Marcell Ozuna hit the Braves’ second grand slam in two nights, Max Fried pitched five innings in his first start since April 13 and the Atlanta defeated the host Washington Nationals 5-3 on Wednesday night.
Atlanta rookie William Contreras hit his first major league home run as Atlanta won for the second straight game.
Fried (1-1), who left his last start with a strained hamstring, allowed a run on four hits. He struck out six and walked one.
Will Smith, the Braves’ sixth pitcher, worked a scoreless ninth inning for his sixth save.
Ozuna’s grand slam followed Tuesday’s by Atlanta pitcher Huascar Ynoa.
Yan Gomes and Trea Turner homered for Washington, and Erick Fedde (2-3) allowed five runs on five hits over five innings. He walked two and struck out three.
Nationals reliever Kyle Finnegan pitched the fifth immaculate inning in team history when he struck out the side on nine pitches in the sixth. The last Nationals pitcher to do it was Stephen Strasburg on July 3, 2019, against the Marlins.
With Washington trailing 5-1 in the eighth, Atlanta reliever Josh Tomlin hit Andrew Stevenson with a pitch, and Turner followed with a home run into the Braves’ bullpen.
Ryan Zimmerman walked one out later, and A.J. Minter replaced Tomlin. Starlin Castro doubled to put men on second and third, and Kyle Schwarber walked with two outs, but Victor Robles flied out.
Contreras singled to open the third and was on second with two outs. He went to third on a passed ball, and Ronald Acuna Jr. walked and stole second. The Nationals opted to walk slumping lefty Freddie Freeman, the reigning MVP who was just 1 for his last 24, to go righty-righty against Ozuna, who homered to right on the first pitch to make it 4-0.
With one out in the fourth inning, Contreras swung at a 3-0 sinker and made it 5-0.
Gomes answered in the bottom of the fourth with a solo shot to left.
The Nationals got their first two runners on in the fifth, but Fried struck out Yadiel Hernandez and got Turner to ground into a double play.
–Field Level Media