Braves blast Pirates
Matt Adams, Brandon Phillips homer to lift Atlanta
ATLANTA — Matt Adams hit a two-run homer in his second start since being traded to Atlanta, Ender Inciarte had a career-high five hits and the Braves beat Gerrit Cole and the Pittsburgh Pirates 5-2 on Monday night.
Brandon Phillips also homered for the Braves, who have won eight of 11.
Adams was acquired from St. Louis on Saturday as a fill-in for injured first baseman Freddie Freeman, expected to miss about 10 weeks with a broken left wrist. Adams had two hits, including his fifth-inning homer high into the right-field seats for a 5-1 lead.
David Freese and Pirates manager Clint Hurdle were ejected by plate umpire Phil Cuzzi in the fourth. Freese didn’t like a called third strike by Cuzzi and, with John Jaso at the plate, was still yelling at the umpire from the bench when he was ejected. Hurdle then charged out of the dugout and was quickly tossed.
Mike Foltynewicz (3-4) allowed two runs, one earned, in five-plus innings to win his third straight start. Jim Johnson pitched the ninth for his ninth save.
Foltynewicz left after allowing three straight singles to open the sixth, including a run-scoring liner to right by Jaso. Jason Motte struck out Francisco Cervelli and Jordy Mercer, and ended the inning on pinch-hitter Jose Osuna’s groundout.
Cole (2-5) gave up five runs and 10 hits in 4 2/3 innings. He ended his streaks of lasting at least six innings in eight straight starts and allowing no more than two earned runs in six consecutive starts.
Cole escaped a bases-loaded jam in the fourth. Dansby Swanson struck out after giving the Pirates a scare with a long fly to left that hooked, and Foltynewicz grounded out to end the inning.
Light rain began to fall in the fourth and continued the remainder of the game.
Andrew McCutchen hit into a double play in the fifth and was 0-for-4, dropping his batting average to .206.
James Loney released
First baseman James Loney was granted his requested release from the Braves’ Triple-A Gwinnett affiliate. The 33-year-old Loney signed a minor league deal with the team on Thursday after Freeman’s injury. Braves general manager John Coppolella said Saturday the club wouldn’t have signed Loney if it knew it would be able to trade for Adams.