If anybody was feeling a letdown after the Nationals series - from big weekend crowds and a walk-off win at Turner Field - Kris Medlen wasn’t having any part. He has his own issues to work out and the Pirates would work just as well as anybody.
Medlen returned from an injury-shortened start against Toronto his last outing to claim his first win in almost two months with seven strong innings in a 7-2 win over Pittsburgh.
“Just one of those days I woke up and told myself ‘You’re going to do good today; this is the day where everything is going to click,’” said Medlen, now 2-6 with a 3.14 ERA. “For the most part it felt like it kind of did.”
Medlen had some hard luck throughout a nine-start winless streak since he beat the Marlins April 9 in Miami, but the Braves made sure he was rewarded for his efforts Monday with a three-homer barrage.
Brian McCann, Jason Heyward and Freddie Freeman all hit two-run homers off Pirates ace A.J. Burnett, giving the Braves three or more home runs for the 13th time in 57 games this season.
Medlen entered Monday night with the second-worst run support in the National League at 2.51 runs per game. McCann all but took care of that on one swing, giving the Braves a 2-1 lead with a two-run home run in the fourth inning - good for his 999th career hit.
McCann reached 1,000 hits in the seventh inning with an opposite-field single off left-hander Mike Zagurski and offered a tip of the cap to the Turner Field crowd of 19,526 afterward. McCann, now the 25th player in franchise history to reach 1,000 hits as a Brave, is hitting .280 with seven home runs and 15 RBIs in 22 games since his return from shoulder surgery.
“To get 1,000 hits here, it’s something I’ll never forget,” said McCann, who grew up in Duluth and could be playing his final season in Atlanta before free agency. “That’s something I’ll cherish for the rest of my life.”
Medlen showed no ill effects from the calf contusion that ended his last start after two innings. He gave up only one unearned run on seven hits in seven innings, struck out seven and hit a batter. He stranded four runners in scoring position in the first five innings and settled in to retire the last eight batters he faced. Rookie left-hander Alex Wood finished it off with two innings, allowing one run, in his second major league outing.
“For the most part, I felt like I located in and out a lot better today,” Medlen said.
He gave up his only run in the third inning after a B.J. Upton throwing error and an umpire’s missed call at second base allowed Neil Walker to advance on a Garrett Jones fly ball. Walker then scored on a two-out Gaby Sanchez double to give the Pirates a 1-0 lead. But McCann homered in the fourth inning to fire up the Braves homer-happy offense.
The Braves came back with four more runs in the fifth inning to break it open. Heyward picked up where Upton left off over the weekend, returning to the lineup with some gusto. After sitting out Sunday’s game, the struggling Heyward snapped an 0-for-19 streak with an opposite field single in the first inning and then hit a two-run home run two at-bats later.
The home run was Heyward’s third of the season and first since April 16 against Kansas City, six games before he underwent an emergency appendectomy.
“It’s good to see results,” Heyward said. “It’s good to participate. It’s good to contribute runs-wise.”
Freeman followed with a two-run shot of his own in the fifth inning. Freeman has three home runs in his past five games after coming a couple of inches shy of a grand slam Sunday.
“We’re a tough team to beat,” McCann said. “(Nos.) 1-8 we got guys that know how to hit, work the pitcher and eventually he’s going to make a mistake against one of us. And when we’re on, we’re not going to miss it.”
Burnett has faced some hard luck too, entering the series with the fifth-lowest run support in the National League at 2.72. He dug his own hole Monday, though, shortly about he and home plate umpire Dan Iassogna got into it over balls and strikes.
Iassogna and Burnett had words after his 1-0 pitch to Medlen in the fourth inning. After a 2-0 pitch, Iassogna ejected catcher Russell Martin for something he said. Pirates manager Clint Hurdle got tossed in the ensuing argument. Burnett managed to keep his cool and stay in the game but Medlen’s at-bat was just the start of his problems. The Braves came back with four runs to start the fifth inning.
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