The Braves put together a steady offense against Clay Buchholz and salvaged the finale of a four-game series with the Red Sox by pulling out a 5-3 victory at Fenway Park on Thursday night. The win snapped an eight-game losing skid for Atlanta.
After Boston scored one in the first, the Braves rallied for three in the second and led for the rest of the night.
Nick Markakis had four hits and three RBIs from the leadoff spot. Freddie Freeman and No. 9 hitter Mallex Smith added three hits each, with Smith driving in two runs.
Jhoulys Chacin did enough to get the win, going five-plus innings, allowing six hits and two runs. Buchholz took the loss, giving up eight hits and five runs over 6 1/3 innings.
Trailing by a run after the first inning, the Braves sent seven batters to the plate in the second. With one out, four straight batters reached and three scored to take the lead. Jace Peterson started it off with a walk, followed by a bunt single by Erick Aybar, a run-scoring ground-rule double by Smith and a two-run single by Markakis.
With the Red Sox rallying in the bottom of the first, a strange play unfolded. After Dustin Pedroia doubled and Xander Bogaerts walked with one out, David Ortiz hit a grounder to first, and Freeman threw to second for the force, where shortstop Aybar was covering. However, the throw pulled Aybar off the bag, and second-base umpire (and crew chief) Joe West called Bogaerts safe. However, Bogaerts apparently didn’t realize he was called safe, and Aybar tagged him as he walked off the bag toward the dugout. Hanley Ramirez followed with an RBI single that could have scored two runs if not for the bizarre play.
With two outs, runners on second and third and the Braves leading by three runs in the seventh, left-hander Hunter Cervenka, a 27th-round pick of the Red Sox in the 2008 Draft who made his Major League debut on April 12, came in to face Ortiz for the first time in his career. On the sixth pitch, with a 3-2 count, Cervenka got Ortiz to ground out, ending the threat.
In the top of the sixth, Smith thought he had stolen second base for the Braves. But manager John Farrell challenged the call, and it was overturned after a review that took 2 minutes and 16 seconds. Smith did not maintain contact with the bag throughout his slide, and shortstop Bogaerts tagged him out.
In the top of the eighth, Smith was involved in another challenge play. This time, he was called out trying to steal third. Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez challenged, but the call stood after a review of 2 minutes and 42 seconds.
Atlanta opens a three-game set at Wrigley Field on Friday at 3:20 p.m. CT, the first of six meetings between the Braves and Cubs this season. Aaron Blair gets the start after a busy week that saw the right-hander make his Major League debut on Sunday before being named the International League’s Pitcher of the Week for April 18-24 on Monday. On April 19 he earned his third Minors win of the season, going seven scoreless and hitless innings while striking out 10 for Triple-A Gwinnett.
