Freeman drives in 3, Braves win again
Atlanta captures its fourth straight to take Anderson off the hook
Freddie Freeman hit a tworun homer and drove in the go-ahead run with a grounder in the seventh inning to lead the Atlanta Braves to a 5-4 win over the Philadelphia Phillies on Saturday night.
The Braves, who opened the season with four consecutive losses, have recovered with a four-game winning streak, including the first two games of this series against the NL East rival Phillies. Atlanta’s 0-4 start included three losses in Philadelphia.
Pinch-hitter Ehire Adrianza’s double off Archie Bradley (0-1) started the seventh. Ronald Acuna Jr. singled, moving Adrianza to third.
Freeman hit a one-out grounder that left-hander Jose Alvarado fielded on the mound. Alvarado looked to second, but with the infield drawn in for a play at the plate, no fielder was covering the bag. Alvarado then
threw late to the plate. Adrianza scored without a slide.
Sean Newcomb (1-0) had strikeouts on four of his six outs in relief of Shenendehowa graduate Ian Anderson. The right-1 hander yielded four runs in 5 ⁄3 innings and gave up homers to Andrew Mccutchen in the fifth and Bryce Harper in the sixth.
Will Smith pitched a perfect ninth for his second save.
Athletics 7, Astros 3: Ramon Laureano hit a two-run homer, rookie Seth Brown connected for his first big league
home run and Oakland beat Houston.
Giants 4, Rockies 3: Brandon Crawford delivered the decisive hit for a second straight day, connecting for a three-run homer in the sixth inning as San Francisco beat Colorado.
Brewers 9, Cardinals 5: Avisail Garcia homered, doubled and drove in five runs as Milwaukee beat St. Louis, ending the Cardinals’ four-game winning streak.
Mariners 4, Twins 3 (10): Mitch Haniger homered and hit the go-ahead sacrifice fly in the 10th inning, giving Seattle a victory over Minnesota. All three of Minnesota’s losses this season have come in the 10th, with the bullpen struggling with baseball’s new-asof-2020 rule that starts each extra inning with a runner on second base.
Indians 11, Tigers 3: Aaron Civale allowed just three hits while dominating Detroit over 72⁄3 innings and was backed by five home runs, including Jordan Luplow’s three-run shot, as Cleveland pounded the Tigers. Luplow narrowly missed a second three-run homer, settling for a two-run double to finish with a career-high five RBIS.
Pirates 8, Cubs 2: Mitch Keller pitched five efficient innings and Pittsburgh used an early burst to chase Zach Davies in a win over Chicago.
Padres 7, Rangers 4: Trent Grisham hit a go-ahead homer for San Diego in the seventh inning and the Padres followed up the franchise’s first nohitter with a victory over Texas.
Diamondbacks 8, Reds 3: Riley Smith pitched six effective innings in his first career start, Tim Locastro had four hits and Arizona cooled off Cincinnati, which had won six in a row.
Notes: Kansas City and Chicago will have to wait at least another day to resume their series after Saturday’s game was postponed because of rain. It will be made up as part of a split doubleheader May 14 . ... Detroit Tigers starter Julio Teheran could miss significant time with a strained shoulder. The team placed the right-hander on the 10-day injured list Saturday . ... Atlanta placed right-hander Chris Martin on the 10-day injured list with right shoulder inflammation.