Braves pound Cubs with five home runs
ATLANTA — Marcell Ozuna homered in a four- run first inning, Huascar Ynoa pitched 5 1/3 strong innings and the Atlan- ta Braves went deep five times to beat the Chicago Cubs 10-0 Wednesday night for their third straight victory.
Ynoa added the first home run of his MLB career in the fourth as Atlanta shut out the Cubs for the second straight night. Chicago has lost five in a row.
Freddie Freeman went 4-for-5 and hit his seventh homer of the season in the sixth. In the first, Freeman singled before Ozuna’s second homer sailed 453 feet into the seats in left-center. Ozzie Albies followed with a double, and Austin Riley hit his third homer of the year over the left-field fence.
Atlanta went up 6-0 in the second when Ynoa and Ronald Acuña Jr. singled and scored on Freeman’s double. Acuña scored on a headfirst slide after hesitating at third on the relay throw.
The first three homers came off Kyle Hendricks (1-3), who gave up seven runs and 11 hits in 3 2/3 innings. Hendricks’ ERA for the season rose by nearly two runs to 7.54. He has allowed 10 homers in 22 2/3 innings this year.
Hendricks has given up seven first-inning homers, the second most of any season in his career. He allowed 10 homers in the first inning during 2018 — in 33 starts. He surrendered a career-high four homers in the first against the Braves during a 13-4 loss on April 17 at Wrigley Field and is 0-3 with a 12.00 ERA with nine homers allowed in his past three starts against Atlanta.
Cubs starters have a 7.91 ERA in the team’s 14 losses.
Ynoa (2-1) gave up four hits and two walks with nine strikeouts. He pitched around Jake Marisnick’s triple in the second and singles by Anthony Rizzo and Matt Duffy in the third. He left in the sixth after giving up a walk to Duffy and a single to Kris Bryant.
The Braves stretched their lead to 8-0 in the fifth on Guillermo Heredia’s RBI double. Albies homered in the sixth to make it 10-0.
Rizzo made his second career appearance on the mound, getting two outs in the seventh, including a strikeout of Freeman. Duffy, the starting third baseman, recorded the final out. Infielder Eric Sogard pitched the eighth.
On the injury front, Braves right-handed pitcher Mike Soroka (right shoulder inflammation) started playing catch Tuesday, but the club still has no timetable for him to resume full baseball activities. Meanwhile, left-handed starter Max Fried (right hamstring strain) will face hitters Thursday and is close to returning from the injured list.