This is what the Braves can do when the accomplished veterans in their lineup all get it going at the same time.
“It makes us dangerous,” Braves left fielder Matt Kemp said.
Kemp’s four RBIs lifted the Braves to a 9-5 victory Tuesday at the Rogers Centre. The Braves (15-21) swept the two-game interleague series and have won four of five games since losing six in a row.
The Braves pounded out 15 hits against the Blue Jays after they had 13 in the series opener. Brandon Phillips knocked two doubles and scored twice, Freddie Freeman hit a two-run homer and rookie Dansby Swanson hit a leadoff homer in the seventh inning that put the Braves ahead for good.
The Braves scored three runs with two outs in the ninth inning to essentially finish the Blue Jays (17-23). Kemp hit a two-run double, and Nick Markakis scored him with a single.
“We’ve got everybody in the lineup swinging the bat well at the moment,” Kemp said. “It’s just big to get that timely hitting and extra runs that we need to close out games.”
The Braves jumped to an early lead against right-hander Marco Estrada and then kept adding runs when the Blue Jays rallied.
Kemp’s two-run single staked left-hander Jaime Garcia to a lead in the first inning, and Jace Peterson’s RBI single in the fourth made the score 3-0. After the Blue Jays scored two runs in the bottom of the fourth, Freeman provided Garcia more leeway when his homer gave the Braves a 5-2 lead in the fifth inning.
The Blue Jays tied the score in the sixth inning, only to see Swanson hit his go-ahead homer.
“We’ve been swinging the bat well and the pitching is coming around and we are all starting to play together — finally,” Freeman said.
The Blue Jays weren’t hitting many of Garcia’s pitches hard Tuesday. But he walked four batters after he issued five walks in two consecutive starts before Tuesday. The free passes caused Garcia problems after he allowed the Blue Jays no hits through three innings.
Kevin Pillar doubled to lead off Toronto’s half of the fourth, ending a streak of seven consecutive batters retired on ground balls by Garcia. He issued a two-out walk to Justin Smoak on ball four in the dirt, and Smoak scored along with Pillar when Devon Travis doubled.
After Freeman’s homer put the Braves ahead 5-2 in the fifth, Pillar homered against Garcia with two outs in the bottom of the inning. Braves manager Brian Snitker removed Garcia after he issued his fourth walk of the game, to Justin Smoak with one out in the sixth.
Reliever Jose Ramirez gave up a double to Travis and Barney hit an RBI single that trimmed the deficit to 5-4. Ezequiel Carrera’s RBI ground out tied the score. One of the two runs was charged to Garcia.
“That’s a tough one, man,”Garcia said. “I wanted the ball right there but at the end of the day it’s not my call. Every time they take the ball out of my hand I want to (still) be out there. But the bottom line is we won the game.”
Swanson put the Braves ahead 6-5 when he sent reliever Danny Barnes’ 0-1 change-up out to left-center field for his third home run this season.
“It felt great,” Swanson said.”It’s one of those things where I hit it so well you kind of don’t even feel it. You just catch it right on the sweet spot. It’s good, especially in that point of the game where they’d just come back and got back in it. We were able to go ahead and then really not look back.”
The Blue Jays threatened to tie or take the lead in the eighth inning against right-hander Arodys Vizcaino.
Kendrys Morales led off with a single and Smoak walked before Vizcaino struck out Travis. Darwin Barney then hit a hard line drive right at second baseman Phillips, who snagged it and flipped to Swanson to complete the double play.
“He’s always in the right place at the right time,” Swanson said.”It’s kind of amazing, really. It’s not by accident. He prepares, he knows guys well and he has a feel for the game.”
The Braves touched Estrada for five runs over six innings and had several other hard-hit balls go for outs. Estrada entered the game with a 3.12 ERA.
The Braves went 4-3 on the trip and play the Blue Jays again Wednesday to begin a nine-game homestand. The Braves have lost four consecutive games at SunTrust Park.
“Winning road trip,” Freeman said. “We’ve been playing a lot better baseball the last few games, so hopefully we can continue that at home.”
