San Francisco, CA – Freddie Freeman knocked in the go-ahead run as part of a four-run fifth inning that lifted the Atlanta Braves to a 6-3 victory over the San Francisco Giants in the opener of a four-game set Thursday at AT&T.
Brian McCann clubbed a two-run homer in the second and added an RBI single in the fifth, with Andrelton Simmons and B.J. Upton each knocking in a run during the Atlanta rally that vaulted the Braves to their fourth win in five tries.
"A healthy McCann is a guy who can swing the bat and make a big impact in that lineup," Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez said of McCann, who made his season debut Monday after starting the season on the disabled list due to offseason shoulder surgery. "He makes our lineup a lot better."
Julio Teheran (2-0) tossed seven strong innings, allowing just three hits on seven runs, while Craig Kimbrel worked around a two-out double in the ninth to secure his 100th career save.
Buster Posey belted a two-run homer and plated all three runs for the Giants, who dropped three of their last four games.
Ryan Vogelsong (1-3) struck out seven over 4 1/3 frames, but was tagged for six runs on seven hits and three walks to absorb the loss.
"He was throwing well, it was evident by the strikeouts he was getting," Giants manager Bruce Bochy said of Vogelsong. "I do think the pitches probably caught up with him a little bit there in the fifth."
San Francisco broke through in its first at-bat, as Posey punched a two-out single to left to score Marco Scutaro, who smacked a ground-rule double earlier in the frame.
The Braves countered in the second on McCann's first homer of the season over the right-field wall to make it 2-1, but after Pablo Sandoval laced a two-out single in the third, Posey launched the ninth pitch of his at-bat into the seats in left-center field to give the home team a 3-2 lead.
The Braves then seized control with a four-run fifth, which started with Jordan Schafer's leadoff triple. Simmons scored Schafer with a groundout before Justin Upton scorched a triple to right.
Freeman followed with a single to right for a 4-3 lead before Vogelsong walked Dan Uggla to spell the end of his night, as Jose Mijares entered from the bullpen.
Mijares promptly served up back-to-back RBI singles to McCann and B.J. Upton to push Atlanta's lead to 6-3 before escaping the frame with back-to-back strikeouts around a walk to Teheran.
Teheran held the Giants to just one hit from there before Eric O'Flaherty and Kimbrel kept the home team off the board over the final two frames.
Game Notes
Kimbrel (24 years, 346 days) became the second youngest pitcher to record 100 saves, trailing Francisco Rodriguez, who accomplished the feat at 24 years, 246 days ... Scutaro extended his hitting streak to nine games ... Atlanta went 3-for-10 with runners in scoring position and left 10 on base ... The Giants left five men on base and finished 1-for-6 with RISP.
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