Pitching in front of Braves legends on Alumni Day, Mike Foltynewicz delivered a performance reminiscent of the glory days.
Foltynewicz’s career-day and Freddie Freeman’s four RBIs led the Braves to a 7-2 win over the Marlins in what originally began as a classic pitchers’ duel Saturday night at SunTrust Park.
Foltynewicz went 6 1/3 innings (99 pitches), holding the Marlins to four hits and a run. His 11 strikeouts marked a new career-best, punctuated by no walks. He at one point struck out eight of 10 batters.
Leading 2-1 in the seventh, the Braves sent seven to the plate and scored five to break it open. The team drew three walks in the frame. Freddie Freeman hit his 20th homer of the season, a three-run shot, to put the game out of reach.
Freeman is hitting .415 (17-for-41) with runners in scoring position this season.
Marlins starter Dan Straily had matched Foltynewicz for five innings. There had been 15 strikeouts, one walk and five total base runners through the game’s first 5 1/3 innings.
Miami’s Giancarlo Stanton opened the scoring with a 446-foot solo shot to left-center off Foltynewicz, his third homer of the series. The Braves responded with seven unanswered runs.
The Braves missed opportunities to score in the second and third. Kurt Suzuki’s ground-rule double put him in scoring position with one out, but Matt Adams and Johan Camargo couldn’t chase him home. Similar fortunes unfolded in the third, when Ozzie Albies collected his first non-homer hit, but was left at third when Brandon Phillips grounded out to end the inning.
Ender Inciarte led off the sixth with a single, then stole second. Freeman’s broken-bat single knocked in Inciarte to tie it at 1-1.
Nick Markakis hit a ball just out of Christian Yelich’s reach in centerfield that scored Freeman and gave the Braves a lead they wouldn’t relinquish. Markakis has 13 hits in his last 31 at-bats, including four doubles and a home run against Marlins’ starter Adam Conley on Friday.
The Braves are 7-3 against the Marlins in 2017 after going 11-7 against the Fish in 2016. The Braves’ .582 all-time winning percentage over Miami is second-best in the National League (St. Louis, .597).
