Michael Harris II Powers Braves Past Red Sox in Thrilling 7-6 Victory

The Braves improved their MLB-best record to 37-18 on Tuesday night in Boston, beating the Red Sox 7-6 in a thriller that came down to the last out. 

Spencer Strider got the start for Atlanta, and he was greeted by back-to-back home runs from Jarren Duran and Ceddanne Rafaela to give the Red Sox a 2-0 lead in the first inning. Duran jumped on a middle-in fastball, pulling it over the right field fence, while Strider floated a slider up in the zone to Ceddanne, who hit a no-doubter over the Monster in left field. Strider bore down and threw four straight scoreless frames before being replaced in the fifth inning, showing great resilience not to fold after a tough first two batters. 

The Braves didn’t score until the fifth inning when Matt Olson walloped a two-run home run over the right field fence to tie the game, and from there the dam broke offensively. 

Two slumping Braves hitters, Austin Riley and Ronald Acuña Jr., recorded big hits in the sixth inning. Riley hit a triple off the Monster in center field and scored on a Michael Harris double two batters later. Acuña drove in a run in that same inning, bringing the score to 5-2. 

There was no bigger hero than Michael Harris, however. The outfielder went 4-for-4 with three runs batted in, a double, and a huge two-run homer in the 8th inning, giving the Braves insurance they’d end up needing. He improved his season average to .304 and currently holds an .864 OPS. 

Dylan Lee threw 1.1 innings, allowing a run on an Isaiah Kiner-Falefa homer, making it a one-run game, and Robert Suarez threw a scoreless eighth inning, only throwing nine pitches. 

Raisel Iglesias came in with a three-run cushion and a 0.00 ERA in the ninth inning, and both went by the wayside. He allowed four hits and two runs, but survived the Red Sox threat in the final inning to seal a 7-6 win. 

Now 37-18, the Braves have two games remaining in this series with Boston and currently have an 8.5-game lead in the NL East over the second-place Washington Nationals. The Marlins, sitting in fourth place, sit just three games back of the second-place Nationals. 

Both Riley and Acuña recorded hits against the Red Sox, and that duo finally getting going would be huge for an already talented Braves team that is getting All-Star-level production from the likes of Iglesias, Robert Suarez, Harris II, and Olson.