The Atlanta Braves opened up a six-game road trip out west on Monday night with a loss to the Oakland Athletics by 7-2 in game one of a three-game set in Oakland, California. That marked the end of an 11-game losing streak for the A’s.
Atlanta jumped to an early lead with an RBI single by Sean Murphy, former A, in the top of the first inning. Oakland surged ahead with four runs during the bottom of the fifth to include an RBI single by Esteury Ruiz and a three-run homer from Ryan Noda. Matt Olson had a solo home run for the Braves against his former team in the top of the eighth to make it 4-2. However, the As scored three runs in the bottom of that inning with RBI singles by Ramon Laureano, Shea Langeliers, and Jace Peterson and went on to win the game, again, by a final score of 7-2.
Mike Soroka took the loss for Atlanta in his first MLB start since 2020 after giving up four runs and five hits, walking two, and striking out three over six innings. Lucas Erceg got the win in relief for Oakland.
The National League East-leading Braves are now 32-22 on the 2023 regular season, while the A’s remain in the last place of the American League West at 11-45. Those teams will meet again tonight at 9:40 pm Eastern. Stay up late and hear all the action on WLAQ 1410 AM/96.9 FM; airtime is 8:25 pm from the Atlanta Braves Radio Network.