Dubón goes deep, Braves win another series

Mauricio Dubón was a bit under the weather Tuesday. He was feeling pretty good Wednesday.

Dubón’s three-run home run in the third inning sent the Braves to a 7-3 win over the Blue Jays at Truist Park, giving the Braves yet another series victory. Atlanta has now prevailed in 17 of the 20 series it has played this season and improved to 42-20 overall.

“It’s fun, man. Everybody, from the staff to my teammates, it’s been really fun,” Dubón said. “Just coming here and you don’t know what you’re gonna expect. You got Ronnie (Acuña) doing his thing, you got Ozzie doing his thing, you got Dom (Smith) doing his thing — you got a lot of different guys doing their thing.

“It’s been pretty fun just watching everybody growing up as a family. I think that’s been the biggest one for us.”

After hitting just .222 in May, Dubón’s first day in the starting lineup in June produced the hit the Braves rode to their 19th victory at home. Braves starter Grant Holmes and the best bullpen in baseball made Dubón’s early go-ahead home run stand up before Ozzie Albies yanked a three-run shot in the eighth to end all doubt.

Dylan Lee, despite walking only his fourth batter of the season and first since May 22, put up a zero in the seventh. Robert Suarez pitched around two singles in the eighth, and Tyler Kinley gave up a solo home run to Brandon Valenzuela with one out in the ninth.

The Braves are now 35-0 when leading after eight innings.

Earlier Wednesday, before much of the crowd of 37,178 had time to find their seats, Holmes had loaded the bases in the top of the first inning with back-to-back singles and a walk. But Jesús Sánchez grounded into a 4-6-3 double play, and Ernie Clement struck out, which limited the damage to one run.

“I know the past few outings it’s been hit or miss. I’ve been really working on the mental side of it, thinking about those situations before they actually happen,” Holmes said. “Obviously wasn’t expecting it in the first inning, but I was just saying, ‘Here it goes. Just need a double play here. It’s OK if one scores. Got the best offense in the game.’ Thankfully I got out of it.”

Ha-Seong Kim broke an 0-for-14 skid in the second with an RBI single to left, driving in Eli White, who had drawn a two-out walk. It was Kim’s first hit since May 22.

Nathan Lukes put the Jays (29-33) right back on top in the third by launching a solo home run 374 feet toward the Chop House in right.

Then came Dubón’s moment in the bottom of the inning against Jays starter Patrick Corbin (2-2). A Matt Olson single and an Albies double came with two outs, setting the table for the Braves’ left-fielder, and he took a 2-0 sinker over the heart of the plate and crushed it 405 feet into the Braves’ bullpen in right center for his fifth homer of the season.

“I’ve faced Corbin before. He’s a great pitcher. I know he wanted me to chase early,” Dubón said. “I just had to stay with my approach. The funny thing, I didn’t try to do too much. I just put a good swing on it, ended up catching it front and leaving the yard.”

Dubón is now hitting 11-for-25 (.440) and has 20 RBIs this season when there are two outs and runners in scoring position. His five home runs this season are halfway to his career-high set in 2023 with the Astros.

“You want to deliver when the pressure’s there,” Dubón said. “Anybody can get a three-run home run, but when you actually need it — if you don’t do that or the team loses or you don’t drive in something, I take that into pride.

“I joke around with the guys a lot, when things are on fire, you gotta put ‘em out or try to make something happen.”

Albies’ shot came with two outs in the seventh and was hit off Blue Jays reliever Adam Macko. Albies turned on a 1-1 slider and sent it 393 feet down the left field line.