Power trio: Freeman, Swanson, Acuña rally Braves past Nats

WASHINGTON (AP) — Freddie Freeman homered twice, Dansby Swanson hit a go-ahead shot in the eighth inning and the Atlanta Braves rallied from a 5-0 deficit to beat the Washington Nationals 7-6 on Thursday night.

Freeman tied the game at 6 in the seventh with a 443-foot, two-run drive to right-center off Will Harris. After a scary bout with COVID-19 during the Braves' summer camp, Freeman is among the major league leaders in OPS. He has five homers and 20 RBIs in his past seven games.

Swanson's solo shot off Tanner Rainey (1-1) gave the Braves their first lead.

Chris Martin (1-1) worked a scoreless seventh, Shane Greene retired the side in the eighth and Mark Melancon pitched the ninth for his ninth save in 10 chances.

Ronald Acuña Jr. also hit a two-run homer for the Braves, who weathered another ineffective outing from their makeshift rotation. Spot starter Robbie Erlin got five outs and allowed five extra-base hits. The final insult was Adam Eaton's two-run homer to the second deck in right-center.

A night earlier, Atlanta starter Tommy Milone allowed eight runs in 3 1/3 innings against Miami, but the Braves set a National League record for runs since 1900 and won 29-9.

Juan Soto reached base four times for the last-place Nationals, who were coming off a two-game sweep of Tampa Bay. A year after winning the World Series, Washington is clinging to faint hopes of sneaking into the expanded playoff field.

Trea Turner had an RBI triple, Soto a run-scoring double and Asdrúbal Cabrera an RBI triple in the first.

Huascar Ynoa relieved Erlin and gave the Braves' dangerous offense a chance to claw back. Freeman went deep in the fourth inning after Acuña's leadoff walk. In the fifth, Acuña lofted reliever Wander Suero's first pitch over the wall in right.

Austin Voth...

source https://www.chron.com/sports/article/Power-trio-Freeman-Swanson-Acu-a-rally-Braves-15558612.php