The joy on Freddie Freeman’s face said it all.
In his 11th season, the Braves’ All-Star first baseman finally got the monkey off his back. Freeman hit the first grand slam of his career on Friday night at Truist Park.
Trailing 7-3 in Game 2 of a doubleheader, Freeman came up for the 105th time with the bases loaded. That time was the charm: He hammered a fastball from the Nationals’ Tanner Rainey to center, showing a glowing smile and several sighs of relief as he rounded the bases.
His slam tied the game, 7-7, in the fourth inning. The Braves went on to lose 10-9 in seven innings.
“It’s just hard to believe he’s never hit a grand slam,” manager Brian Snitker said. “As elite hitter as he is. He’s gotten a lot of bases-loaded hits, but it’s mind-boggling that he’s never hit a grand slam, a guy like that.”
Freeman was a .276 hitter with the bases loaded in his career. He had 24 hits in such situations, including seven doubles, and 66 RBIs. Finally, he added a home run to those numbers.
“It’s surprising when you think about Freddie having 10 years in the big leagues,” outfielder Ronald Acuna said via interpreter team Franco Garcia. “I was really happy to see him enjoy it as much as the team enjoyed it as well.”
With a double earlier in the game, Freeman extended his hitting streak to 18 games. It’s the third-longest run of his career behind a 20-game streak in 2011 and 30-game streak in 2016.
