PHOENIX – After hitting two home runs off Giants closer Santiago Casilla in the series that ended Sunday, Braves first baseman Freddie Freeman hoped he and the Braves took some momentum into their series against the Diamondbacks starting Monday night at one of his favorite places to hit, Chase Field.
Freeman hasn’t felt good at the plate for the past couple of weeks, but his homer Sunday started a dramatic four-run, ninth-inning rally that lifted the Braves to a 7-5 win, their second in a row to earn a split of a four-game series at San Francisco. Both of his homers off Casilla Friday and Sunday were to center field at AT&T Park.
“Hopefully I can carry the momentum of hitting that homer, and obviously the last one, too, hopefully I can carry that into Arizona,” Freeman said.
Freeman has feasted on Diamondbacks pitching throughout his career, batting .396 in 24 games against the them, with 18 extra-base hits, 25 RBIs and a .434 OBP and .719 slugging percentage before Monday — his highest average and second-highest slugging percentage against any team he’s faced more than three times.
At Chase Field in Phoenix, Freeman had a .400 average (20-for-50) with seven doubles, three homers and 13 RBIs in 12 games before Monday, his highest average and slugging percentage (.720) at any ballpark where he had played more than five games.
“I always like coming here,” said Freeman, a Southern California native. “I always like going to the West Coast. I don’t know if it’s a certain field, team, whatever it is, but I usually seem to do well here. So hopefully it can continue in this series.”
He said the large, dark “batter’s eye” backdrop behind center field at Chase Field was one of the factors that made it a good hitter’s park.
“You can see the ball, and the ball carries here, obviously,” he said. “It’s just a fun place to play. It’s always been good to me, hopefully it continues to be good.”
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