ATLANTA (AP) – Travis Demeritte hit his first big league homer in nearly three years and made an impressive catch to back another strong outing by Max Fried, giving the Atlanta Braves a much-needed 3-1 victory over the Chicago Cubs on Tuesday night.
The World Series champions won for only the third time in their last eight games. The Cubs have lost six of seven.
Following up his best showing of the season in a win at the Dodgers, Fried (2-2) pitched four-hit ball over six innings. His only big mistake was a changeup that Ian Happ launched into the left-field seats leading off the third to tie the game at 1.
Fried got some defensive help from Demeritte, who raced over from his position in right field to make a nice sliding catch in foul territory to end the fourth.
After getting some treatment on a skinned-up knee, Demeritte broke the tie in the fifth with an opposite-field liner into the Chop House restaurant in right field off Marcus Stroman (0-3).