BOSTON—The Braves finally hit a home run.
Braves first baseman Freddie Freeman led off the eighth inning with a homer against Red Sox left-hander Tommy Layne on Wednesday at Fenway Park. That ended the franchise record for consecutive games without a home run at 15 games.
“Get the monkey off the back,” Freeman said. “Hopefully getting that one out of the way we will start hitting hit a few more, especially when they need to count with guys on base.”
It was Freeman’s first homer since opening day and the first allowed by Layne to a lefty hitter in 144 at-bats. Freeman also doubled to improve to 7-for-20 (.350) over his last five games.
Before Wednesday night Drew Stubbs hit the last home run for the Braves, on April 10 against Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright. According to ESPN Stats and Information the 15-game homerless stretch was the longest in the majors since the Cardinals went 18 games without one in 1991.
The Braves entered the game with just three home runs on the season, tying the 1931 team for the fewest through 20 games in franchise history.
