Giants roll by Braves
ATLANTA — Jose Bautista doubled in his first at-bat of the season and Atlanta set a SunTrust Park attendance record in Ronald Acuña Jr.’s home debut, but San Francisco snapped the Braves’ five-game winning streak as the Giants prevailed 9-4 Friday night.
Freddie Freeman put Atlanta ahead 2-0 with a two-run homer in the first, then Bautista followed with a double off the wall, thrilling a crowd of 41,807 on hand to see the division-leading Baby Braves after a stellar road trip. That’s the most fans since the Braves opened their new park last season.
It was all San Francisco after that. Gregor Blanco, a former Brave, hit a two-run triple during a six-run second inning against Mike Foltynewicz (2-2), and Chris Stratton held Atlanta in check over six innings.
Stratton (3-2) gave up three runs, six hits and two walks while striking out six to recover from a 15-6 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers in his previous start. He mostly shut down the Braves, who began the night in first place in the NL East and leading the majors in slugging percentage.
Foltynewicz endured the worst of his six starts this season, allowing six runs, nine hits and two walks while striking out four in five innings.
Bautista, whose contract was selected from Triple-A Gwinnett, went 1-for-4 with two strikeouts in his Atlanta debut. He was playing his first game of the season after remaining unsigned until mid-April amid a historically slow free agent market.
Bautista played an error-free game at third base, a position the six-time All-Star has played sparingly 2011. He replaces Ryan Flaherty and Johan Camargo in the primary role at that position.
“I just felt like my body was
ready,” Bautista said before the game. “I got enough at-bats to where it’s similar to spring training. That doesn’t guarantee anything up here, so I’ve just got to do what I expect out of myself when the games start.”
The Giants took charge in the second. Blanco tripled, Alen Hanson added a two-run double and scored on a fielder’s choice, and Brandon Belt had an RBI double before Evan Longoria’s RBI groundout put San Francisco up 6-2.
Brandon Crawford’s third homer, a two-run shot, gave the Giants an 8-4 lead in the seventh. Longoria’s seventh homer made it 9-4 in the ninth.
Nick Markakis hit his sixth homer in the third, and Ozzie Albies had a sacrifice fly in the seventh for Atlanta.
Acuña, a 20-year-old rookie sensation off to a hot start, went 0-for-4.
Before the game, Braves shortstop Dansby Swanson was placed on the 10-day disabled list with left wrist inflammation. Swanson was removed from Wednesday’s road game against the New York Mets in the sixth inning and did not play in Thursday’s trip finale. He is hitting .298 with two homers and 13 RBIs but just .171 in his last 35 at-bats.
Atlanta manager Brian Snitker said right-handed pitcher Mike Soroka will make his second career start Sunday, but he wouldn’t commit beyond that. The 20-year-old Soroka won his debut Tuesday at New York, beating the Mets 3-2 while giving up one run on six hits with no walks in six innings.