Atlanta Braves News and Links: Sweep of Padres gets Braves back to .500

BRAVES NEWS

Freeman, Swanson lead Braves to sweep-producing victory over Padres

Freddie Freeman had himself quite the game on Monday, and the Braves needed every bit of it as they walked-off the Padres in dramatic fashion. Freeman finished the game 4-4 with two homers, including the game-tying blast in the eighth that gave the Braves an opportunity to win the game in the ninth. With the bases loaded and two outs, Dansby Swanson came through with a base hit to score Chase d’Arnaud and give the Braves a fifth straight win.

Flowers hoping to avoid DL, Kemp on schedule

Mark Bowman of MLB.com provides an update on Tyler Flowers, who left Saturday’s game with what was later diagnosed as a right hamstring strain, as well as Matt Kemp who has missed eight consecutive games with a similar injury to his left hamstring.

ATLANTA -- Less than 24 hours after leaving SunTrust Park wondering if he was destined for the disabled list, Tyler Flowers gave the Braves hope on Monday that he could be just a few days away from being back in a lineup that could also welcome Matt Kemp this week.

While Kemp remains on target to possibly return from a left hamstring strain on Wednesday, Flowers delayed DL thoughts once the Braves' medical staff evaluated the right hamstring strain he sustained during Sunday's 9-2 win over the Padres.

We’re starting to see what the Braves hoped they’d be

Mark Bradley of the AJC discusses his thoughts on the Braves and their success in recent days, noting that while it's still early, the .500 team we see at the moment is a little closer to what the front office had hoped for.

It’s too soon to attach great significance to anything. That said, what we’ve seen these past four games was what the Braves’ architects had in mind for their 2017 big-league product. R.A. Dickey and Bartolo Colon worked quality starts Saturday and Sunday. They were acquired to lend stability to a rotation that had none last season. (The Braves deployed 16 starting pitchers, only Julio Teheran to much effect.)

“The idea was to get guys who could cover innings,” manager Brian Snitker said Monday. Colon, who’s 43, has worked more than 150 innings 14 times; Dickey, who’s 42, has done it seven times. Jaime Garcia, who’s 30 and was scheduled to start Monday night, had worked 120 innings five times in nine big-league seasons. The Braves were under no illusions that they’d landed Glavine/Maddux/Smoltz, but they believed these three could get the Braves through six without putting the team in a five-run hole.

MLB NEWS

Thames 2nd Brewer to homer in 5 straight

Eric Thames is destroying major league pitching right now, leading the league with seven home runs. His homer on Monday gave him five consecutive games with at least one, which tied him with Dickie Thon for the Brewers franchise record.

Ichiro Suzuki honored in return to Seattle

Ichiro Suzuki spent the first twelve seasons of his career in Seattle, where he became known as one of the best players in major league history. On Monday, the Marlins travelled to Seattle for the first time since Ichiro joined them in 2015 and the 43-year-old was honored with a video tribute and a plaque.