Braves first baseman Freddie Freeman waited 10 years for his first career grand slam. He waited almost two full days for his second.
Freeman’s grand slam continued the Braves’ home run onslaught and pushed them past the Nationals, 10-3, on Sunday afternoon at Truist Park. It won’t be remembered as the prettiest series — nor a bullpen masterpiece — but the Braves salvaged a split.
Leading 3-1, the Braves chased Nationals starter Patrick Corbin with a single and walk in the sixth. Reliever Kyle Finnegan walked Dansby Swanson to give Freeman his second bases-loaded at-bat of the day.
Five pitches later, Freeman scooped a sinker to left center for his second grand slam of the series. Entering Friday, Freeman had 5,882 plate appearances without a bases-loaded homer. By Sunday afternoon, he had two within 10 plate appearances.
“I couldn’t believe it, really,” Freeman said. “It took me 10 years to finally hit one, then two days later I get another one. Maybe it is true what the saying is, the floodgates do open.
“I was trying to get it in the air. Right when I hit it, I knew it was gone again. So I was like, ’wow.’ I had a text from Chipper (Jones) who said they come in bunches. Hopefully that’s not the bunches yet and I can get a couple more.”
Freeman’s wife Chelsea, who recently announced she’s pregnant with twins, best summed it up with a tweet: “I guess everything comes in twos now.”
When informed of Chelsea’s tweet, Freddie responded: “That’s a pretty good tweet. She has a sense of humor. That’s another reason why I love her. Well, if I hit another one tomorrow, maybe there’s something hiding (laughs). I don’t know. We’ll say that’s for us having three kids, but only two are coming, so we’ll see if another one happens.”
Notes from Sunday:
- Lost in the Braves’ offensive excellence was starter Josh Tomlin, who held the Nationals to one run on three hits over six innings. He retired 13 of the final 14 batters he faced.
Tomlin is starting games out of necessity, and it’s yielded mixed results, but he’s fared better than the team’s group of young starters. Tomlin throws strikes, even if plenty end up in the seats, and continued doing so Sunday, not issuing a walk.
“Whenever we need him the most, he comes up the biggest,” said Braves manager Brian Snitker. “The guy has been unbelievable in his tenure here. After what we’d been through the last couple days, that was huge.”
It’s unclear how long Tomlin will remain a starter, but for now, he’s providing a semblance of stability that most others have not. As important as Tomlin was in last year’s bullpen, the Braves couldn’t have expected him to be even more crucial this time around when they signed him to a minor-league deal as spring training began.
“We expect a chance to win every time he goes out there,” Freeman said. “He throws strikes, keeps us in the game. To even ask for more than four innings from a guy who was relieving three weeks ago is a lot. It doesn’t matter. He would’ve kept going if he wanted to. He’s a guy who can do anything for your pitching staff. When we needed him to step up and give us six innings today, he did. It was absolutely phenomenal.”
Credit: John Amis
Credit: John Amis
- Marcell Ozuna hit his 13th homer, tying him with Mookie Betts for the second most in the National League (Fernando Tatis Jr., 14). In the seventh, he added a three-run double off a hanging slider after Freeman drew a 15-pitch walk to load the bases.
Over an eight-game hitting streak, Ozuna is hitting .485 with five doubles, five homers and 15 RBIs. He’s hit safely in 18 of 19 games. In the past week, Ozuna has hit .464/.531/.1.143 with four doubles, four homers and 13 RBIs.
“Give it up for the National League player of the week in Marcell Ozuna,” Freeman said. “If that doesn’t happen for him, I don’t know what else you can do to win that award. It was a pretty spectacular week for Marcell.”
- Ozuna has led the Braves’ long-ball barrage: They’ve hit 19 home runs over their past six games. They set a franchise record by hitting three or more homers in five consecutive games, but that run ended Sunday when they only hit two.
- Catcher Tyler Flowers laced a two-run double down the right-field line in the fourth inning. He earned his 300th and 301st career RBIs. Flowers is one of 15 active backstops with 300 RBIs.
- During the top of the seventh, the game was paused when umpire Joe West ejected someone in the stands. He appeared to be signaling toward Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo, who was at his suite.
MLB issued the following statement after the game: “We have already been in communication with the Nationals regarding what transpired during today’s game, and we will speak with the umpiring crew today. We will expect Joe West’s crew to provide a full account of their perspective, and we will follow up with them accordingly.”
When asked about the odd situation, Freeman said: “I heard someone yelling. I think I heard someone yelling a couple days ago, too, I’m not quite sure. But there are no fans so we have to keep the yelling to ourselves. I don’t know who it was, but someone was frustrated with the strike zone. He was heard throughout the whole stadium. I think Joe was just calling to have him removed. I think they kicked him out.”
- The Braves and Marlins will begin a three-game series Monday afternoon. Ian Anderson will make his third career start, but first against a National League team. The Braves will embark on a 10-game road trip — their final trip of the regular season — following the series.
