up to 60% off buying tickets for sports concerts comedy theater and more just take the guest work out of buying tickets with Game Time download the game time app create an account use the code locked on MLB and you’ll get $20 off your first purchase terms apply create an account redeem the code locked on MLB you’ll get $20 off download the game time app today last minute tickets lowest price guaranteed let’s talk a little bit about game two of this series we have arrived we’ve been talking about it for a couple of days now at the very least and I think anticipating it may be longer than that as Saturday’s mat matchup has really intriguing pitching matchup it is going to be Max freed against Paul SK freed has been rolling after his two- start hiccup to open the year a 212 erra over his last 12 starts I think he’s making a very strong case for an All-Star appearance and if we’re being you know for sizing up who could be an All-Star and who might be representing the Pittsburgh Pirates there’s a chance the guy on the mound on the other side might be up there as well sk’s the number one overall pick in 2023 Jake I don’t know about you but I’m excited to see this guy even if the results may not be exactly what the Braves are looking for this is some must TV that’s what this kid’s turned into he is it’s you know the maybe the biggest debut for a pitcher since Stephen strawberg I know I can remember being excited about that sitting down watching it same IA with Paul sk’s debut it didn’t quite go as well as it did for Steven sturg but since then I mean he has just been dialed in he’s been that dominant guy and this is a guy that was just winning the College World Series with LSU a little over a year ago and now he’s one of the best pitchers in Major League Baseball so it’s kind of crazy to say but when you have the stuff that he has I mean he’s averaging almost 100 miles per hour on his fastball he has a a devastating splitter that he calls a spinker and it’s just it’s it’s crazy good stuff out there it’s going to be a tough battle for this Braves team and this Braves lineup that’s struggled with strikeouts a good bit this year more than we’d like to see but we’ve also seen them rise up to the occasion in some of these matchups like this we’ve seen them dial it in we just had the start against Terk scoble who is the AL Sai Young favorite going into that one I think he still is and uh you know those are some of the best of bats I’ve seen all year so I’m looking forward to the challenge for this Braves offense I’m looking forward to this pitching match up just as a fan of baseball uh and one thing I’ll say about Paul skes in the couple of games I’ve watched including that debut where he wasn’t terrible they just weren’t going to let him go very long couple of games where he’s pitched well he’s come out and the other team has gotten gotten after that Bullpen so if you can work them you know they obviously aren’t going to push the rookie get him out of there and get into that Bullpen but you know just either way this pitching matchup you know it’s it’s one of the best I think we’re going to see all year and two guys that do it a little differently right I just said Paul skines averages a 100 almost 100 on his fast ball Max freed he’s up there he’s looking to get that weak contact that’s what he is Elite at doing and keeping hitters off balance with the pitch mix that that he has so two pitchers both pitching at the top of their game and they’re going to face off on Saturday it’s going to be a really fun matchup all right we’re going to unpack a little bit of that I want to go back to the spinker portion of the discussion because I I guess if you are a prospect slash you know super Prospect who can do the kind of things that paulski does with the triple digits being able to invent your own pitch might be equally or more impressive it’s certainly gotten the attention of Major League hitters he’s 4-0 es skin and eight starts 214 ra 61 strikeouts in 46 in a third Innings yeah those are numbers that are going to have him in the running for the Rookie of the Year uh that’s an award that is easily within his grasp if he continues to pitch that way interested to see how the Pirates manage him overall Innings wise as the year rolls on but you brought up a very interesting point you know if you are able to even if his results are good Elevate that pitch count and force him out of the game that would give the Braves the opportunity to do some work against a bullpen for the pirates that has been more shaky than not more times than not this year yeah I I think that’s definitely the game plan for the Braves now they’re a team that they’re going to go up there hunting their pitch and they get it it’s be a one pitch a bat we just know that about this team that has certainly been their strategy but you know I think with a guy in Paul schemes that you know is going to have good strikeout stuff and to strikeout batters you’re going to have to throw a lot of pitches so there may be some of bats where they fall behind you know 02 one2 and you’re going to have to see this Braves team kind of battle in the bat that’s what I’m really looking for you know these bats where they do fall behind early are they able to lay off some tough pitches foul some tough pitches off and make him work I think that’s going to be a key for the Braves in this game to get him out of there and try to get to that Bullpen so really looking forward to seeing again this Braves lineup what can they do here you look at the last couple of games I know the game didn’t go as the way they wanted to on Thursday that first inning you know didn’t score but made it Chad Cole throw 20 pitches and same thing uh tonight you know didn’t score in that first inning but they made the starter throw over 20 pitches and that first inning so try to make this kid work you know they’re not going to really overe extend him having him throw you know 90 hundred pitches anything like that throw make him throw a ton of innings on a what gonna probably be a really hot day in Atlanta uh so I think that’s really the strategy for this Braves team and that’s what I’m looking forward to watching is how do they battle in some of these C bats where they fall behind early yeah and if the heat doesn’t get you the humidity certainly will it might even be a couple degrees cooler this weekend than it will be coming up next week but either way it’s going to be I think something both pitchers will have to contend with and Max freed is pretty used to doing that and you talk about the difference in these two guys you know freed has an arsenal that is at least six pitches sometimes seven he says he’s throwing a curveball or slider not throwing a sweeper but that started to show up in his overall pitch mix as well so if we want to give him credit for a seventh I guess we can but whatever the case whatever the pitch Max freed has really figured things out since those first couple of rough starts that he had this year that seems like a distant memory uh at this point because of how well he has been pitching the ER down to three on the season freed is seven and three overall the righty SK again 4-0 with a 212 ER two very different pitchers SK is going to pile up the strikeouts freed though he’s able to carve up a lineup here and there but it’s just going to again be a completely different approach different side different handedness all that kind of stuff but Max freed has been bringing the goods for the Braves for a number of years he has been and I’m still UPS said about that Miss call the first start of the year because the stats are great and maybe he’s going to be in that that NL young discussion at the end but you just I still can’t I know you said it’s kind of Forgotten but for me I’m still still a little bitter about it just because the numbers are great right now they could be even better uh for Max freed but what he has done to kind of turn things around since those first two starts I mean he’s been the ace uh that we’ve all kind of expected and come to know for this Braves team and you know I love watching him pitch it’s the same discussion we have between him and Spencer Strider both guys top of the rotation number one starters but they get it done in different ways and I love watching Max freed especially when he’s on and he has all those pitches working for him to be able to see him just carve up a lineup and you know as a hitter you just don’t know what you’re going to get at bat to it bat and that’s that’s just the the danger of facing a Max freed is that he can drop the curveball on you he can bust you inside with 96 95 as he’s done a lot this year and then he’s he’s got a slider he’s got everything uh to make Mick in there so I just love watching Max freed work he’s been outstanding for the Braves it’s a 60% ground ball rate as well he’s getting that weak contact it’s just you hope that it’s weak enough where it’s going to to fielders and the defense is on their game behind them that’s certainly a key for Max freed when he’s on the mound Ria and Al’s made some more good plays tonight you talked about Austin Riley and the defense that he had over there at third base so that’s been really good for him as well and that’s what you got to have when Max Freed’s on the mound because he’s going to get that weak contact you just got to make the plays behind them yeah and I believe the braids if I looked at this correctly have one of if not the best overall fielding percentages as an infield which I know that’s not the only stat but it’s certainly good when you’re making fewer errors than not I will stipulate that and we can go beyond that in the numbers in in a lot of other ways but it has been very solid the left side I feel like has been particularly good this year with what Riley’s done and Orlando R I had a ridiculous play Early in this game as well I’m I’m introducing a new metric for me that’s going to be called slick Plus for even more than slick plays the slickest of plays Orlando Aria gets that award on this night braz will in Max fre to the Mount against Paulk 4:10 p.m. eastern time the first pitch at truis Park as the Braves and the Pirates meet in game two of this three game series that brings us to the end of this edition of the Braves postcast make sure to subscribe to locked on Sports uh where excuse me locked on Sports Atlanta on YouTube and leave us those likes and comments share the show with a friend and subscribe to locked on Braves wherever you get your podcast once again Atlanta with a 6-1 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates back in the wind column got the home stand started right they’ll look for more this weekend with a big pitching match up on Saturday as Max freed faces Paul skem for Jake mastriani I’m Grant McCauley we will catch you next time and until then so long everyone

The Atlanta Braves jumped out to an early lead and never looked back as Charlie Morton beat his old team in a 6-1 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Friday at Truist Park.

Grant McAuley and Jake Mastroianni of LockedOn Braves discuss the early offense that paved the way for a win, the necessity to get things going again at the plate, the stellar start from Charlie Morton, some Braves trivia topics for the 40-year-old righty, and preview the Game 2 matchup between Max Fried and Paul Skenes.

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