A day after Braves hitters were held to two runs in a 10-inning loss at Colorado, they got back on track Sunday with three homers in a 4-0 win including a pair from their young middle infielders and one from the grizzled veteran right fielder whose power was supposedly diminished.
Nick Markakis and Dansby Swanson hit consecutive homers in the sixth inning off left-handed starter Kyle Freeland and Ozzie Albies hit his team-high third homer in the seventh off lefty reliever Chris Rusin, after Albies had driven in the first run with a ground-rule double in the fifth inning.
The 6-3 Braves, winners of three consecutive series to start the season, remain the highest-scoring team in the majors with 62 runs in nine games, ahead of the Angels, who have 60 runs in eight games.
They won Sunday without a run or RBI from their star, Freddie Freeman, who was 1-for-3 with a first-inning double and a walk.
“We’re grinding. We’re playing baseball, we’re playing well together and our pitching’s been outstanding,” said Markakis, the 34-year-old right fielder who has two homers in nine games after hitting eight in 160 games in 2017. “When you get good pitching, defense, timely hitting, good things happen….
“We’re not relying on one person. We’ve got a great lineup right now and Snit’s been doing a great job of utilizing everybody.”
Manager Brian Snitker’s Braves have scored four or more runs in seven of nine games without relying much on the long ball. They hit three homers in an 8-5 opening-day win against the Phillies but only five in the seven games between then and the series-clinching win at Coors Field.
“Every day it’s someone new, it seems like, that’s contributing,” Braves pitcher Sean Newcomb said of the offense. “And here in Coors today we hit some homers, so that was a huge help.”
Newcomb pitched six scoreless innings with nine strikeouts and no walks in the best start of his young career, and the Braves came through with run support in the middle innings after wasting a few chances early.
In the fifth inning, Ender Inciarte drew a two-out walk and stole second base before Albies drove him in with a ground-rule double. In the sixth, Markakis homered 429 feet to straightaway center and Swanson followed with a career-long 438-foot homer to center, his first of the season and the first back-to-back jacks for the Braves.
Albies capped the scoring with a 427-foot homer to left-center off lefty reliever Rusin in the seventh, giving the little second baseman four extra-base hits including two homers in the three-game series. After going 2-for-20 in the first four games, Albies is 8-for-21 (.381) in the past five.
And Swanson, after hitting .232 with a .636 OPS as a rookie in 2017, is batting .382 with five extra-base hits, seven RBIs and a 1.018 OPS this season.
“They’re making strides,” Markakis said of Swanson and Albies, who’s in his first full season. “When I first came up I struggled big-time, I think I hit like a buck-80 (.180) my first month and a half. Those guys are making strides, they work hard every day and it’s showing. They’re coming up big.”
Snitker said, “Dansby had some good at-bats all series; he has all year. And Ozzie’s continuing to make adjustments and doing what he does. The kid (Albies) is so strong. I would probably say he and (Houston’s Jose) Altuve probably pound-for-pound might be the two strongest guys in the major leagues.
“He’s a strong kid, his hands are really, really good. He’s not tall but he’s strong, big.”
