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Braves batter D-backs for 9th straight win

Jul 6, 2014 - 12:17 AM Atlanta, GA (SportsNetwork.com) - Andrelton Simmons went 2-for-5 with four RBI to lead an offensive barrage that carried the Atlanta Braves to a ninth consecutive win, a 10-4 shellacking of the Arizona Diamondbacks at Turner Field.

The Braves pounded out 14 hits, including three from Christian Bethancourt, while receiving eight solid innings from Aaron Harang to extend their streak. Justin Upton added a two-run homer and finished 2-for-3 with three RBI, while Freddie Freeman collected two hits -- including an RBI triple -- and three runs scored.

"We've been swinging the bat pretty well," said Simmons. "We haven't hit a lot of home runs but we've scored a lot of runs. It's been a lot of hits, a lot of clutch hits."

Harang (8-6) overcame a rough first inning to hold Arizona to four runs -- three earned -- on nine hits and win his third consecutive start.

Mike Bolsinger (1-5) lasted just 3 2/3 innings for the Diamondbacks, serving up 10 hits that led to seven runs -- five earned.

Miguel Montero ended 3-for-4 with an RBI to pace Arizona offensively, with Ender Inciarte belting a solo homer and Gerardo Parra going 2-for-3 with an RBI in defeat.

Harang was rocked for three runs on four hits during the opening frame but settled down thereafter, and the Braves put up single runs in both the first and third before breaking the game open in the fourth.

Tommy La Stella and Bethancourt began the outburst with consecutive singles and Harang put down a sac bunt prior to Arizona shortstop Didi Gregorius' wild throw on B.J. Upton's grounder, which brought in a run to knot the score at 3-3.

The tie didn't last long, as Simmons delivered a two-run double to left and scored on Freeman's triple down the right-field line. A sacrifice fly from Justin Upton capped the five-run inning and put Atlanta up 7-3.

Arizona got a run back when Inciarte led off the fifth with his first major league homer, but Justin Upton answered an inning later by hammering a Matt Stites fastball over the wall in right with Freeman aboard for a 9-4 lead.

"It was good for me that I got the home run, but you can enjoy it more when you win the game," Inciarte remarked.

The Braves reached double-digit runs in the seventh, with Simmons recording his fourth RBI of the day with a groundout that came after Atlanta loaded the bases on a walk to La Stella and singles by Bethancourt and B.J. Upton.

Harang's shaky beginning featured a double by Paul Goldschmidt that plated David Peralta for a quick 1-0 Arizona edge, with Montero following with an RBI single and moving to second on an error by Simmons. After a would-be inning- ending double play grounder off the bat from Aaron Hill was challenged and overturned, Parra laced a single to right to send home another run for a 3-0 advantage.

B.J. Upton started Atlanta's portion of the first with a deep triple, however, and crossed the plate on a Simmons single.

Three straight hits off Bolsinger in the third got the Braves within 3-2, with a Freeman double preceding singles by Justin Upton and Jason Heyward.

Game Notes

Six of the Braves' eight position players had multiple hits, with B.J. Upton going 2-for-5 to extend his career-best hitting streak to 11 games ... Atlanta's winning streak is its longest since a 12-game surge from July 29- Aug. 9 of last season ... Justin Upton's homer ended a five-game stretch by the Braves without one ... Reliever Eury De la Rosa, recalled by the Diamondbacks from Triple-A Reno following the team's trade of Joe Thatcher to the Angels on Saturday, pitched the final two innings and allowed a run on three hits.