Dubón does it again as Braves beat Pirates

Mauricio Dubón not only continued his hot start to June, but he also earned everyone in attendance at Friday’s game at Truist Park a free small ice cream from RaceTrac gas stations, an in-stadium promotion during the fifth inning of the Braves’ 6-3 win over the Pirates.

Not that Dubón needs any help to climb toward the top of the list of fan favorites on this season’s Braves team.

Dubón went 2-for-4, drove in three and scored twice in Friday’s win. He also hit a home run for the third game in a row — the first time in his MLB career he has done that — and is 5-for-11 with seven RBIs, four runs and a walk over the last three games. Oh, and he has done all that while fighting a nasty cold.

“I told the guys I’m gonna have my kid sneeze at my face every night from now on,” Dubón said.

An RBI single in the fifth by Dubón was part of a three-run inning for the Braves, who trailed 3-1 after the top of the second inning. Dubón, of course, had hit a two-run homer in the third to tie the game then, and the Braves (43-21) never trailed again.

“I told (Braves manager) Walt (Weiss), ‘I don’t care where I play as long as he lets me play for one through nine,’” Dubón said. “Wherever I play that night, it is what it is. I ended up getting to play short (Friday) and contribute with the bat.”

The Braves improved to 6-0 at home on Fridays, 10-1 in series openers at home, and 16-5 in series openers overall. They are also now 17-4 following a loss.

It was an odd night for Braves’ starter Martín Pérez, who threw four perfect innings but also allowed three runs in the third inning. He departed after five frames and 85 pitches, having struck out five.

At Truist Park this season, Pérez (4-3) has a 1.66 ERA and has held opponents to a .155 batting average.

“He’s Picasso, man,” Dubón said of Pérez. “It’s funny because I faced (Pérez) in ‘22, ‘23 and a couple times in ‘24. I know when he’s gonna throw the backdoor cutter. I know when (hitters) challenge those pitches. I’m like, ‘Yeah, that ball came back.’ I know. I’ve argued so many times with the umpire. And then that front-hip sinker. He’s a veteran, man. He is out there just grinding and everything and he makes it look easy.”

Ronald Acuña Jr. gave the Braves a 1-0 lead in the second with a two-out RBI single to right that scored Austin Riley from second. That hit made Acuna 9-for-21 lifetime against Pirates starter Mitch Keller (5-3).

The Pirates (34-30) drew even, however, in the third when Pérez walked Spencer Horwitz and gave up a double into the left-center gap to Jared Triolo. Catcher Henry Davis, hitting .143 before his at-bat, lifted a knuckling line drive to center for an RBI sacrifice fly.

Triolo went to third on the play and scored on Nick Gonzales’ bunt single to third, putting the Pirates up 2-1. One out later, old friend Marcell Ozuna blooped an RBI single into shallow right, making it 3-1.

Dubón erased that deficit quickly with a two-run homer in the bottom of the inning. His 405-foot shot to left off a hanging curveball tied the game.

“I just saw something,” Dubón said. “When things are going right, you guess right every time. I just saw something, thought (Keller) was going to throw me that pitch and ended up guessing right, and then just took my chance right there.”

It was Dubón again in the fifth, given a one-out, runners-at-the-corners situation. He slapped a ball the other way into right field for a hit, a ball that right fielder Jhostynxon Garcia let skip right past him all the way to the wall.

“(Playing) with him, it’s good. Playing against him, it’s not good,” Pérez said of Dubón. “Believe me, I’ve faced that guy for many years in Houston. He’s one of the guys you throw something close that he can hit and he’s gonna kill you. He’s a smart hitter, he’s a smart guy, he knows his game and he’s helping us a lot.”