MIAMI – Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez isn't much for hugs in baseball, but he knows that his big first baseman most certainly is. Freddie Freeman is, in fact, known for starting the whole hug craze with the Braves, who have personalized versions of hugs for almost any time one of them has a home run or a big hit.
So on Saturday, with Freeman having gone 0-for-28 with one walk and 12 strikeouts in the first seven games against the Marlins this season, Gonzalez did something that Freddie and not Fredi is comfortable doing.
“He’ll be fine, I gave him a hug,” Gonzalez said, smiling before Saturday’s game. “I don’t like giving hugs and all that stuff, it gets a little crazy. But I did give him a hug today, and said if you don’t get them today you’ll get them tomorrow, don’t worry about it.”
A few hours later, Freeman ripped a two-out double to right field in the third inning, driving in the first two runs of the day and starting the Braves toward a wild, 9-5 win against the Marlins to clinch the series at Marlins Park on a day when a pair of prospects came through big and the game’s best closer tied a franchise record.
Craig Kimbrel entered with two on and one out in the ninth inning and got the last two outs to collect his 15th save this season and 154th of his career, tying John Smoltz’s franchise record.
“I know if John had (closed games) his whole career he would have had a lot more,” Kimbrel said of Smoltz, who spent most of his career as a starter and is the only pitcher in history with at least 150 saves and 200 wins. “It is nice to say I’m part of something like that.
“But then again, I’ve had a lot of opportunities, played on good ball teams here my first three or four years. If it wasn’t for that we wouldn’t be sitting here talking about this right now. I’m honored to have the opportunity and the chance, and hopefully have a lot more opportunities to help us win a lot more ballgames.”
Kimbrel struck out Derek Dietrich and induced a fielder’s choice grounder from Giancarlo Stanton, but second baseman Ramiro Pena dropped third baseman Chris Johnson’s throw. With the bases loaded, Kimbrel induced a game-ending groundout by Casey McGehee to give the Braves their second win in as many days against the Marlins after losing four in a row to the Red Sox.
The Marlins had pulled even with the Braves atop the National League East standings before the three-game series.
The Braves built jumped out to a 5-0 lead Saturday, but the Marlins had trimmed it to 6-5 before the Braves added three runs in the ninth inning. It became a save situation again when Braves reliever David Hale gave up a leadoff single and a one-run walk in the ninth inning, which put the potential tying run on deck. Enter Kimbrel.
“We’ve been pitching really well (in the early season) so we were due a little bit of a hiccup here,” said Braves catcher Gerald Laird, who had two hits including an RBI single in the ninth. “We’ve been giving up some runs but it’s nice to come out and score nine and get the offense going. These are the games that count in the division.
“Obviously we dropped four straight to Boston, but these are the ones you’ve got to come in and win when you’re tied and playing teams in your division. These are the games you’ve got to win and I like the way we’ve come back from a four-game losing streak and won two in a row.”
The Braves built a 5-1 lead before things got dicey. The Marlins got two runs in the sixth and added two in the eighth against David Carpenter, who failed to retire any of four batters he faced. With runners on the corners and the Braves nursing a one-run lead, Shae Simmons was brought in for his major league debut and struck out Jarrod Saltalamacchia.
“Up until the last one (in the ninth), that’s the biggest out in the game,” Gonzalez said of Simmons’ strikeout. “All of a sudden they get two outs, nobody on in the eighth, and they mount a rally and get back to within one run. And that was the biggest out. Proud of our club that they go out there and add on some runs in the ninth inning.”
Simmons was called up from Double-A late Friday and got almost no sleep before making two flights to get to Miami late Saturday morning. He said he drank a “bottle of coffee” during the game because he was starting to doze in the bullpen.
“I didn’t see myself going in that game at all because (the score was) so close,” he said. “But I didn’t mind it. I just had to lock in… Luckily I went and threw strikes, because I hadn’t been on the mound since Tuesday. Plus I don’t want to give up any of Carpenter’s runs.”
He said it helped that veteran catcher Laird told him as soon as he entered the game to just let Laird call the pitches and throw whatever he called, which is what Simmons did.
“I’m sure he’s tired, I’m sure he didn’t sleep much last night,” Kimbrel said. “That was big for him to come in in that situation, one-run ballgame, tying run and winning run on base. That’s great to see. I’m happy for him and glad he could come in here and show his presence on the first day.”
Luis Avilan got the first two outs of the inning before the recently shaky Carpenter gave up three hits and a walk.
Braves starter Ervin Santana (5-2) was staked to an early five-run lead for the second time in six days, and this time had better results as he ended his three-game slide with six solid innings. He was charged with seven hits, three runs and two walks in six innings, after blowing a 6-1 lead Monday against the Red Sox and entering Saturday with an 0-2 record and 9.00 ERA in his past three starts.
He induced three double-play grounders, including one after a leadoff single in the first inning and another with two runners on in a scoreless fifth inning.
“The first few innings I didn’t have a feel for my slider,” Santana said. “And after the third inning I was getting more feel for it. And I threw a lot of sinkers today, that’s how I was able to get groundball double plays. Anytime you minimize the damage, it’s huge for a pitcher. And for the team, too. I was able to do it today, so I’m very happy for it.”
Rookie Tommy La Stella had two hits, his first stolen base and his first RBI in his third major league game, and Jason Heyward added a two-run single for the Braves, who go for a three-game sweep Sunday. The Marlins swept a three-game series from the Braves in Miami a month ago.
The Braves were last in the majors with a .159 average with runners in scoring position and two outs before Saturday, when their first six runs came on four hits in those situations. The first was the two-run double by Freeman, who scored on Justin Upton’s single to push the lead to 3-0 in the third inning.
In the fourth inning, after consecutive walks from La Stella and Gerald Laird and a Santana sacrifice bunt, Heyward lined a groundball single up the middle to drive in both runners for a 5-0 lead.
After Santana faced the minimum nine batters through three innings –Laird threw out a would-be base stealer and Santana induced a double-play grounder in that span – Chris Yelich hit a leadoff triple in the fourth and scored on Derek Dietrich’s single. Santana retired the next three, including strikeouts of major league home run and RBI leader Giancarlo Stanton and Garret Jones.
The Marlins cut the lead to 5-3 with a pair of runs off the sixth. Yelich hit a leadoff single, Dietrich tripled, Stanton walked and Casey McGehee had a sacrifice fly before Santana got a double-play grounder from Jones to escape without further damage.
The Braves added what proved to be a valuable insurance run in the seventh when Chris Johnson singled with two out and Simmons walked. First baseman Jones dropped a pickoff throw to allow Johnson to advance to third, and La Stella hit an opposite-field single through the right side for a 6-3 lead.
