Marcell Ozuna delivers run-scoring single in 8th as Braves end 3-game skid, beat Red Sox 4-2
ATLANTA (AP) — Marcell Ozuna's run-scoring single in the eighth inning gave Atlanta the lead and the Braves beat the Boston Red Sox 4-2 on Tuesday night to snap a three-game losing streak.
Boston's Kutter Crawford and Atlanta's Reynaldo López each allowed two runs in a matchup of right-handers with ERA's under 2.00.
The Braves were held to seven hits, so couldn't proclaim the end of their losing streak to be an awakening for their slumping bats. They were held to a combined six runs while being swept in three games by the Los Angeles Dodgers to end a 1-5 road trip.
“It's a rough thing to go through,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said. “We're not through it yet.”
The Braves again relied on their pitching, including left-hander Aaron Bummer, who struck out Jaren Duran and Rafael Evers to end the sixth after the Red Sox scored two runs off López.
“I got the top of the order out and limited the damage,” Bummer said.
Atlanta right-hander Joe Jiménez (1-0) stranded two runners in the eighth when Adam Duvall made a sliding catch of Tyler O’Neill’s drive toward the left-center gap to end the inning.
Raisel Iglesias pitched a perfect ninth for his ninth save.
With the game tied at 2, Boston right-hander Justin Slaten (2-1) walked Ozzie Albies and gave up a single to Austin Riley to open the eighth. Ozuna bounced a one-out grounder through the infield to drive in Albies. Riley advanced to third on the play and scored on Orlando Arcia's grounder to first, extending the lead to two runs.
Crawford hit Travis d'Arnaud with a pitch in the third inning before Jarred Kelenic pulled a belt-high cutter 368 feet over the high right-field wall for a two-run homer, his first, giving Atlanta a 2-0 lead.
It was only the second homer allowed in eight starts for Crawford, each coming in his last two starts.
Crawford (1.56) and López (1.50) began the night ranked among the ERA leaders in the majors for pitchers with at least five starts.
López gave up at least one hit in each of his first five innings, but was effective in pitching out of trouble.
“I loved to see when he got in trouble he was reaching back for 98,” Snitker said of López's fastball.
Duran was stranded after leading off the game with a double and hitting a one-out triple in the fifth. López struck out Devers and Tyler O'Neill to end the fifth.
López couldn't overcome three sixth-inning walks, including a bases-loaded pass to Reese McGuire that forced in a run. Ceddanne Rafaela's infield single off the back of Bummer's right knee drove in Vaughn Grissom, who reached on shortstop Orlando Arcia's fielding error, for a 2-2 tie.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Red Sox: OF/DH Masataka Yoshida (left thumb strain), who was placed on the injured list on May 1, will have a second opinion on Wednesday. ... RHP Garrett Whitlock (left oblique strain) is scheduled to begin a rehab assignment next week.
Braves: LHP Tyler Matzek, who missed the 2023 season following Tommy John surgery on his left elbow, was placed on the 15-day injured list with inflammation in the elbow. The move came after another reliever, RHP Pierce Johnson, landed on the 15-day IL on Sunday with right elbow inflammation. LHP Ray Kerr was recalled from Triple-A Gwinnett.
UP NEXT
Atlanta LHP Chris Sale (4-1, 3.44 ERA), who pitched for Boston from 2017-23 before being traded to the Braves in a deal that sent Grissom to the Red Sox, will face his former teammates on Wednesday night. Boston RHP Nick Pivetta (right elbow flexor strain) is expected to come off the IL.
___
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb
