Braves Bash Twins in Rain-Delayed Series Opener

The Atlanta Braves won a wet and rain-delayed series opener in Target Field against the Minnesota Twins 10-6 on Monday night.

Here’s what you need to know about from the contest.

An explosive start prior to the delay

After a low-scoring homestand, where the Braves went 4-2 despite scoring only 16 runs in the six games, the road trip started off with a bang.

Atlanta put up four runs in the first inning and five more in the second, powered by newly-installed leadoff man Whit Merrifield (who went 5-5 tonight) and some timely homers. Merrifield singled to open the first inning, later being driven in by a Marcell Ozuna single before a Matt Olson homer cleared the bases.

Atlanta had a similar sequence in the second inning - Merrifield singled with two outs in the inning, with Ozuna doubling him in prior to a Matt Olson double that cleared the bases. Travis d'Arnaud cleaned up Twins starter Bailey Ober's mess with the second homer of the game, this one to left field.

After a flyout sent things to the bottom of the 2nd, the game promptly entered an 86-minute rain delay, but at the end of it, there was one surprise:

Max Fried came back after the delay

Once you get over an hour or so of a rain delay, it becomes to be a bit questionable whether or not the starting pitcher will return in that contest or not.

Max Fried did.

The lefty returned after almost 90 minutes on the bench to go five full innings, allowing three runs (only one earned) on four hits. He didn't walk a single batter and struck out seven, but this line doesn't adequately demonstrate how dominant Fried was - he allowed one run on one hit in the bottom of the first and then retired ten straight Twins until an error got Minnesota a baserunner in the fifth inning.

Fried had only seven whiffs in his 73 pitches (53 strikes) but had a healthy 38% CSW thanks to ten called strikes. The win moves Fried to 8-7 on the year.

Is THIS the game that gets Matt Olson going?

Atlanta's 2023 offense was exemplary almost all around, but it was driven by a few players: Ronald Acuña Jr, Austin Riley, Marcell Ozuna, and Matt Olson.

Acuña isn't coming back this season, while Riley probably won't be back until sometime in the postseason. Ozuna's been raking this entire season, and really since last May.

But Matt Olson's production just hasn't been there.

Just one year after putting up a NL-leading 54 homers and 139 RBI on a .283/.389/.604 slash, Olson's stuck at just 22 homers and a .226/.309/.420 line as he struggles to what will probably end up being his worst full season of his career.

Was tonight a sign of things finally turning around?

Olson was 3-5 tonight, launching a first-inning homer and a RBI double in the second, finishing with five RBI. It's the first three-hit game for Olson since June 16th and none of them were cheap: The softest hit ball came off the bat at 102.6, and that was the homer. He had doubles at 105.9 & 110.3 off the bat, as well as a lineout at 107.3.

What’s next for the Atlanta Braves?

The Braves are back at it tomorrow night in Target Field in what we're calling The Name Game: Spencer Schwellenbach (5-6, 3.94) takes on Simeon Woods-Richardson (5-3, 3.69) in what has to be the highest jersey letter total for any starting pitching matchup of the 2024 season. First pitch is scheduled for 7:40 PM ET on Bally Sports.