While much of the Braves’ offense remains in the doldrums, the trio of Brian McCann, Martin Prado and Freddie Freeman has kept the lineup afloat.
Those three did it again Wednesday night, getting two hits apiece and driving in all of the Braves’ runs in a 4-3 win against San Diego at Turner Field to complete a 3-3 homestand and avert a series sweep by the Padres.
“Right now we just need to go out and try to win that day, not worry about stuff in the past or worry about tomorrow,” said Tommy Hanson (6-4), who worked six strong innings and went through three drenched jerseys and three hats on a steamy night.
It was tense at the end, as Braves center fielder Jordan Schafer made a running catch for the final out with a runner on base, crashing into the outfield wall and hanging onto the ball as he fell backward onto the warning track.
Freeman drove in two runs and Prado had a double and a homer for the Braves, who turned things over to their regular workhorse trio of relievers after the sixth — Eric O’Flaherty, Jonny Venters and Craig Kimbrel.
“He gave us a helluva effort,” Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez said of Hanson, who was charged with two runs and three hits and allowed just two walks to his last 16 batters after Kyle Phillips’ two-run homer in the second.
Hanson improved to 4-0 with a 2.01 ERA in five career starts against the Padres, with two runs or fewer allowed in six innings or more each time he has faced them.
O’Flaherty gave up a run on two hits in the seventh, but Venters and Kimbrel worked scoreless innings in the final two, with Kimbrel giving up a two-out single before notching his 16th save.
Padres left-hander Clayton Richard (2-6) gave up eight hits and three runs in 4 2/3 innings and fell to 0-4 with 7.23 ERA in four starts against the Braves.
McCann and Freeman had RBI singles in the first inning, when the Braves scored two runs before leaving the bases loaded.
After Phillips’ tying homer in the second inning, back-to-back doubles by McCann and Freeman to start the third inning gave the Braves the lead for good. Prado doubled and scored in the first inning and added a homer in the sixth, giving him six homers and 20 RBIs in his past 27 games.
After going 0-for-4 in the Braves’ 5-4 loss Tuesday, Prado was spotted going into the indoor batting cage alone for a late-night session.
“That’s the way I am,” he said. “Sometimes you have bad days, and I felt yesterday that I didn’t get it done, and I couldn’t go home like that. I had to do something to fix my swing. And today was a new day. I felt better at home plate, and I got some results.”
Gonzalez shook his head and smiled about Prado.
“You wish a lot of guys had that kind of intensity — not every time because sometimes you need to unwind a little bit, take the tension off a little bit,” he said. “But this guy, all he thinks about is trying to get better and trying to win. And it’s 24/7, it seems like.
“Every once in a while, I hope he has a good hobby. I don’t want him going out and killing people at night because he’s all tensed up. But he’s swinging a good bat.”
McCann is in the midst of a torrid stretch of hitting at Turner Field, where he is 14-for-23 (.609) with five doubles, four homers and eight RBIs in his past six home games, including five multi-hit games.
Freeman, a rookie first baseman, is 23-for-62 (.371) with seven RBIs in his past 17 games, including 7-for-12 with four RBIs and three multi-hit games in the three-game series.
“Tonight I got lucky,” Freeman said, referring to his opposite-field double down the third-base line in the third inning. “I don’t know what happened on that. ... I was just trying to pull the ball to the right side. It was a slider away, and I tried to check my swing and just saw the ball hit my bat and it went that way.
“But yeah, my swing right now, I feel comfortable. I feel like I’m really confident up there, so I’m just trying to put good swings on it. I didn’t miss any mistake [pitches] in this series, so that’s a positive for me.”
