Adam Duvall

Adam Duvall smashed a two-run home run to give the Atlanta Braves an early lead over the New York Mets.

The right-hander piled up five strikeouts on the afternoon while issuing one base on balls. He kept the Braves off the scoreboard completely through his first three innings of work before allowing RBI singles to Matt Olson and Adam Duvall in the fourth and fifth innings respectively. Vasquez generated six whiffs on 73 pitches in the ballgame, posting a CSW of 26 percent. He concludes his first half with a 2-5 record, 4.57 ERA, 1.56 WHIP and a 43/15 K/BB ratio over 63 innings through his first 13 starts.

Cease allowed just one hit on the night -- an infield single by Marcell Ozuna to start the second inning -- while issuing three free passes. The biggest threat against him came as Cease issued a pair of one-out walks in the fourth inning, but he battled back to get Adam Duvall on a pop out and Eddie Rosario on strikes to end that threat. He generated a whopping 27 swings and misses on 106 pitches on the night -- 14 on his slider and 12 on his fastball -- while posting an elite CSW of 37 percent. The 28-year-old hurler wraps up his first half with an 8-8 record, 3.99 ERA, 1.08 WHIP and a 149/36 K/BB ratio over 115 frames in his 20 starts.

Duvall, who came into this one hitting .136/.168/.197 in 137 plate appearances against right-handers, took Zac Gallen deep in the sixth, knocking him out of the game. The Braves still ought to consider upgrading in his spot soon, but at least he has turned it on some by opening July 10-for-31 with two homers.

It seems like batting Murphy sixth and Adam Duvall eighth against a righty would make more sense, but Duvall is in the sixth spot today. Murphy started over Travis d'Arnaud about two-thirds of the time in June, but they've strictly alternated starts in the Braves' last six games. He still has a nice ceiling, but these manueverings make Murphy a pretty weak option in one-catcher mixed leagues.