The Atlanta Braves desperately needed a win against the Cincinnati Reds on Thursday. Evidently, they decided they couldn't risk keeping it close.
The Braves offense was on fire all afternoon, thumping Reds pitching to the tune of a 15-3 beatdown. Cy Young favorite Chris Sale got his 18th win of the season and regained the Major League Baseball strikeout lead, but it was the offense that was making history.
The Braves hit six home runs on Thursday, including two each by Matt Olson and Michael Harris II. But that wasn't the craziest part, because somehow, the Braves managed to score 12 runs in this game on just four swings.
Ramon Laureano hit a three-run home run in the top of the third. Then Olson hit one in the fifth. Jorge Soler added one in the sixth. And Harris capped it off with a final trifecta in the ninth.
According to Elias, via the Braves X account, the Braves became the first team in MLB history (since 1900) to hit four or more three-run home runs in a single game. One hundred twenty-five seasons of baseball, representing hundreds of thousands of games, and Atlanta did what no other team had done before.
History is all well and good, but the fact was that the Braves couldn't afford to lose Thursday's game. That would have dropped them 2 1/2 games behind the New York Mets for the final Wild Card spot, with the Mets still having to play later Thursday night.
It was also a great sign for both Olson and Harris, two of the remaining stars of the offense who haven't been struck by the injury bug. The Braves have just nine games left to catch fire, and those two will need to be a huge part of it.
The home run outburst was historic, but the win was of dire necessity. Hopefully, the Braves saved some more dingers for their weekend series with the Miami Marlins.
More MLB: Astros' Jose Altuve doesn't 'see any chances' $200 million superstar leaves Houston
