ATLANTA — Anthony Santander is heating up, which is another good sign for the streaking Baltimore Orioles.
Santander homered from both sides of the plate, including a grand slam, and Cedric Mullins also went deep as the Orioles won for the 14th time in 17 games, beating the Atlanta Braves 9-4 on Friday night to open a three-game series at Truist Park.
Dean Kremer allowed one run in six strong innings for Baltimore, which became the first team this season to reach the seats against Atlanta ace Max Fried.
“Sweet!” Mullins exclaimed, unaware that Fried had not allowed a homer. “It was bound to happen.”
Santander homered from the right side of the batter’s box against Fried in the fourth inning to put Baltimore ahead to stay. Then, batting lefty in the seventh against Joe Jimenez, he delivered the first grand slam of his MLB career to turn what had been a tight game into a rout.