Bryce Elder allowed only one hit over seven scoreless innings and Marcell Ozuna and Ronald Acuna Jr. both homered to lead the Atlanta Braves to a 5-0 win over the visiting New York Yankees on Tuesday.
Atlanta has taken the first two games of the three-game set and has won five of its last six games. New York has lost four straight and seven of its last nine.
Elder (9-4), facing the Yankees for the first time in his career, returned to form by giving up New York’s only hit of the night, a sharp single to center field by DJ LeMahieu in the second inning.
Elder walked three and struck out three and benefited from three double plays. It was a positive sign for the right-hander, who had allowed 12 runs (10 earned) over 9 1/3 innings over his last two starts.
A.J. Minter pitched a scoreless eighth inning and Kirby Yates worked around a walk in the ninth, inducing Aaron Judge to roll into a game-ending double play.
Ozuna blasted a three-run homer 442 feet to center with two outs in the first inning and finished 2-for-2 with two walks. It was the 24th home run of the season for Ozuna, who extended his season-long hitting streak to 13 games and needs one home run to become the team’s fifth player with 25 homers.
Ozuna’s home run gave the Braves a major-league-leading 120 runs in the first inning this year.
Acuna added a 420-foot, two-run blast to center in the fourth inning, his 27th homer and first since Aug. 8. He went 2-for-5 and scored two runs.
The losing pitcher was Luis Severino (2-8), who worked four innings and allowed all five runs (three earned) on five hits, with two walks and five strikeouts. He also was charged with an error while trying to pick off Acuna in the first inning. He has lost four starts in a row and dropped to 0-6 on the road this season.
The New York bullpen did not allow another run, with Wandy Peralta, Jonathan Loaisiga, Tommy Kahnle and Clay Holmes each working a scoreless frame.
–Field Level Media
