Freddie Freeman said before Friday’s game the Braves couldn’t wait any longer to get the offense going, that they had to start playing better now if they hoped to catch the Nationals in the National League East.
He talked the talk, then he and the Braves walked the walk, smashing four homers in a 7-2, series-opening win against American League power Oakland, the team with the best record in baseball.
Freeman hit a three-run homer, Justin Upton and Evan Gattis had solo shots, and rookie Phil Gosselin added a two-run homer as the Braves won for just the fourth time in 16 games but evened their record at 4-4 on the 1o-game homestand.
“That was a good night,” Freeman said. “Justin jumped on them early, Gatty followed. We got some guys on base and got them in today…. We seem to always play those (top) teams the hardest, and it was no different tonight. We came at them real tough early and kept going all game. That’s what we need to keep doing the rest of the way.”
It the second four-homer game on the homestand for the Braves, who’ve hit just two other homers in their past 14 games.
The level of run support amounted to overkill on a night when Braves starter Alex Wood (9-9) continued his recent groove, allowing four hits, two runs and three walks in six innings to give him a 2-1 record and 1.71 ERA in his past four starts.
“I don’t even know why you guys are talking to me, the offense was so good tonight,” Wood said. “We scored a bunch of runs and it felt like old times tonight. Hopefully that’s a good sign of things to come the rest of the weekend and down the stretch.”
After piling up 12 strikeouts in his last start against the Nationals, Wood had had one strikeout Friday. But he made big pitches when he needed them and retired the last eight batters he faced after giving up three consecutive hits to start the fourth inning, including a two-run homer by Nate Freiman that cut the lead to 5-2.
“Me and Tommy were saying earlier, it’s so fun to play behind (Wood) because he just gets it and goes and just goes right at guys,” said Gosselin, who filled in for shortstop Andrelton Simmons after the Gold Glove winner had two teeth pulled Friday.
It was just the third time in 15 games that the Braves scored more than three runs, and second time they scored more than four. On both of those latter occasions the Braves did it entirely with the long ball – four homers for seven runs against the Nationals’ Stephen Strasburg on Aug. 8, and seven runs on four homers Friday.
The pounded out three homers in the first three innings off Athletics starter Jason Hammel, who left without recording an out in the fourth and with his team trailing 5-0. Hammel was charged with six hits and five runs and fell to 1-5 with a 6.75 ERA in seven starts since being traded from the Cubs to the A’s.
“We swung the bats well and got on the board early,” Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez said. “We were able to add on some runs with the home run by Gosselin. We hit four home runs. We got some people on base and got the big blow. Hammel gave up three home runs and then Goose (Gosselin) came up with that big home run later in the game to add on some runs. That allowed us not to use some of the bullpen guys that needed rest.”
After the A’s pulled to within 5-2, Gosselin pushed the lead back to five runs with his two-run shot in the sixth, his first major league homer in his 27th career at-bat and fifth start over two seasons.
Asked if he remembered his last hit that felt as big, Gosselin mentioned a homer in college for Virginia against San Diego State and a familiar pitcher.
“I hit one off (Steven) Strasburg when we beat them (San Diego State) in the NCAA Tourney,” he said, smiling. “But this is the big leagues, so this one’s on a little bigger stage. So I think that was definitely the biggest one I’ve hit.”
Wood, after throwing a career-high 124 pitches in 7 1/3 innings against the Nationals on Sunday, walked two of the first three batters Friday. But after those consecutive one-out walks to Jonny Gomes and Josh Donaldson, the left-hander picked off Gomes at second, which turned out to be significant.
Gomes was called safe, but the ruling was challenged by Gonzalez and overturned after video review. Derek Norris followed with a single to left field before Frieman grounded out to end the inning.
“Big,” Wood said of the pickoff. “We’ve got a real active middle infield. I think that’s one of the ways we limit the running game, too, is having an active middle infield and keeping guys from stealing a lot of bags. Not that Jonny Gomes is going to take third on us, but that early in the game, that big a lead at second base, we just kind of went for it and it kind of took us out of a real sticky situation.”
Wood retired the side in order in the second inning on a pair of groundouts and a pop-up in the second, but by that point he had thrown 45 pitches to get six outs, including 20 pitches for the last two outs of the second inning.
He was considerably more economical from that point, needing 51 pitches over the next four innings.
After Upton and Gattis each homered in the second inning for a 2-0 lead, Freeman launched a three-run shot to straightaway center in the third inning to push the margin to 5-0. Jason Heyward and Gosselin hit consecutive one-out singles before Freeman laid into an 0-1 slider for his 17th homer and his 20th hit in 12 games.
In the clubhouse Friday afternoon, Freeman said, “Obviously, it’s a big series. We are six back of the Nationals. Everybody wants to say you can’t panic, but the time is now. We’ve got to go. We’ve got to start scoring some runs. Our pitching has been awesome all year. We have to take it as an offense to get going. … The time is now to see what our club is about.”
Upton led off the second inning with a homer to the left-center bleachers, and one out later Gattis drove a ball to the center-field seats left of the dark “batter’s eye” backdrop for a 2-0 lead.
Fifteen of Upton’s 22 home runs have come at Turner Field, tied for the second-most homers at home in the majors this season. He has three homers and nine RBIs in his past eight home games.
Gattis hit his 18th homer of the season but only his second in 21 games since returning from a three-week stint on the disabled list for a bulging disk in his upper back. His home run rate of one every 16.5 at-bats would rank among among the NL’s top three if Gattis had enough at-bats to qualify.
“Oh, that’s big,” Freeman said of Gattis. “Him in the middle of the lineup swinging it like he normally does is a huge boost for us. Obviously that DL stint kind of got him off track. Home run to center field is usually a tell-tale sign that he’s starting to feel good again.”
About the Author
