Freeman, Braves knock off Blue Jays
TORONTO — Braves manager Brian Snitker calls first baseman Freddie Freeman “a boring professional.”
Snitker's only half right. These days, there's plenty of excitement whenever Freeman swings the bat.
Dansby Swanson hit a tiebreaking homer in the seventh inning, Freeman added a two-run shot and the Atlanta Braves beat the Toronto Blue Jays 9-5 on Wednesday, sweeping their
two-game series.
Swanson snapped a 5-all tie with a leadoff drive to center off Danny Barnes (0-1).
“I felt like I hit it so well that you kind of don't even feel it,” Swanson said. “You just catch it right on the sweet spot.”
Freeman hit his NL-leading 14th home run, matching Yankees slugger Aaron Judge for most in the majors. It was Freeman's second homer in two games.
Freeman, who has four home runs in seven games at Rogers Centre, has said playing for Canada in the World Baseball Classic helped him get off to a strong start this season.
“I've felt locked in since March,” Freeman said. “I guess I've got to go play winter ball (next year).”
Swanson said the ultra-consistent Freeman is “a joy to watch.”
“It's truly remarkable what he's able to do,” Swanson said. “He doesn't change anything ever. He's so good at staying within himself, understanding what he does best and going up there and doing that. He does it day in and day out.”
Matt Kemp had two hits and four RBIs for the Braves, who have won four of five after losing eight of their previous nine.
“We've been swinging the bats well and the pitching is coming around,” Freeman said. “We're all starting to play together.”
Kevin Pillar homered and had two hits for Toronto. Pillar's sixth homer, a solo shot off Jamie Garcia, was his ML-leading 51st hit.
The Blue Jays have lost two straight following a seasonhigh five game winning streak.
“We just couldn't stop their offense,” manager John Gibbons said.
Jose Ramirez (2-1) pitched 1 2/3 innings for the win. Kemp hit a two-run single in the first and the Braves took a 3-0 lead on Jace Peterson's RBI single in the fourth.
Garcia held Toronto hitless until Pillar doubled to begin the fourth. Justin Smoak drew a two-out walk and both runners scored on a double by Devon Travis.
Freeman made it 5-2 by connecting off Marco Estrada in the fifth, but Pillar replied with his homer in the bottom half.
Toronto chased Garcia and tied it in the sixth. Ramirez came on after Smoak's one-out walk and gave up a double to Travis, an RBI single to Darwin Barney and an RBI groundout by Ezequiel Carrera.
The Blue Jays put runners at first and second with none out against Arodys Vizcaino in the eighth but couldn't score. Travis struck out after failing to get a bunt down and Barney lined into a double play with pinch-runner Darrell Ceciliani doubled off second.
Rays 6, Indians 4
CLEVELAND — Corey Dickerson hit two of Tampa Bay's season-high five home runs, leading the Rays to a victory over the Cleveland Indians.
Dickerson hit solo home runs in the third and fifth off Danny Salazar (2-4). Colby Rasmus and Derek Norris also hit solo shots off Cleveland's starter while Tim Beckham hit a two-run homer off Shawn Armstrong.
Jake Odorizzi (3-2) allowed four runs in six innings. The right-hander took a 6-1 lead into the sixth, but Edwin Encarnacion broke an 0-for-18 skid with a two-run homer to cap a three-run rally.
Jose Alvarado retired all six batters he faced and Alex Colome pitched out of a ninth-inning jam for his 10th save.
Encarnacion led off with a single, but Colome retired Jose Ramirez on a groundout and struck out Lonnie Chisenhall and Yan Gomes.
Indians center fielder Bradley Zimmer was 0 for 3 with three strikeouts in his major league debut. Cleveland called
up its No. 1 pick in 2014 from Triple-A Columbus earlier Tuesday.
The Rays won despite striking out 16 times. Rasmus homered with two outs in the second while Norris and Dickerson went back-to-back to start the third. Dickerson cleared the wall in center to lead off the fifth for his fifth career two-homer game, a drive that landed in the trees and traveled an estimated 449 feet.
Beckham's sixth-inning home run pushed the lead to 6-1. After using five relievers in Monday's win, the Indians needed Salazar to pitch deep into the game, but he was pulled following a leadoff double in the sixth. The right-hander was charged with five runs and struck out nine in five-plus innings.
Salazar was coming off a shaky outing against Toronto, in which he couldn't hold two early leads and allowed five runs in 2 2/3 innings. He hasn’t won since April 29.
Nationals 8, Pirates 4
PITTSBURGH — Bryce Harper belted his 13th home run, Ryan Zimmerman smacked a two-run double to add to his major league-leading RBI total and the Washington Nationals held off the struggling Pittsburgh Pirates.
Harper's laser to the last row of seats in right field in the ninth gave the 24-year-old star a home run in every ballpark in the National League. He finished with two hits to move ahead of Zimmerman for the major league-lead in batting average (.388).
Zimmerman had two hits, including a double in third inning that gave him 38 RBIs on the season. Jayson Werth added three hits and is batting .457 (16 for 35) in his last
nine games.
Stephen Strasburg (4-1) allowed three runs in six-plus innings, walking one and striking out three on a night he didn't have his best stuff.
Josh Harrison had two hits for the Pirates, including his sixth home run of the season, and also avoided a tag at second base with an acrobatic slide in the sixth. Chad Kuhl (1-4) remained winless since the first week of the season.
The Nationals are in the process of running away with the NL East not even a quarter of the way into the season thanks to the best offense in baseball. The lineup wasted little time getting to Kuhl, who hasn't won since beating Atlanta six weeks ago.
Trea Turner led off with a double and scored on Werth's RBI single. Strasburg led off the third with a single, moved to second on a single by Werth, and Zimmerman followed one batter later with a double that put the Nationals in front 4-1. Michael Taylor tripled with one out in the fourth, and Wilmer Difo, who came in batting just .196, sent Kuhl’s pitch to the
seats for his first of the season to make it 6-1. Kuhl's ERA ballooned to 6.69 in eight starts.
Astros 12, Marlins 2
MIAMI — Unbeaten ace Dallas Keuchel became the first seven-game winner in the majors despite pitching only five innings, his shortest outing this season, and the Houston Astros beat the sinking Miami Marlins.
Jake Marisnick tripled his season RBI total to six with a pair of two-run homers against his former team, both caroming off the home run sculpture at Marlins Park. Brian McCann also had four RBIs. Keuchel (7-0) allowed two runs, both in the first inning, and threw 70 pitches before departing with a 10-2 lead. His
ERA rose to 1.84.
The Astros (28-12) own the best record in the majors and have won 13 of 16 games. The last-place Marlins (14-24) are headed the other way, losing 16 of 20. They’re 1-7 on their
homestand going into Wednesday's finale.
Tom Koehler (1-2) gave up eight runs in three innings and was optioned to Triple-A New Orleans after the game. He won 30 games from 2014-16 but has an ERA of 7.04
this year.
Miami went hitless for the final 6 2/3 innings against Keuchel and two relievers, and totaled just four hits.
The Astros used five singles to score three times in the first inning. Koehler issued three consecutive two-out walks in the second, and McCann hit the next pitch for a three-run double.