MIAMI -- Mike Yastrzemski continued his strong May surge Thursday night, falling a triple short of the cycle while helping the Braves to a 9-3 win over the Marlins at loanDepot park.
Yastrzemski went 3-for-3 with a homer, double and two RBIs as Atlanta continued to roll offensively, outscoring Miami, 26-7, over the final three games of the series.
Despite losing one of their best hitters a few days ago, with Drake Baldwin landing on the IL with a Grade 1 oblique strain, Atlanta’s lineup has continued to produce. The news came a day after Ronald Acuña Jr. was reinstated after missing roughly two weeks.
Even with Acuña exiting as a precaution after the fifth inning with left thumb pain, the ballclub kept rolling.
The Braves have now earned their 14th series victory through 16 this season and 35th win of the season, with their only series loss coming against the Mariners in early May and a split series against the Angels in early April.
“It’s been everybody,” Braves manager Walt Weiss said. “[Yastrzemski] is swinging the ball well. He’s worked really hard and it’s paying off. He hit some rockets tonight.”
To Weiss, the lineup continues to pass the baton and do whatever it takes to play winning offensive baseball.
Yastrzemski also credited the organization’s roster construction and decision-making. He believes part of the Braves’ success comes from not forcing young players into bench roles, instead building a roster filled with experienced players capable of competing in difficult environments.
“[Our guys] are talented, track record big leaguers, and when you put veteran guys on the bench, and they’re given the opportunity to make an impact,” Yastrzemski said. “They have been there… and I think that goes a long way.”
Yastrzemski took Sandy Alcantara deep in the top of the second for his third homer of the season. He sent a 90.8 mph changeup a Statcast-projected 398 feet to right-center field -- with the ball landing in the same artificial grass area in right-center field where Michael Harris II had homered earlier in the game. It was Harris' first of two long balls in the win.
“I was just ready for fastballs, right? That's usually [Alcantara’s] best pitch,” Yastrzemski said. “[In the] first inning, he just hung a change-up, probably wasn't where he wanted to throw it.”
In the fifth, Yastrzemski added a single and later scored after an Acuña RBI single. He followed that up in the sixth with a double.
“[Alcantara] threw some good pitches in the next at-bat, where I had to battle, and kind of just stayed with the approach [to look for the fastball],” Yastrzemski said.
Alcantara came into the night, allowing only four home runs in 61 2/3 innings pitched this season, going 28-consecutive innings without surrendering a long ball.
“His stuff's always good,” Yastrzemski said. “So you got to be on your best mentally and physically when you're going up against him, so I think we just did a really good job of being ready for our attack.”
In the month of May, Yastrzemski is slashing .283/.353/.543 with 13 hits and all three of his home runs, compared to April where he owns a .179/.256/.218 slash line. The changes he has seen this month come from how much time he is spending in the batting cages alongside the hitting coaches.
“Part of it is just patience too. I tried to do too much early on in the year, trying to impact games, maybe when I [didn’t] need to,” Yastrzemski said. “[I] just play my own game, and I think that's part of being on a new team and trying to establish yourself.”
That approach has brought the opposite result of what he intended earlier this season.
“That is the silver lining,” Yastrzemski said. “Sometimes the harder you try, the harder it gets. So you just got to let the game come to you and… you have to be ready for when [the opportunities] come.”