MIAMI MARLINS NOTES:
No team release available.
ATLANTA BRAVES NOTES:
TONIGHT’S GAME: The Braves and Marlins tonight continue a three-game weekend series in what is the ninth of 13 games between the teams this season… The two next meet for the final three games of the season set, September 15-17, in Miami.
- Atlanta is 7-1 against Miami this season, outscoring the Marlins, 70-26 (+44)…The Marlins are 1-7 with a -44 run differential against the Braves, and 47-28 with a +32 run differential against all other teams.
- With last night’s win, the Braves have clinched the season set versus the Marlins…Atlanta has won the season set against Miami for nine consecutive years now, dating to 2015…Moreover, the Braves have won double-digit games over the Marlins in 17 of the last 19 full seasons…They went 9-10 in 2014 and 8-10 in 2009…Since 2015, the Braves are 98-52 (.653) against Miami.
- Atlanta is 306-202 (.602) all-time against the Marlins franchise since it was founded in 1993… The Braves’ 306 wins versus Miami since the start of 1993 are its most against any one team in baseball…Per Elias, since 1993, only one MLB club has beaten another club more times than Atlanta has beaten Miami…The New York Yankees have beaten the Baltimore Orioles 311 times since that year.
- RH Charlie Morton has made 22 career starts against Miami and is 12-5 with a 3.82 ERA (55 ER/129.2 IP) and 124 strikeouts versus the Marlins…He pitched against them earlier this season, April 25 here at Truist Park, and threw 7.0 one-run innings to get the win…The right-hander has more wins (12), innings pitched (129.2) and strikeouts (124) against Miami than any team in baseball.
- RH Eury Pérez is set to make the 10th start of his major league career, and his first against Atlanta…The 6-foot-8, 220-pound native of Santiago, Domincan Republic is 5-1 with a 1.34 ERA (7 ER/47.0 IP) over his first nine career turns, including a 4-0 record and a 0.27 ERA (1 ER/33.0 IP) in his last six starts…He enters tonight with a 21.0-inning scoreless streak, the longest active run in baseball.
WIN: Atlanta scored a season-most 16 runs last night, beating Miami, 16-4… The Braves have won each of their last eight games at Truist Park and 14 of 15, overall, dating to May 28.
- The Braves’ 16 runs were their most since matching that mark on April 12, 2022 versus Washington.
- Atlanta homered six times last night, the second time this season it has done so…The first occurrence, also against Miami at loanDepot Park, took place on May 3.
- The Braves are the only team in baseball with multiple six-homer games this season…New York (A.L.), Milwaukee and Houston each had a pair of six-homer games last season.
- Atlanta’s 28-15 (.651) record at Truist Park is the best home mark in the National League.
MATT OLSON: Collected a career high-tying four hits last night, going 4-for-5 with two homers, a triple, and a career high-tying five RBI…It was the first four- it, two-homer game of his career.
- Since moving out of the No. 2 spot in the lineup on June 15, he has batted .333/.379/1.000, with 10 homers and 22 RBI in 13 games…Atlanta is 12-1 as a team in this stretch.
- He currently leads the National League with 28 homers, and his 67 RBI are tied with Shohei Ohtani for the most in baseball…He is on pace for 56 homers and 134 RBI.
- Both of those totals would stand as single-season Atlanta franchise records…Andruw Jones holds the current home run record, with 51 in 2005, while Gary Sheffield’s 132 RBI in 2003 are most for the club since moving to Atlanta in 1966.
- Ten of Olson’s 28 home runs have come in the first inning, including one last night…The Braves’ full-season record (since 1961) for opening-frame homers is held by Hall-of-Famer Hank Aaron, who hit 13 of them in 1971…Research courtesy of the Elias Sports Bureau.
FIRST INNING: Atlanta scored five runs and hit two homers in the first inning last night, and its 81 first-inning runs on the season are most in the majors…No other team has more than 66 runs in the first.
- Atlanta’s 81 runs, 27 home runs and 114 hits in the first are the most in each category by any team in any inning this season, per MLB’s Sarah Langs…The Braves’ plus-56 run differential in the first is 15 runs better than any other team in a single inning.
- The Braves are on pace for 162 first-inning runs this season, which would stand as a modern era major league record…The 1950 Boston Red Sox hold the current mark, scoring 160 first-inning runs in just 145 games…The current Braves franchise record is 127 first-inning runs, set by the 1999 club.
- Atlanta is batting .332/.375/.647 as a team in the first inning, with a 1.022 OPS…The Braves have scored at least four runs in the first inning nine different times this season…No other team has done so more than five times.
HALFWAY: Atlanta played its 81st game of the season last night, marking the halfway point of the 162-game MLB schedule…The Braves are 54-27 (.667) on the season, percentage points behind Tampa Bay for the best record in baseball.
- Atlanta’s 54 wins are its most through 81 games since the National League went to a 162-game schedule in 1962…The previous best was a 52-29 (.642) record, first set in 1995 and then matched in 1997 and 1998.
- The Braves are currently on pace for 108 wins this year, which would establish a new single-season franchise record…The 1998 club went 106-56 (.654) to set the current mark.
- Atlanta is 22-4 in its last 26 games dating to May 31.
Tonight’s Starting Pitcher – #50 Charlie Morton RHP
2023 Record: 7-6, 3.81 ERA • 2022 Record: 9-6, 4.34 ERA
vs. RHB: .286 (48-168), 4 HR • vs. LHB: .241 (39-162), 5 HR
Home: 3-3, 4.74 ERA (20/38.0) • Away: 4-3, 3.06 ERA (16/47.0)
Today’s Game
- Set to make his 16th start of the season and second against Miami.
- Earned his seventh win of the season after fanning seven Cincinnati hitters through 5.0 innings pitched in his last turn.
- Recorded his 100th strikeout of the season, marking the third time in Morton’s career he’s reached 100 punchouts through his first 15 starts of a season (’19
w/ TB & ’18 w/ HOU). - Morton needs three strikeouts to reach 1,800 for his career.
- Would become one of 13 active pitchers in baseball with as many punchouts.
- Morton has struck out 341 hitters with his curveball since the beginning of the 2020; the most in the majors.
- During that span hitters are missing on 53.1% of curveballs thrown, the second highest rate in the majors…The MLB average is 11.7% (among QS).
- Utilizing his curveball on 45.9% of pitches thrown this season.
- Morton’s 1004 strikeouts since the 2018 season are the fourth most in baseball.
- Prior to the 2018 season, Morton threw his curveball on 21.3% of pitches throughout his career.
- Since the beginning of 2018 he has thrown his curve on 36.5% of pitches.
- Hitters are registering a .348 batting average on balls in play against Morton in ’23.
- The MLB BABIP this season is .297 for qualified starters.
- Hitters are averaging a 7.60 launch angle against Charlie; MLB average is 12.20.
- In his age 39 season, Morton is the sixth-oldest active pitcher in the majors.
2023 Recap
- Snapped a streak of 11 consecutive games with a decision in his last start against New York (NL); at the time it was the longest active streak in 2023.
- Became the sixth pitcher in franchise history to pitch at least 6.0 innings and strikeout nine or more in an outing at age 39 or older.
- Passed R.A. Dickey and Hall-of-Famer Cy Young with three such games.
- Trails Hall-of-Famers Phil Niekro (10), John Smoltz (8), and Warren Spahn (4).
- Struck out 10 hitters over 6.2 scoreless innings in his win against Texas on May 15.
- Has now struckout at least 10 hitters in six games since turning 38, passing Hall-of-Famer Cy Young for the ninth most such games dating to 1901.
- Morton is the first player with at least six games of 10 or more strikeouts at his age since Hall-of-Famers Randy Johnson and John Smoltz.
- Struck out Cincinnati’s Will Benson on June 25 to record his 1,800th career SO.
- Is one of 13 active pitchers in baseball with as many strikeouts.
