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Braves rally past Angels

Jun 16, 2014 - 5:45 AM Atlanta, GA (SportsNetwork.com) - Tommy La Stella hit a two-run double to cap a four-run sixth inning that sent the Atlanta Braves past the LA Angels of Anaheim, 7-3, in the rubber match of three-game interleague set.

Evan Gattis went 2-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored, while Jason Heyward added a solo homer for the Braves, losers in three of four coming in.

Anthony Varvaro (2-1) hurled two perfect innings of relief to earn the victory behind Mike Minor, who was touched for three runs on 11 hits over five frames.

"He battled," Braves third baseman Chris Johnson said of Minor. "Sometimes you're not going to have your good stuff. He battled and he gave us as much as he could."

Mike Trout and Erick Aybar both hit solo homers for the Angels, who have dropped three of their last four.

Hector Santiago (0-7) remained winless on the year despite holding the Braves off the board over the first five frames.

The sixth proved costly, however, as he was pulled with one out and wound up being charged with four runs.

"It seemed like the better pitches I made, the luckier they got," Santiago said. "I felt like I made some really, really good pitches out there, it just went their way."

After B.J. Upton worked a one-out walk with Atlanta trailing 3-0, the Braves strung together five consecutive hits. Gattis and Justin Upton each singled in a run, and with the bases loaded, La Stella found the gap in right against Kevin Jepsen to bring in the tying and go-ahead runs.

Johnson was thrown out at home on the play, but the Braves added insurance in the seventh, first when Heyward went deep and then when a Cam Bedrosian wild pitch allowed B.J. Upton to score.

Ryan Doumit's sacrifice fly in the eighth capped the scoring, and with two on in the ninth, Craig Kimbrel was called in from the bullpen to record the final two outs en route to his 20th save.

Aybar opened the second frame with a no-doubter into the left-field seats.

Trout did the same in the third, and the Angels got another run in the frame when Howie Kendrick singled home Albert Pujols.

Game Notes

La Stella recorded three of Atlanta's 12 hits ... Aybar left the game with a sore left hip ... Atlanta improved to 2-7 in interleague play this season ... Gattis extended his hitting streak to 15 games, while Trout has a hit in 10 straight games.