ATLANTA – Ozzie Albies and Freddie Freeman each hit a solo home run off Anthony Bass in the seventh inning, and Eddie Rosario went deep off Edward Cabrera in the fourth as the Atlanta Braves beat the Miami Marlins 5-3 on Sunday.
The Braves, who are in first place in the National League East as they seek their fourth consecutive division title, padded their lead to 4 1/2 games over the second-place Philadelphia Phillies.
Miami, far back in the East and playing the role of spoiler, had won two consecutive series against the Phillies and the third-place New York Mets before coming up short against Atlanta.
Rosario’s homer, his 10th this season, put the Braves ahead 2-1 and was followed by Cabrera exiting the game with soreness in the big toe on his right foot. Albies connected for the 28th time in 2021, sending a fastball into the right-field seats to make it 4-3. Freeman, on his 32nd birthday, followed two batters later with his 30th homer of the season, an opposite-field shot to left.
“He hit his birthday blast,” Albies said. “Right away when he got to the dugout everybody was singing ‘Happy birthday to you.’ Homers are fun. I think that’s why everybody celebrates them.”