Freeman, Acuna Jr. lift Braves
Freddie Freeman hit a go-ahead homer in the third inning, Ronald Acuna Jr. also went deep and the Braves beat the Miami Marlins, 5-3, last night in Atlanta.
The Braves moved to a half-game behind first-place Philadelphia in the NL East.
Brian Anderson’s two-run homer off Julio Teheran (8-7) in the first gave Miami a lead Wei-Yin Chen (3-8) couldn’t hold.
The Braves pulled even in the second when Tyler Flowers walked, moved to third on Johan Camargo’s double and scored on Ender Inciarte’s fly ball. Camargo scored on Teheran’s two-out single up the middle.
Freeman’s homer, his 18th, in the third gave Atlanta the lead. Flowers walked and scored from first on another double to left by Camargo.
After J.T. Realmuto’s run-scoring double in the fifth cut Atlanta’s lead to 4-3, Acuna led off the bottom of the inning with his 10th homer, just over the reach of Magneuris Sierra in center field.
A.J. Minter pitched the ninth for his sixth save in six chances.
Chen’s road struggles continued as he allowed five runs in five innings.
Entering the game, Chen had a 10.47 ERA in eight road starts, compared with a 2.18 mark in eight home starts. According to figures from Elias Sports Bureau, the 8.29 gap between Chen’s home and road ERA was the highest for any pitcher in the majors with five or more home and road starts.
Teheran needed 98 pitches to pitch five innings. He allowed three runs on four hits and four walks.
Right-hander Brad Brach, acquired from Baltimore on Sunday in exchange for international bonus pool allotment, made his Atlanta debut by giving up one hit in a scoreless eighth.
Elsewhere in baseball — San Francisco Giants righthander Johnny Cueto was placed on the disabled list with a sprained right elbow, and manager Bruce Bochy said there’s a “strong possibility” he will need reconstructive surgery.
The issue with Cueto, who has been limited to nine starts this year, has “been lingering quite a while,” Bochy said before the Giants opened a two-game series against the Padres.
“We battled it, we fought this elbow issue, had it looked at, it’s just not going away,” said Bochy. “If that’s the case, where he does have surgery, Tommy John, then I’m sure he’d like to get that behind him. Again, I hate to talk about that because that has not officially been determined yet.”
The 32-year-old Cueto is 3-2 with a 3.23 ERA. He was on the 60-day DL earlier this year with the elbow injury.
The Giants also placed infielder Pablo Sandoval on the DL with a strained right hamstring. Sandoval had an MRI exam and doctors in San Francisco were still reading it to determine the degree, Bochy said. …
The Dodgers placed All-Star right-hander Ross Stripling on the 10-day disabled list with right first toe inflammation. The team also recalled left-hander Dylan Floro from Triple-A Oklahoma City.