Bats ignite as Atlanta Braves top Oakland Athletics, 7-2

The Atlanta Braves entered the weekend series with the Oakland Athletics in the midst of a long, ugly slump, especially with regard to the offense. However, Friday night’s series opener brought the return of productive offense at Turner Field, and with some help from solid pitching, the Braves emerged with a 7-2 victory.

Don’t look now, but there was some early offense for Atlanta on Friday night. Justin Upton ignited the scoring with a solo home run in the second inning, and he was followed just two batters later by an absolute bomb over the center field wall by catcher Evan Gattis. The biggest single swing of the night came in the third inning, though, as Freddie Freeman hit what appeared to be a harmless fly ball to center, but the ball carried (and carried some more) over the wall for a 3-run home run that staked the Braves to a 5-0 lead.

On the run prevention side, the night began in somewhat ominous fashion for starter Alex Wood, as he ran into trouble in the first inning. Wood issued two walks and a single in the inning, but thanks to a well-timed pickoff of Jonny Gomes at second base, the young left-hander avoided any damage on the scoreboard. Wood ran into some pitch count issues (including 45 pitches through two innings), but he staved them off in route to a 96-pitch, 6-inning outing that was very effective, as he exited after allowing only two earned runs on four hits.

While Wood did allow the aforementioned set of runs on a home run by Nate Freiman, the Braves were never in grave danger of coughing up the lead, and some insurance was on the way in the sixth inning. With two outs, Jason Heyward reached on what proved to be a costly error by Freiman, and on cue, Phil Gosselin (who got the start at shortstop with Andrelton Simmons battling dental issues) stepped to the plate for a special moment. The 25-year-old infielder got the pitch he wanted and drove the ball over the wall in the center field for his first career home run, and when Gosselin crossed the plate, Atlanta led by an insurmountable margin at 7-2.

The bullpen picked up where Wood left off, as David Carpenter navigated a 1-2-3 inning in the seventh, and he was followed by Jordan Walden with another spotless innings in the eighth. Left-hander James Russell (who has struggled since his arrival from Chicago) even excelled in mop-up duty, as he capped off a flawless night from the bullpen by retiring all three batters in the ninth inning to seal the victory.

Four home runs isn’t something that can be counted on for daily production, but on this night, they certainly came in handy. Phil Gosselin was the only member of the lineup to notch two hits (including that memorable home run), but Heyward, Chris Johnson and B.J. Upton each reached base twice, and only Tommy La Stella went through the night without notching a hit. Oakland starter Jason Hammel likely presents the easiest target of the weekend, but on the bright side, the Braves took full advantage of his shortcomings.

Atlanta and Oakland will rekindle their series on Saturday evening, as Julio Teheran will oppose Sonny Gray in match-up of two of the best young right-handers in Major League Baseball. Stay tuned for all the latest.