Atlanta 7, Oakland 2
When: 7:35 PM ET, Friday, August 15, 2014
Where: Turner Field, Atlanta, Georgia
Temperature:
84°
Umpires:
Home -
Lazaro Diaz, 1B -
Alfonso Marquez, 2B -
Ted Barrett, 3B -
Paul Schrieber
Attendance:
30606
By SportsDirect Inc.
Braves 7, Athletics 2: Justin Upton and Evan Gattis hit second-inning homers as host Atlanta beat the team with baseball’s best record in the opener of a three-game series.
Atlanta won for only the fourth time in its past 16 games thanks to four homers, with Freddie Freeman adding a three-run shot in the third and rookie Phil Gosselin hitting his first major-league blast in the sixth. Alex Wood (9-9) gave up two runs on four hits in six innings as the Braves remained six games behind first-place Washington in the National League East and pulled within two games of the final NL wild-card spot.
The Braves knocked out Oakland starter Jason Hammel (9-10) after he allowed five runs on six hits in three-plus innings as the Athletics lost for the fifth time in six games. Nate Freiman hit a two-run homer and Derek Norris finished with two hits and a run scored as the Athletics’ AL West lead over the Angels was trimmed to one game.
Upton led off the second with his 22nd homer into the left-field seats and Gattis followed two hitters later with his 18th homer, a long drive deep over the fence in left-center. Jason Heyward and Gosselin singled with one out in the third and Freeman drilled his 17th homer to center to put the Braves ahead 5-0.
Norris doubled leading off the fourth and Freiman took a 3-1 Wood pitch out to left for his second homer, bringing the Athletics within 5-2. Gosselin, starting at shortstop because Andrelton Simmons missed the game with an abscessed tooth, hit a two-run shot to center and finished 2-for-4 with two runs scored.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Wood, David Carpenter, Jordan Walden and James Russell combined to retire the final 17 Oakland hitters. .. Hammel is now 1-5 with a 6.75 ERA in seven starts since being acquired by Oakland in a trade with the Chicago Cubs on July 5. … … Wood picked off Jonny Gomes at second base for the second out of the first inning -- the original safe call on the field overturned after a 1-minute, 30-second review following Atlanta manager Fredi Gonzalez’s challenge.
Top Game Performances
Starting Pitchers
Oakland |
|
Atlanta |
Jason Hammel
|
Player |
Alex Wood
|
Loss |
W/L |
Win |
3.0 |
IP |
6.0 |
2 |
Strikeouts |
1 |
6 |
Hits |
4 |
15.00 |
ERA |
3.00 |
Team Stats Summary
Team |
Hits |
HR |
TB |
Avg |
LOB |
K |
RBI |
BB |
SB |
Errors |
Oakland
|
4 |
1 |
8 |
.138 |
5 |
4 |
2 |
3 |
0 |
1 |
Atlanta
|
8 |
4 |
21 |
.250 |
10 |
8 |
7 |
3 |
0 |
0 |