Winning Opening Day at home is fun. Hey, Opening Day at home is fun all by itself. First Opening Day win at home since 2018 and that Nick Markakis home run. The Braves needed to rally from down five runs that day. But they controlled last night from the jump. Chris Sale got double plays in the first two innings. Ozzie Albies’ home run just scraped by the left field pole. Drake Baldwin’s home run just got over the fence. Michael Harris basically called game with a no-doubt home run. Then Chris Sale and the bullpen cruised for the shutout.
How’s that for a palette cleanser? Last year, those double play ground balls versus Sale would have found a way through the infield. A pelican would have come out of nowhere to push Albies’ home run foul. The Braves had at least seven long fly balls like Baldwin’s hit the top of the wall and bounce back into play. And Michael Harris would have barely missed a home run. Is the nightmare of 2025 over? I think I need to see about 90 more of these games to be sure.