Braves hold on to Lead, beat Giants

Mike Foltynewicz #26 of the Atlanta Braves throws a first inning pitch against the San Francisco Giants at Turner Field on May 30, 2016 in Atlanta, Georgia.

(May 30, 2016 - Source: Scott Cunningham/Getty Images North America)

The Atlanta Braves (15-35) hold on to their lead as they beat the San Francisco Giants (32-21) 5-3 in the opener of their four-game series.

The Giants were first on the scoreboard with a leadoff home run from 1B Brandon Belt in the top of the second inning. It was his fifth homer of the season.

Atlanta responded straight away in the bottom of the frame. They loaded the bases with a leadoff single from 3B Adonis Garcia, a double from RF Nick Markakis and a one-out intentional walk to C A.J. Pierzynski.

San Francisco decided to walk A.J. Pierzynski, believing this would be the easier way to get the necessary outs, since SP Mike Foltynewicz was batting eighth in the line-up. Foltynewicz did strike out but LF Mallex Smith hit a base-clearing two-out triple to give the Braves a 3-1 lead.

Atlanta scored another two runs in the third inning. SS Gordon Beckham and 1B Freddie Freeman hit back-to-back singles and advanced one base each on a groundout by Adonis Garcia. On the next play, Nick Markakis batted Gordon Beckham home and reached first base on Brandon Belt’s fielding error. 2B Kelly Johnson followed and drove in Freddie Freeman with a sacrifice flyball to left field.

San Francisco’s SP Jeff Samardzija (7-3) pitched 5 innings, allowing 6 hits, 2 walks and 4 earned runs while striking out 2. His ERA and WHIP increased to 2.84 and 1.09, respectively.

Atlanta’s Mike Foltynewicz (2-2) worked 6 innings, giving up 3 hits, 2 walks and 1 earned run while fanning 4. He now has a 3.51 ERA with a 1.26 WHIP on the season.

The Braves decided to use CL Arodys Vizcaino in a non-save situation to preserve the win but he had to work hard for the three outs. After retiring the first batter, Vizcaino allowed three consecutive singles to Brandon Belt, RF Hunter Pence and SS Brandon Crawford.

Brandon Belt scored a run on Brandon Crawford’s single and a fielding error from A.J. Pierzynski enabled Hunter Pence and Brandon Crawford to advance to third and second base.

San Francisco decided to use Buster Posey as pinch hitter after Arodys Vizcaino struck out LF Jarrett Parker for the second out. Posey reached first base on another fielding error by Kelly Johnson and Hunter Pence came home for San Francisco’s third run.

The Atlanta Braves got their third out when 3B Kelby Tomlinson hit into fielder’s choice and celebrated their 15th win of the season with the final score of 5-3.

Mallex Smith went 1-for-3 with 3 RBI. He is batting .242 this season and now has 17 runs, 3 HR and 18 RBI.