Braves Explode for Six Runs in Sixth, Rout Guardians 11-5

Trailing 2-1 entering the sixth inning, the Atlanta Braves sent 10 batters to the plate against Slade Cecconi, collected seven hits, and scored six runs to bury the Cleveland Guardians 11-5 on Friday night at Truist Park in a matchup of first-place teams.

The eruption opened with Ronald Acuña Jr., who had entered the night with a .265 slugging percentage against a .515 expected slugging percentage, his hard contact producing little in the way of results all season. That changed when Cecconi hung a curveball and Acuña sent it into the seats for his first home run of 2026, knotting the score at 2-2. Drake Baldwin followed with a single to center before Matt Olson connected on a 3-0 count for a 441-foot, 111.6 MPH two-run blast that struck the top of the Chop House restaurant roof in right field, his fourth homer of the season, giving Atlanta a 4-2 lead. Austin Riley's single extended the stretch to four consecutive batted balls at 104 miles per hour or harder in the same inning. Dominic Smith then drove in Riley, and Michael Harris II, another Braves outfielder who had been producing hard contact without the power numbers to reflect it, capped the frame with a two-run homer of his own, his second of the season, pushing the score to 7-2. Baldwin's RBI double and a subsequent error lifted Atlanta's final total to 11.

Tyler Kinley earned the victory after tossing a perfect sixth inning in relief, improving to 2-0. Cecconi fell to 0-2, having allowed five runs on seven hits in 5⅓ innings. Allowing their starter to face Atlanta's lineup a third time through the order proved catastrophic once the Braves timed his pitches.

The game had offered little early hint of the collapse. Atlanta scored first in the third inning when a passed ball by catcher Bo Naylor set up a broken-bat single by Acuña that scored Dominic Smith for a 1-0 lead. Smith finished with three hits and two RBIs. Cleveland answered in the fourth when first baseman Kyle Manzardo tagged Braves starter Bryce Elder for a 454-foot solo homer to center field, the first earned run Elder had surrendered all season. The Guardians went ahead 2-1 in the fifth on an RBI single by Steven Kwan, assisted by a fielding error from Atlanta left fielder Mike Yastrzemski. Elder departed after 4⅔ innings, having allowed two runs, five hits, and three walks.

Guardians manager Stephen Vogt found a partial silver lining in Manzardo's shot. "Yeah, it was great for Kyle," Vogt said. "You know, obviously he's been hitting the ball hard, just [right] at people." The same contact-luck variance that plagued Manzardo had defined the early-season experience for Acuña and Harris on the other side; Friday night was the Braves' answer to it.

Cleveland added three runs off Braves reliever José Suarez in the eighth but never threatened Atlanta's lead.

The win pushed the Braves to 9-4, tops in the NL East, and closed a 13-game opening stretch in which Atlanta also posted the best ERA in the majors despite a stretched rotation. The Guardians fell to 8-5 but retained first place in the AL Central. Adding a period touch to the occasion, Atlanta debuted their City Connect powder blue uniforms, inspired by the franchise's 1970s look. Parker Messick, carrying a 1-0 record and a 0.82 ERA, was scheduled to start Game 2 for Cleveland the following night.