Field Level Media
May 23, 2021
Austin Riley hit two home runs to support the strong seven-inning performance by southpaw Max Fried and the Atlanta Braves defeated the visiting Pittsburgh Pirates 7-1 on Sunday.
The Braves hit three homers and finished with 15 home runs in the series -- the most ever allowed in one series by the Pirates. Atlanta leads the league with 78 home runs. The Braves won the last three games of the four-game series, outscoring the Pirates 33-3.
Riley was 2-for-4, scored two runs, drove in five and extended his hitting streak to eight games. The third baseman hit a three-run homer to center field in the first inning and added a two-run homer to right field in the third inning.
Fried (2-2) pitched seven innings and allowed one run on four hits, three walks and two strikeouts. In four starts since returning from the injured list, Fried has allowed four runs over 24 innings, a 1.50 ERA. Chris Martin and Edgar Santana each pitched a scoreless inning to finish the game.
Pittsburgh starter JT Brubaker threw 5 1/3 innings and allowed seven runs on seven hits with seven strikeouts.
The Pirates scored in the first inning when Bryan Reynolds stroked his league-leading 16th double in the left-field corner to score Kevin Newman.
Riley's two longballs gave the Braves a 5-1 lead, and they broke the game open in the sixth on Dansby Swanson's two-run homer. Swanson went 1-for-3 to extend his hitting streak to five games and finished the series going 8-for-15 with three homers.
Pittsburgh's Adam Frazier went 1-for-4 and extended his hitting streak to nine games. Frazier is 35-for-94 (.372) with eight doubles, a triple and a home run since April 28.
Both teams are off on Monday. Pittsburgh returns home to open a three-game series against the Chicago Cubs on Tuesday, while Atlanta travels to Boston for a two-game set.
--Field Level Media