All-Star Spencer Strider struck out 11 and won his seventh straight decision, a 6-1 victory over the slumping Tampa Bay Rays on Saturday night that gave the majors-leading Atlanta Braves their 20th victory in 22 games.
Strider (11-2) joined Tampa Bay’s Shane McClanahan and Arizona’s Zac Gallen as the only 11-game winners in the majors. He improved to 7-0 over his last eight starts and boosted his majors-leading strikeout total to 166.
Sean Murphy homered for the third straight game, a career best for Atlanta’s All-Star catcher. His three-run shot finished a four-run, fourth-inning against rookie Taj Bradley (5-5), who held the Braves hitless until Ronald Acuña Jr. opened the fourth with a double. He then scored on Matt Olson’s RBI single.
Braves’ Sean Murphy sends a three-run shot to left field, extending the lead vs. the Rays in the fourth inning
Murphy, whose two-run homer was the decisive blow in the Braves’ 2-1 victory Friday night in the series opener, hiked the lead to 4-0 and extended Atlanta’s streak of consecutive games with at least one home run to a franchise record-tying 25.
The Braves have homered in every outing since June 11, the longest active streak in the majors. They also had a 25-game streak in 1998 and lead the majors with 168 homers — the record for a team before the All-Star break.
In clinching the weekend series between the teams with the best two records in baseball, the Braves improved to 60-28. The Rays (57-35) have dropped a season-high seven straight games — their longest skid since June 2021 — but still have the top mark in the AL.
Strider, who will travel to Seattle for the All-Star Game on Tuesday night but will not pitch, allowed a leadoff single to Yandy Diaz and a one-out double to Luke Raley before striking out Randy Arozarena and Brandon Lowe to escape a first-inning jam.
The right-hander fanned seven in a row before hitting Wander Franco with a pitch with two outs in the third and finished with the 11th double-digit strikeout performance of his career. Diaz had two of Tampa Bay’s four hits off Strider, who walked one and threw 104 pitches over 6 1/3 innings.
Braves’ Spencer Strider strikes out 11 in 7 innings of work in 6-1 win over the Rays
The Braves lost a shutout bid in the eighth when reliever Ben Heller walked Franco, who eventually scored an unearned run on a throwing error.
Reporting by The Associated Press.
FOLLOW Follow your favorites to personalize your FOX Sports experience Major League Baseball Atlanta Braves Spencer Strider
MLB trending
2023 MLB mock draft 2.0: Shakeup at top between LSU duo Paul Skenes, Dylan Crews
Mets ask Francisco Alvarez to ‘tone it down’ with home run celebrations
Why Angels should trade Shohei Ohtani at the deadline
2023 MLB All-Star Week schedule: How to watch, channels, times, dates
2023 MLB All-Star Game: Rosters, starters, voting results, lineups
The (first-half) All-MLB Teams
2023 Home Run Derby: Participants, bracket, how to watch, start time
Julio Urías gives Dodgers glimpse of ace they need him to be
What we learned in MLB this week: Bryce Harper’s power is missing
Get more from Major League Baseball Follow your favorites to get information about games, news and more