Field Level Media
May 27, 2018
Tyler Flowers hit a three-run homer off Boston ace Chris Sale and Mike Foltynewicz struck out seven over seven innings of one-run ball as the visiting Atlanta Braves avoided a sweep with a 7-1 win over the Red Sox on Sunday.
Freddie Freeman drove in two runs and Kurt Suzuki (3-for-5) added an RBI for Atlanta, which snapped its three-game losing streak after falling 6-2 in Friday's series opener and 8-6 on Saturday.
Foltynewicz (4-3) gave up only three hits and walked three to outduel Sale (5-2), who coughed up a season-high six runs on five hits with three walks while striking out eight over 4 1/3 innings.
Mitch Moreland knocked an RBI triple for the Red Sox, who had won two straight and eight of their last 10 games.
Atlanta right fielder Ronald Acuna Jr. left the game with left knee and back pain in the seventh inning. Acuna's leg buckled as he touched first base running out an infield single, and he eventually limped back to the dugout. The Braves were awaiting the results of an MRI exam Sunday night.
Preston Tucker replaced Acuna, who finished 1-for-3 with a walk and two strikeouts.
Boston right fielder Mookie Betts was a late scratch before the game with left side tightness. Blake Swihart took his place in the lineup and played left field, with Andrew Benintendi in center field and Jackie Bradley Jr. in right.
Flowers took Sale deep in the second to put the Braves up 3-0. The Braves chased Sale with three more runs in the fifth, highlighted by Freeman's two-run double. Moreland's triple came in the sixth, but Suzuki got the run back with an RBI single in the ninth.
Boston left-hander David Price (4-4, 4.08 ERA) starts Monday's series opener against the Toronto Blue Jays. Atlanta lefty Max Fried (0-2, 6.00) will also start on Memorial Day opposite the New York Mets.
--Field Level Media