BOSTON — Nick Markakis, one of the few bright spots in Atlanta’s disastrous start, delivered four hits and drove in three runs and rookie Mallex Smith added two RBIs as the Braves ended their eight-game losing streak with a 5-3 victory over the Boston Red Sox on Thursday night.
The win, which snapped a four-game Red Sox winning streak, salvaged the fourth game of the two-city four-game series between the teams and lifted the woeful Braves to 5-17 on the season.
Markakis, just 6-for-41 with three RBIs lifetime against Clay Buchholz coming into the game, had three hits off Buchholz and doubled home two runs in the second inning and singled home another in the fourth. He also doubled in the first and singled in the eighth, going 4-for-5.
Smith, who also had three hits, stroked a long RBI double in a three-run second and singled home a run in the sixth before doubling in the eighth. He was caught stealing twice, once on an overturned call at second base.
Freddie Freeman added three singles and a walk for the Braves.
Veteran right-hander Jhoulys Chacin (1-1) went five-plus innings for his first win as a Brave. Five relievers finished up, with Arodys Vizcaino pitching the ninth. He struck out the first two hitters then gave up a run on two hits, the RBI on the second hit of the game by Dustin Pedroia. He then got Xander Bogaerts to ground out to end it as Vizcaino got his second save.
Buchholz (0-3, 6.51) allowed exactly five runs for the fourth time in five starts (he didn’t yield a run in the other one) and heard boos when he left the mound in the seventh.
Hanley Ramirez drove in the other two Boston runs with an RBI single in the first inning and a run-scoring double in the third. He added another single in the sixth.
The Red Sox took a 1-0 lead in a strange first inning that saw Bogaerts reach second thanks to the new neighborhood call on a David Ortiz grounder, only to vacate the base and be tagged out for the second out of the inning.
Ramirez bailed his teammate out with his first RBI single, scoring Dustin Pedroia who had doubled.
Buchholz stranded a pair in the first inning but didn’t escape the second, when the Braves scored three.
With one out, Jace Peterson walked and Erick Aybar reached on a bunt single. Smith, 6-for-44 when he came up, hit a ground-rule double that wound up costing the Braves a second run on the hit. Markakis took care of that with his two-run single.
The Red Sox got a run back in the third when Bogaerts doubled with one out and scored when Ramirez hit one high off the wall. Ramirez was about to be hung up between first and second when Smith’s throw was wild.
A walk, a groundout and an RBI single by Markakis made it 4-2 in the fourth.
NOTES: Red Sox LF Brock Holt, 1-for-12 in the first three games against Atlanta, was out of the lineup. He failed to reach base for the first time all season on Wednesday. … Friday makes the 30th anniversary of Roger Clemens’ first 20-strikeout game, against the Seattle Mariners at Fenway Park. … LHP Eduardo Rodriguez, yet to pitch because of a knee injury, made his first minor league rehab start for Pawtucket on Thursday night. … LHP Henry Owens makes his second 2016 big league start when he opens a three-game series against the New York Yankees on Friday night at Fenway.
Orioles 10, White Sox 2
BALTIMORE– Manny Machado hit a grand slam and drove in five runs as the Baltimore Orioles homered three times en route to a 10-2 victory over the Chicago White Sox on Thursday.
Machado hit his grand slam in a five-run sixth off Jake Petricka and added an RBI double earlier as the Orioles ended Chicago’s six-game winning streak on a cold and rainy night.
His run-scoring double came during a four-run third that gave the Orioles the lead for good, and that extra-base hit was followed by back-to-back homers from Chris Davis and Mark Trumbo.
Machado finished 2-for-4 with a walk and scored three runs.
Mychal Givens (2-0) got the win with 1 1/3 innings of scoreless relief. Dylan Bundy blanked the White Sox for two innings, and T.J. McFarland took care of the ninth as the Baltimore bullpen threw 4 1/3 shutout innings in relief of starter Tyler Wilson.
Chicago starter John Danks (0-4) allowed six runs in five innings plus one batter and has lost seven straight decisions.
Todd Frazier homered for the White Sox.
Chicago missed on several scoring chances. The White Sox got 10 hits but left 11 men on base and went 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position.
The White Sox quickly jumped in front when Frazier belted a two-out, two-run homer in the first.
Baltimore answered in the bottom half when Adam Jones lined a two-out double to deep center that brought in Machado from second. Davis tried to score from first but shortstop Jimmy Rollins gunned him down on a relay from short center.
The Orioles took the lead in a four-run third. Their rally began when Joey Rickard scored from first as Machado snapped a 0-for-17 skid with a double into the right-field corner.
Davis homered on the next pitch to give Baltimore a 4-2 lead. Trumbo followed with a long solo homer on a 3-1 pitch, the third time this season that the Orioles have hit back-to-back shots.
Chicago threatened with two outs in the fifth, putting two on and forcing Orioles manager Buck Showalter to take out Wilson. Givens entered and walked Jose Abreu but struck out Frazier with the bases loaded to maintain the 5-2 lead.