Ozuna’s grand slam, Fried’s return lift Braves over Nationals

The Braves used a grand slam for the second consecutive night to ignite a victory over the Nationals in Washington. They won this one 5-3 Wednesday, taking the series and giving themselves a chance to sweep their division rivals Thursday afternoon.

Here are five takeaways from the game:

1. Marcell Ozuna had his seven-game hitting streak snapped Tuesday, but he began a new one in grand fashion a day later. Ozuna, whose early struggles are well documented, hit a grand slam off Erick Fedde to put the Braves up 4-0 in the third inning.

Freddie Freeman was intentionally walked to load the bases for Ozuna, who remembered his past failures in those situations. When he saw Nationals manager Davey Martinez signal that they were walking Freeman, Ozuna was ready.

“I was looking up and said a little prayer like, ‘God, please, give me the opportunity to get a base hit’,” Ozuna said. “I just saw the pitch and swung.”

Ozuna’s opposite-field slam was his third home run in seven games. He hit only one homer in the previous 23 games.

2. The past two nights were the first time the Atlanta Braves hit grand slams in consecutive games since Sept. 16-17, 1997. Eddie Perez and Ryan Klesko, respectively, provided the fireworks. Starter Huascar Ynoa and Ozuna were responsible for the latest feat.

Credit: AP

Credit: AP

3. Max Fried started for the first time since April 13, returning from a hamstring strain that sidelined him for a couple weeks. After having an 11.45 ERA across his first three starts, Fried looked much more like his old self. He allowed one run – a Yan Gomes homer – on four hits in five innings (72 pitches). He struck out six and walked one.

“This is the closest I’ve felt back to what I consider myself this year,” Fried said. During his time away, he said he corrected his timing. It showed Wednesday.

Perhaps the most encouraging sequence came in his final inning. He allowed two straight hits to start it. He responded by striking out Yadiel Hernandez and getting Braves killer Trea Turner to hit a ball straight to Fried that resulted in a double play.

“He started out a little slow then he got in the flow of things,” manager Brian Snitker said. “That’s probably as good as his stuff has been all year. You could see in the first, second inning he started getting into a flow, into a rhythm and the stuff was live again. That was really encouraging to see.”

4. William Contreras doesn’t look like a rookie catcher. He smashed his first major-league homer Wednesday as part of a 2-for-4 performance. He’s collected a hit in each of his first three games this season.

The Travis d’Arnaud injury was an unfortunate development. But Contreras’ recent play has eased the blow. He looks like a player who isn’t just ready to assume a bigger role in 2022; he’s playing like he’s deserving to handle the load now.

5. It’s getting to the point the Braves might send a limo to drive Fedde to the ballpark when he’s scheduled to start against them. Entering Wednesday, Fedde had a 14.06 ERA in five games (four starts) against the Braves. He’d allowed 25 earned runs on 32 hits in just 16 innings.

His luck didn’t improve in his latest attempt. He was charged five earned runs (all via Ozuna’s and Contreras’ homers) in five innings. For his career, 30 of the 126 earned runs Fedde has allowed have come against the Braves.

Stat of the game

4 (The Braves lead the majors with four grand slams this season, ahead of the Rockies and White Sox, who each have three.)

Quotable

“To me, he’s going to be better than his brother.” – Ozuna with high praise for Contreras, comparing him with his older brother Willson, a two-time All-Star catcher for the Cubs.

Marcell having fun

Ozuna seems to have the time of his life every time he rounds the bases. Wednesday was no different.

Up next

Drew Smyly will try to turn his season around when he starts Thursday’s series finale. The Braves’ lefty has an 8.05 ERA through five starts.