Braves pitcher Michael Soroka goes 6 innings, loses to A’s in long-awaited return to mound

By JANIE McCAULEY
AP Baseball Writer

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Atlanta Braves right-hander Michael Soroka has tossed six innings in his long-awaited return to the majors, pitching for the first time since twice tearing his right Achilles tendon. He was called up from Triple-A Gwinnett to start against the Oakland Athletics on Memorial Day — a whopping 1,030 days between outings for the Braves’ 2020 opening-day starter. Soroka allowed four runs on five hits, struck out three and walked two in a 7-2 loss. The 25-year-old pitcher received cheers from Braves fans as he ran out to the mound for the bottom of the first inning to make his first big league appearance since Aug. 3, 2020, then calmly retired the side in order on 13 pitches. He gave up four runs in the fifth and left trailing 4-1.