Drake Baldwin stood at the plate in the eighth inning Sunday afternoon with four hits already on his line — and then he made it five. The Braves catcher drove a second home run over the wall at Truist Park, capping a career-high five-hit performance that included two long balls and made him the first Atlanta catcher to homer twice in a single game since Johnny Estrada did it on May 15, 2004.
That blast put the finishing touches on an 8-5 Braves win over the Texas Rangers, giving Atlanta two of three in a weekend series between first-place clubs. The NL East-leading Braves notched their 21st series of the season. The AL West-leading Rangers, meanwhile, limped out of Cumberland having surrendered 29 runs across three games — the kind of pitching collapse that’d get a staff extra wind sprints back when I was coaching, and I don’t mean that as a metaphor.
Austin Riley matched Baldwin homer for homer. Riley went deep in each of his first two at-bats against Rangers starter Nathan Eovaldi, both solo shots, and added a two-run single in the seventh to finish with three hits and four RBIs. Riley entered the All-Star break hitting .207 with nine home runs. He collected three homers in this series alone and raised his average to .217. Sometimes a man just needs to see the ball come out of a hand he recognizes. The film doesn’t lie.
Eovaldi (9-8) lasted four innings, allowing four runs on the solo homers plus a manufactured first-inning run. He has now given up 22 home runs this season — the third-highest single-season total across his 15 major-league campaigns. He allowed 23 in 2016 and 23 again in 2024. For a pitcher who’s built a career on commanding the edges, that many balls leaving the yard tells you something’s off, whether it’s the stuff, the location, or the game plan.
Texas clawed back in the fifth. Wyatt Langford ripped an RBI double and the Rangers pushed across three runs off Atlanta starter Grant Holmes (6-4) to cut the deficit to 4-3. Holmes lasted five innings, allowing those three runs. But the Rangers stranded the tying run on second base in that inning, left two more in scoring position in the sixth, and then the defense buckled.
In the bottom of the seventh, Atlanta put the game away with three runs — and the Rangers helped them do it. Texas botched a rundown and made questionable infield decisions during the rally, the kind of breakdowns that turn a competitive game into a rout. Riley’s two-run single came during that inning.
Langford finished 3-for-5 with two runs scored, two RBIs, and a ninth-inning home run off Braves closer Raisel Iglesias — too little, too late. He was the one Texas hitter who looked like he’d shown up ready to play all nine.
The Rangers head home to open a series Monday against the Chicago White Sox, who sit atop the AL Central. Jacob deGrom (7-5, 3.49 ERA), scratched before the All-Star break with a mild left glute strain, is expected to return to the mound. Atlanta continues its homestand Monday with Bryce Elder (5-6, 4.12) facing San Diego’s JP Sears (2-2, 5.03).
Twenty-nine runs in three games. That’s not a slump — that’s a five-alarm fire in the barn, and the horses are still inside.
