J.D. Martinez hit two home runs and Freddie Freeman had a double and a homer to help the visiting Los Angeles Dodgers overcome a four-run deficit and beat the Atlanta Braves 8-6 in the first game of a three-game series matching the National League’s two winningest teams.
Martinez went 4-for-5 with a pair of solo shots, giving him eight long balls for the season. It was his 20th career multi-homer game.
Freeman, who played for Atlanta from 2010-21, went 3-for-5, legging out his 18th double and launching his ninth homer. He knocked in three runs and extended his hitting streak to 12 games.
Atlanta starter Charlie Morton (5-4) could not hold a four-run lead. He pitched five innings and allowed six runs on seven hits — two of them home runs — with two walks and five strikeouts.
Los Angeles’ Gavin Stone, making his second career start, pitched four-plus innings and gave up five runs on five hits with five walks and one strikeout.
The winning pitcher was Evan Phillips (1-0), who worked one scoreless frame in relief of Stone. Brusdar Graterol got the last four outs and earned his third save.
The Braves scored four times in the first. Sean Murphy had an RBI single and Eddie Rosario belted a three-run homer, his fifth. Atlanta has scored 41 runs in the first inning, the most in the major leagues.
Martinez got the Dodgers on the board with a solo homer in the second.
Los Angeles made it 4-3 with a pair of runs in the fourth on Max Muncy’s infield grounder and David Peralta’s triple down the first base line.
The Dodgers took the lead in the fifth inning when Freeman hit a three-run homer, his ninth. It was his third career homer against Morton and the 301st of his career.
Atlanta cut the deficit to 6-5 with a run in the bottom of the fifth. Ronald Acuna Jr. walked and eventually scored on Murphy’s infield grounder.
The Dodgers got it back in the sixth on a run-scoring single by Mookie Betts and added another homer from Martinez in the seventh.
Atlanta’s Marcell Ozuna extended his hitting streak to nine games and Austin Riley picked up his 500th career hit.
–Field Level Media
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