Marcell Ozuna and Charlie Morton combine to help Braves dismantle Mets

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Field Level Media
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Aug 23, 2023; Cumberland, Georgia, USA; Atlanta Braves designated hitter Marcell Ozuna (20) drives in a run with a single against the New York Mets during the first inning at Truist Park.
Aug 23, 2023; Cumberland, Georgia, USA; Atlanta Braves designated hitter Marcell Ozuna (20) drives in a run with a single against the New York Mets during the first inning at Truist Park.
Image: Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports

Charlie Morton pitched seven scoreless innings, and Marcell Ozuna continued his torrid hitting with four RBIs to lift the Atlanta Braves to a 7-0 win over the visiting New York Mets in the rubber game of their three-game series.

The Braves won the series' final two games and finished the season 10-3 against the Mets.

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Morton (13-10) allowed only two hits — a pair of doubles to catcher D.J. Stewart — and walked one to extend his streak of scoreless innings to 18. He struck out a season-high 11 batters, his second straight game with double-digit strikeouts. Stewart broke up Morton's no-hit bid with a one-out double in the fifth inning.

Michael Tonkin pitched a scoreless eighth, and Kirby Yates finished with a scoreless ninth to complete Atlanta's 15th shutout, best in MLB.

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The Atlanta offense was paced by Ozuna, who went 3-for-4 with a double and a two-run homer, his 28th, that put the game away. In the three games against New York, Ozuna hit .727 (8-for-11) with four home runs, seven RBI, six runs and one walk.

The losing pitcher was Jose Quintana (1-5), who was knocked out after pitching 5 1/3 innings and allowing five runs on nine hits, three walks and five strikeouts.

The Braves scored a run in the first inning when Ozuna singled to drive in Austin Riley. It was the 123rd first-inning run scored by the Braves, only four shy of matching the franchise record set in 1999. No other team entered Wednesday with more than 93.

Atlanta broke the game open by scoring four times in the sixth inning. Ozuna drove in a run with his 18th double. Sean Murphy followed with an RBI single to chase Qunitana. Phil Bickford entered and allowed a two-out triple to Vaughn Grissom to extend the lead to 7-0.

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New York's Francisco Lindor singled in the eighth inning to extend his hitting streak to 10 games.

—Field Level Media