WASHINGTON – Freddie Freeman doubled in the first inning Friday to set up the first run of the Braves’ series opener at Nationals Park, then doubled in the third inning to push the lead to 2-0. None of this should’ve come as a surprise to anyone who’s watched these teams play the past few years.
It certainly couldn’t have surprised the Nationals, who are still trying to figure out how to slow Freeman.
In his past 29 games against Washington before Friday, Freeman hit .409 (47-for-115) with 10 doubles, five homers, 10 walks and a .454 on-base percentage and .626 slugging percentage. That included eight hits in the three-game series April 26-28 at Turner Field, with multi-hit games in each and a four-hit night in the middle game.
Freeman entered this weekend series with a .337 career average and 30 extra-base hits (nine homers) in 76 games against Washington, including a .324 average in 37 games at Nationals Park, albeit with only two homers and a .434 slugging percentage in 136 at-bats.
His first- and third-inning doubles Friday came with runners on base, continuing another trend: Freeman thriving with runners on base.
Before Friday he hit just .250/.300/.411 in 56 at-bats with nobody on base, but with runners on he was a robust 20-for-51 (.392) with eight doubles, three homers, 15 RBIs, six walks and a .456 OBP and .725 slugging percentage. And that was before Friday, when he added two more doubles with runners on before the end of the third inning.
