ATLANTA - Dansby Swanson hit a grand slam and a two-run homer and drove in a career-high seven runs to lead the Atlanta Braves to an 8-1 win over the Milwaukee Brewers on Saturday night.
Swanson had three hits, including the second grand slam of his MLB career, connecting for the four-run drive in the seventh inning off John Curtiss. He broke a 1-all tie with a two-run homer in the sixth - one pitch after it appeared he struck out - after his run-scoring single in the fourth tied the game.
The slam bounced off the foul pole in left field and came only nine days after his first, July 22 against the Philadelphia Phillies.
"It's kind of wild, isn't it?" Swanson said. "It makes me feel like a kid again. I had never hit a grand slam in my baseball life. To have two in 10 days is special."
After Adam Duvall led off the sixth with a single off Brandon Woodruff, Swanson took a 2-2 pitch. Home plate umpire CB Bucknor called the pitch a ball as Swanson took a half-step toward the dugout, apparently believing he struck out.
Swanson hit the next pitch over the wall in left field, giving Atlanta a 3-1 lead. Woodruff was pulled and yelled at Bucknor as he walked off the field.
"I thought it was a strike, just like I think everybody else did, too," Swanson said. "I'll be honest about that. ... I regrouped and was able to get a good swing on the next one."
Said Woodruff: "I just think in that situation, at that point in the game, that can't be missed. ... You've got to move on, but yes, it's disappointing for sure."
Swanson, who is 27 and made his MLB debut in 2016, has set a career high with 20 homers, matching the Braves' franchise record for a shortstop. Denis Menke hit 20 homers in 1964 for the Milwaukee Braves.
"The power, the ball off the bat, has been something else," Braves manager Brian Snitker said of Swanson's surge.
Woodruff (7-6) allowed three runs on eight hits and one walk in 5 1/3 innings.
The Braves scored five runs in the seventh off Curtiss, who made his Milwaukee debut.
Braves rookie Kyle Muller gave up one run on four hits with seven strikeouts in five innings. Jesse Chavez (2-2) pitched a scoreless sixth for the win.
Woodruff hit Joc Pederson's foot with a pitch to open the bottom of the fifth. Ozzie Albies doubled off the right-field wall, and Pederson was thrown out at the plate on Kolten Wong's relay throw from Avisaíl García.
Eduardo Escobar made his first career start at first base, one night after hitting a homer in his Brewers debut while playing third base. He reached for a throw after third baseman Luis Urías made a diving grab of Austin Riley's grounder and threw across the diamond to end the first inning.
Before the game, Brewers manager Craig Counsell said right-handers Jake Cousins and Hunter Strickland tested positive for COVID-19, while a third reliever, Jandel Gustave, was forced to miss the game due to contact tracing.
Earlier in the week, star outfielder Christian Yelich tested positive for the coronavirus and was showing mild symptoms. Utilityman Jace Peterson was sidelined at the time due to contact tracing.
Counsell said Cousins and Strickland had been vaccinated and were tested after developing symptoms. Two relief pitchers acquired in trades Friday, Curtiss and Daniel Norris, made their Brewers debuts.
Jorge Soler, acquired by Atlanta in Friday's trade with the Kansas City Royals, had three hits in his Braves debut, including a bases-loaded infield single off Curtiss in the seventh.
Off the field, two injured Braves pitchers could be moving closer to a return to the rotation. Ian Anderson (inflammation right shoulder) threw on the side Friday and is expected to throw again Monday. Fellow right-hander Huascar Ynoa, on the injured list since mid-May after breaking a bone in his right hand when he punched a bench, will make a rehab start with Class A Rome on Sunday.
Left-hander Sean Newcomb and utility player Orlando Arcia were optioned to Triple-A Gwinnett to clear roster spots for right-hander Richard Rodríguez, added Friday in a trade with the Pittsburgh Pirates, and Soler.