Freeman's 2 HRs, Swanson's hit lift Braves over Padres 5-4 (Apr 17, 2017)
ATLANTA (AP) Freddie Freeman said Dansby Swanson was the perfect choice to hit with the bases loaded and two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning.
Freeman's reasoning? It was Swanson's time for a hit to finally fall.
Swanson delivered an RBI single with two outs in the ninth and the Atlanta Braves, boosted by Freeman's two home runs and double, beat the San Diego Padres 5-4 Monday night for a four-game sweep in their first series at SunTrust Park.
Swanson took a .146 batting average into the game and was 0 for 4 before dropping the single just in front of diving left fielder Allen Cordoba.
''We don't want anyone in that situation other than him because he was due,'' Freeman said of Swanson. ''It came at the right time.''
Swanson said he even heard about his slow start to the season from his father.
''Sometimes it just feels like you can't hit it away from them,'' Swanson said. ''My dad, we were eating dinner last night for Easter, and he was like `They've been playing there for 100 years. Try to hit it somewhere else.'''
The Braves have followed a five-game losing streak with five straight wins.
Freeman had four hits and drove in three runs. His second homer tied it in the eighth, but it was Swanson who was swarmed on the field by his teammates and then doused with a water bucket.
''Amazing,'' Swanson said. ''The hit was great and the fact we won was great but seeing how happy they were was almost even better. Seeing Freddie bum-rush you and ... everybody was just so extremely happy. It was awesome.''
Jim Johnson (2-0) pitched the ninth.
Kurt Suzuki hit a one-out single in the Braves ninth off closer Brandon Maurer (0-1). With two outs, pinch runner Chase d'Arnaud advanced to third on Emilio Bonifacio's bloop single in front of Cordoba's dive.
An intentional walk to Ender Inciarte loaded the bases for Swanson, whose first career game-ending hit again fell beyond the reach of a charging Cordoba.
Padres manager Andy Green said ''I don't think it's rocket science'' to pitch to Swanson instead of Inciarte, who already had two hits.
''Dansby got the hit, got to tip your cap,'' Green said.
Austin Hedges' two-run homer off Arodys Vizcaino in the eighth inning gave San Diego a 4-3 lead. Freeman tied the game with his opposite-field homer to left field off Ryan Buchter.
Freeman's two-run homer in the third inning put Atlanta ahead 3-1. Cordoba's pinch-hit homer off Jaime Garcia in the seventh cut the lead to 3-2.
San Diego right-hander Jered Weaver allowed three runs, two earned, in six innings.
Garcia allowed two runs in 6 1/3 innings. He gave up hits to San Diego's first three batters, including a run-scoring single by Yangervis Solarte. He didn't allow another hit until Hedges' two-out double to right field in the sixth.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Braves OF Matt Kemp (right hamstring tightness) ran the bases and worked in left field before batting practice and said ''it went well.'' Kemp can come off the 10-day DL on Tuesday and said ''hopefully that will be the plan.'' ... C Tyler Flowers (strained right hamstring) may only miss ''a couple days,'' according to manager Brian Snitker. Flowers left Sunday's game with discomfort and Suzuki was the starting catcher on Monday night.
WAITING ON THE ANGELS
Weaver, in his 11th season, faced the Braves for the first time. He has faced 29 of 30 current teams, leaving only his former team, the Angels.
LONG-AWAITED SWEEP
Atlanta finished its first four-game sweep of any team in three years. The Braves took four straight at Philadelphia in June of 2014. Their last four-game sweep of the Padres came in May of 2003.
UP NEXT
Padres: RHP Jarred Cosart (0-0) will make his second start when San Diego returns home to open a series against Arizona's Shelby Miller on Tuesday night.
Braves: RHP Mike Foltynewicz (0-1) returns to the rotation in Tuesday night's series opener against Max Scherzer and the Nationals. Foltynewicz had his spot in the Atlanta rotation skipped for one start after his 5-4 loss at Pittsburgh on April 7.
---
More AP Baseball: https://apnews.com/tag/MLBbaseball
