The Braves teed off against Vince Velasquez on Saturday night, defeating the Phillies 15-3 to ensure at least a four-game series split in Philadelphia.
Here are five takeaways from Saturday:
1. First baseman Freddie Freeman, who’s hitting .440 over the last month, blasted a two-run homer off Velasquez in the first inning. Outfielder Abraham Almonte followed with a solo shot in the second, giving the Braves an early three-run advantage.
Freeman’s streak of plate appearances without a swing and miss ended in the fifth inning, when he whiffed twice while striking out against Cristopher Sanchez. Freeman went 35 consecutive plate appearances without a swing and miss. He saw 138 pitches over that stretch. Freeman last swung and missed at a pitch July 11 against Marlins starter Pablo Lopez.
“I’ve been hearing about (the streak) for the last couple days,” Freeman said. “I didn’t really even know. I don’t like striking out, so I knew I hadn’t struck out. I didn’t know I had the swing and miss thing going. I’m kind of glad it’s over. I started thinking every time I went up there, ‘Is this the time I’m going to swing and miss?’
“I thought it was going to happen in the first inning with shadows tonight and it didn’t. It came against a guy I hadn’t faced before, so I figured it’d be something like that. But I’m kind of glad it’s over. But it was fun. That was a good time.”
2. The Braves cranked five home runs in the win. After Freeman’s and Almonte’s homers, second baseman Ozzie Albies smashed a three-run homer in the eighth that soared into the right-field seats. Third baseman Austin Riley followed with a moonshot off infielder Ronald Torreyes, summoned for mop-up duty. Outfielder Joc Pederson also hammered a three-run homer off Torreyes in the eighth.
3. Drew Smyly’s turnaround can be summarized by the Braves’ 7-2 record in his past nine starts. Smyly, who was briefly a Phillie in 2019, held his old club scoreless through four innings, but Smyly left early due to left-knee pain.
Smyly said his knee started feeling tight during the fourth inning. He pitched through the frame before the trainers and coaches felt it was best for him to exit. The Braves will know more on Smyly Sunday, but manager Brian Snitker didn’t rule out the southpaw making his next start.
In his final inning, Smyly walked three consecutive Phillies to load the bases. He coaxed a double play from Didi Gregorius and a flyout from Travis Jankowski to escape the inning.
“He felt (the knee pain) in that inning,” Snitker said. “Might have been toward the end of it when he was dancing around the strike zone. That was good to not let that thing (spiral). I never feel safe with any lead in this ballpark, for whatever reason. It’s just one of those places where things can change in a hurry. He did a good job there.”
4. Shortstop Dansby Swanson has had an encouraging series. He emerged from a 1-for-17 skid with a grand slam Thursday that led to his team’s win. He had two hits Friday. A day later, Swanson added an RBI double in the third inning that ended Velasquez’s outing at 53 pitches. He had three hits overall.
5. Almonte added a two-run hit off reliever Brandon Kintzler in the third, with both runs charged to Velasquez. Almonte had three hits and three RBIs. It was his best offensive effort since July 7, when he had two hits and four RBIs in a 14-3 victory over the Pirates.
Stat to know
7 of 8 (The Braves have won seven of Smyly’s last eight starts.)
Quotable
“When you come to a new team, you want to do so well so fast. That’s how it happens. He got settled in and started pitching like who I’ve faced in the past and what he’s done the last couple years.” – Freeman on Smyly overcoming his poor start to the season.
Up next
The series concludes Sunday afternoon when Touki Toussaint makes his second start against Phillies right-hander Aaron Nola (6-6, 4.64).
