MIAMI – Coming off a year in which he was voted the National League MVP, Atlanta Braves first baseman Freddie Freeman did not start the 2021 season the way he wanted to at the plate – and yet a June surge led to his fifth All-Star selection and third straight start in the Midsummer Classic.
The Braves didn’t begin this season they way wanted to, either, and while the calendar flipped to August before they finally pushed their record north of .500 for the first time, the National League East leaders have kindled the type of heat that could take them to a fourth straight division title.
Those storylines merged perfectly Wednesday night, when Freeman hit for the cycle for the second time in his MLB career and the Braves endured a shaky ninth inning by their bullpen to beat the Miami Marlins 11-9 and complete a sweep of the three-game series.
“To get four hits in a game is just amazing in itself,” said Freeman, 31, who made his MLB debut in September 2010. “These are the nights that everything comes together. It’s one of those memories that I’ll be able to tell grandkids and hopefully great-grandkids that I was able to do something that’s very, very rare multiple times. It makes me speechless.”
Freeman doubled in the first, tripled in the fourth, singled in the fifth and hit his 27th home run of the season, a two-run blast, in the sixth to become the first player in franchise history to hit for the cycle twice, according to the Braves. Freeman first accomplished the feat against the Cincinnati Reds on June 15, 2016.
His homer against Marlins reliever Luis Madero went over the wall in center field, and as Freeman rounded the bases and reached the dugout, Braves fans in the stands repeatedly chanted his name.
“I knew it, everyone knew it, that I needed the home run there,” Freeman said. “To be able to do it on the fourth consecutive (at-bat), it was pretty cool.”
Atlanta starter Charlie Morton kept the Marlins hitless until Isan Díaz’s one-out single to center in the fifth. Morton (12-4) lasted six innings, allowing two runs, three hits and a walk while striking out nine batters and hitting one.
The Braves have won six straight games and 13 of their past 15, and they have swept their past three road series. Their NL East lead over second-place Philadelphia was 3 1/2 games after Wednesday night’s action – the Phillies lost to the Arizona Diamondbacks, among the worst teams in the majors this year – with the third-place New York Mets 4 1/2 games back.
“The guys are doing really well in the clubhouse,” Morton said. “There is good energy in there, good vibes. I think we’re getting very close to being exactly where we wanted to be.”
Austin Riley had three hits and two RBIs, and Adam Duvall drove in three runs, including two on bases-loaded walks, for the Braves, who will return to competition Friday when they host the struggling Baltimore Orioles to start a three-game series.
“It was another good offensive performance,” Atlanta manager Brian Snitker said. “It’s just being patient and not expanding the strike zone. If you don’t chase, you’ve got a pretty good chance of getting a good pitch, and that’s a great trait in a team if they’re not chasing a lot.”
Miami walked 12 batters, tying a franchise record for a nine-inning game. Five of the walks were with the bases loaded.
“You walk that many people, it’s really hard for a guy to stand out there on defense that long, have those type of innings and think you’re going to pop back in the dugout and have great at-bats,” Miami manager Don Mattingly said. “It’s a tough game to watch tonight.”
Freeman’s triple began a four-run fourth against Miami starter Jesús Luzardo. Riley hit an RBI single and Dansby Swanson followed with a single. Luzardo then walked three consecutive batters, including Duvall and Guillermo Heredia with the bases loaded, to force in two runs. Ozzie Abies’ sacrifice fly off reliever Steven Okert made it 4-0.
Duvall’s RBI double in the fifth increased Atlanta’s lead, and after the Marlins broke up the shutout in the sixth when they scored on a fielder’s choice by pinch-hitter Jorge Alfaro and a single Miguel Rojas, Freeman’s cycle-clinching, 405-foot shot stretched the margin back to five at 7-2.
In his fifth plate appearance in the eighth, Freeman was intentionally walked with a runner at third. Riley followed with his second run-scoring single. Miami catcher Sandy León pitched the ninth and retired Freeman on a fly to left field.
“It’s the hardest at-bat behind being a pinch-hitter,” Freeman said of facing a position player. “It’s a lose-lose. If you get out, you’re ‘How could you get out?’ If you hit a home run, you’re supposed to hit a home run. At least I hit it square. I just hit too high.”
It was the seventh cycle in franchise history, and Freeman went 9-for-13 during the three-game set in Miami, increasing his average to .301. He has more than bounced back from his season low of .195 on May 7, something he had time to do thanks to MLB going back to its usual 162-game schedule after having a 60-game season in 2020 due to the coronavirus.
“You know me, I like the three at the start of the batting average,” Freeman said. “Obviously, I didn’t get off to the start I wanted this year, but luckily it wasn’t a 60-game season. It’s a beautiful thing about this game. You trust your approach. You trust yourself.
“I feel for about two or three months I’ve been doing pretty well, so I have six weeks to close this out. So I have to keep going.”
The Braves were up 11-3 lead before the Marlins rallied with six runs in the bottom of the ninth, keyed by Jesús Aguilar’s two-run single against Josh Tomlin and Jesús Sánchez’s two-run homer off Will Smith. Miami had the tying runs on base with two outs, but Smith struck out Alex Jackson to end it.
“Happy that the guys kept having at-bats, and kept having at-bats, and you go back to the old it’s never over till it’s over,” Mattingly said. “Next thing you know we have the winning run at the plate, which was awesome.”
The Marlins had ended a drought of 20 scoreless innings against Braves pitching in the fifth, a slump that started after Diaz’s second-inning solo homer in the series opener Monday.
Luzardo (4-6) was lifted after three-plus innings. The left-hander allowed four hits and four runs, struck out four and walked five.
Miami, last in the NL East, fell 14 games behind the Braves but had a highlight as recently acquired Bryan De La Cruz played his third outfield position, in center, and went 2-for-3 Wednesday. De La Cruz, obtained in a trade from the Houston Astros on July 30, started in right field in his first two weeks with the Marlins before playing left field on Monday and Tuesday.
“You want to give the organization the opportunity to make decisions,” Mattingly said. “You want to see him in different places. We’re trying to build a roster with versatility, guys that can play different spots and do different things. That’s why those decisions are important for people that know what everybody can do.”