The New York Yankees and the Atlanta Braves ended their three-game series on Sunday, with the latter emerging victorious. In the third game, the Braves defeated the hosts 3-1 to improve to 43-32 in the season. It was a game with very little to see from the offenses of both sides. The Yankees broadcaster took a jibe at the Braves for their underwhelming offense during the third inning of the game.
Michael Kay was in the booth when he mentioned a few of the Braves' offensive stats, and called it 'mid.'
"Look at all of their offensive numbers, Joe, and as the kids would say, it's very mid." Kay said (via Talkin' Baseball's X handle). "I mean, really, 14th in baseball, you know, average 14th, OPS, on base percentage, 16th, home run is tied for 12th, they're very middle of the road."
The Braves are 13th in the MLB in home runs (85), 14th in batting average (.245), 18th in OBP (.309), and 13th again in OPS (.719). However, there are a lot of contributing factors to it. For one, their 2023 MVP hitter Ronald Acuna Jr. is out for the season after tearing his ACL in the knee a month ago.
Braves subdue Yankees offense; pitching takes over
The Yankees offense ran low in numbers on Sunday. It was the case with the Braves hitters as well, but they scored just enough to clinch a victory.
Ozzie Albies had an RBI hit in the third against Nestor Cortes Jr. In the fifth, Cortes Jr. surrendered a two-run home run by centerfielder Jarred Kelenic. All in all, Cortes Jr. pitched seven innings, allowing three runs to be scored while striking out seven hitters.
On the other hand, lefty Max Fried was locked in. He threw six innings for six hits and one earned run. The lone RBI hit came from Anthony Volpe in the sixth. However, that was the only scoring shot from the home team, as the Braves reliever held down the fort.
The Yankees have dropped to 52-28 but are still atop the AL East leaderboard. They now travel to Citi Field for a two-game series against the New York Mets.