Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez’s recent lineup shuffle swept Jace Peterson to the top of the batting order, but the rookie second baseman looked more like a clean-up hitter in his second recent game batting leadoff.
Peterson’s first career home run was a grand slam that sent the Braves on their way to a 5-3 victory at Marlins Park on Saturday. Peterson’s homer gave left-hander Alex Wood a 5-0 cushion in the second inning, and the Braves went on to assure a series win.
Peterson said it was the first grand slam of his life.
“Any time you can get the first one out of the way and it’s a grand slam, it’s awesome,” he said. “I’m just glad we won.”
The Braves (17-19) on Sunday will try for their first series sweep since opening the season with three consecutive victories at the Marlins. They are 6-2 against the Marlins (16-21) and 11-17 against the other teams they’ve played.
Peterson joined the Braves in a December trade and made the big-league club with strong play during spring training. He’s gotten the chance to play second base regularly and has responded by hitting .349 in his past 17 games to raise his season average to .276.
“He had a tough first month of April, but he has done a terrific job just being steady and steady, and he’s come up with some big hits,” Gonzalez said. “He’s made some nice plays defensively. He’s a steady baseball player, and he keeps getting better and better the more you run him out there.”
Peterson hit his first home run during his 116th career plate appearance. He didn’t have any homers in 27 games with the Padres in 2014 nor in his first 32 games with the Braves, who traded for him in December.
Peterson is the first Braves player since Marcus Giles in 2001 to hit a grand slam for his first career homer. His teammates gave him grief when he hit a double at Cincinnati on Tuesday for just his second extra-base hit of the season.
“He came up with a big-boy knock today,” Wood said. “It’s good to see him swing the bat the way he is.”
The Braves set the table for Peterson with four consecutive hits in the second inning. Simmons led off with a double and scored on A.J. Pierzynski’s single.
Consecutive singles by Todd Cunningham and Cameron Maybin loaded the bases for Wood, who struck out. Mat Latos’ next pitch to Peterson was a low, cutting fastball that the left-hander pulled into the seats.
Peterson said he wasn’t sure he hit the ball high enough for it to carry out of the park, so he sprinted out of the batter’s box.
“I looked up and was about to touch second, and then I saw ‘Cam’ laughing,” Peterson said. “It was awesome.”
Wood (2-2) gave back two runs of the 5-0 lead. The first run was unearned after J.T. Realmuto reached based on Freddie Freeman’s error to begin the bottom of the second inning and scored when Dee Gordon grounded out.
Marlins slugger Giancarlo Stanton crushed Wood’s second pitch of the third inning some 450 feet to center field. It was Stanton’s third home run of the series after he hit two during the Braves’ 5-3 victory Friday.
Wood shrugged the homer off and went on to pitch seven innings, with the two runs allowed. He got of a bases-loaded jam in the sixth by retiring Adeiny Hechavarria and pinch hitter Donovan Solano.
“He wasn’t going to come out of that game and I was going to let him (pitch),” Gonzalez said. “It was his game, and that was the game. Bases loaded with one out, retired the next two hitters. We got him behind in the eight ball with the error there by (Phil Gosselin) and he competed. Went out and pitched a clean seventh. That’s what separates him from a lot of other guys in the league.”
Wood had his longest outing of the season and allowed the fewest earned runs of his eight starts. He said he’s pleased with the improved results, but still isn’t back to the form he showed while posting a 2.78 ERA in 2014.
“We are still talking about some things and working on some things,” he said. “But the results the last two times definitely are encouraging. It’s nice to know while I’m working on some things and trying to figure it out I can still put up outings like today.”
Wood also twice picked off base runners to end innings: Ichiro Suzuki at first base in the third and Hechavarria at second base in the fourth. He entered the game tied for fourth in the majors with seven pick offs since the beginning of the 2014 season.
Latos (1-4) limped off the field in the fourth inning after Maybin’s line drive hit him in the left shin. He was replaced by Tom Koehler, who was scheduled to start Sunday before being demoted to the bullpen and replaced by Henderson Alvarez in the rotation.
Latos has taken the loss in all three of his starts against the Braves this season.
“I think we see him pretty good,” Peterson said. “He’s a good pitcher. Whenever we get our pitches we try not to miss them. Hopefully we can keep this going.”
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