Freeman homers, but Braves fall to Marlins

MIAMI — Zach Thompson pitched five scoreless innings and earned the first win of his Major League Baseball career, leading the Miami Marlins to a 4-2 victory over the Atlanta Braves on Saturday.

Adam Duvall and Lewin Díaz hit solo homers for Miami, which has won three straight games overall and two in a row against Atlanta. That secured the Marlins’ first home series win over the Braves since Oct. 1, 2017; the hosts will go for a sweep of the three-time reigning National League East Division champions on Sunday afternoon.

“It’s kind of what we needed after that last trip, to be able to come home and play well. It’s important for us to get some momentum,” Miami manager Don Mattingly said of his club’s 1-9 road swing that preceded the current homestand. “Hopefully, we’re able to close these guys out. We can’t afford to stop.”

Thompson (1-1) started the planned bullpen game and limited Atlanta to three hits, striking out six batters in a outing that went longer than expected.

“I don’t know if it’s truly hit me yet,” Thompson said. “I’m sure it will shortly.”

The 27-year-old righthander pumped his fist after his strikeout of Ronald Acuña Jr. to end the top of the fifth and his day on the mound.

“Acuña is an amazing player,” Thompson said. “Being able to shut them down that last inning was a really important factor for me, and I think my emotions showed it.”

In addition to the win, Thompson got his first MLB hit when he singled in the second. A soft liner to right that fell in front of Acuña enabled Thompson to not only reflect on his pitching performance, but the base hit.

“That was really cool,” Thompson said. “Swung a bat, I think two days ago, for the first time in years.”

Reigning NL MVP Freddie Freeman hit his 15th homer of the season, a two-run shot against Miami’s Anthony Bass in the eighth, as the Braves lost their fourth straight. Acuña singled before Freeman’s homer and has reached base in 21 consecutive games.

“We’ve got to continue to prepare and play hard; you have to handle it,” Atlanta manager Brian Snitker said. “We’ve been through this all year, where we have to handle tough situations, and these guys have.”

The Marlins scored in the first without a hit. Jazz Chisholm walked, advanced two bases on a groundout and a wild pitch and raced home on Jésus Aguilar’s sacrifice fly.

Duvall’s leadoff homer in the fourth put Miami ahead 2-0. Duvall, who played for the Braves the past three years, drove Atlanta starter Max Fried’s 0-2 pitch into the walkway above left center for his 12th home run of the season.

Díaz hit a pinch-hit shot to start the fifth inning for the first homer of his MLB career.

Fried (3-4) was lifted after six innings. The left-hander allowed three runs, five hits, struck out four and walked two. He remains winless against Miami in eight career starts.

Anthony Bender relieved Thompson and pitched 1 2/3 scoreless innings, and Richard Bleier got the final out in the seventh. Dylan Floro closed it with a perfect ninth for his second save in five chances this season.

Aguilar’s RBI single in the eighth gave Miami its final margin.

“With these guys, you know they’re going to keep coming at some point,” Mattingly said of the Braves, who have been inconsistent this season but have gone on some scoring sprees. “When they break out, they break out big. Any run you can get, you feel better about.”