Rosenhof: Story » night in the opening game of the interleague series

ATLANTA -- Freddie Freeman said before the game the slumping Braves needed an immediate turnaround. The power-hitting first baseman then backed up his challenge at the plate. Freeman hit a three-run homer, one of four by Atlanta, and the Braves beat the Oakland Athletics 7-2 on Friday night in the opening game of the interleague series. Justin Upton and Evan Gattis hit homers off Jason Hammel (1-5) in the second inning. Rookie Phil Gosselin hit a two-run homer, the first of his career, off Jesse Chavez in the sixth. The Braves had not scored more than four runs in any of their past six games. They entered the game having lost 12 of 15. Atlanta is six games behind first-place Washington in the NL East. "Everyone wants to say we cant panic, but weve got to go," Freeman said before the game. "... The time is now." After the game, Freeman applauded Atlantas power surge. "That was a good night," Freeman said, noting Oakland brought the majors best record to Atlanta. "We always play those teams the hardest, and it was no different tonight," Freeman said. Alex Wood (9-9) allowed two runs in six innings -- a two-run homer by Nate Freiman in the fourth. The As have lost three straight and five of six. "Were just going through a tough time right now," Oakland manager Bob Melvin said. "You start to press a little bit offensively and it can be contagious as a group. You start swinging at some pitches out of the zone. Were pretty good about looking for our pitch and waiting for it. We havent been as good here recently." Wood allowed four hits in six innings. Relievers David Carpenter, Jordan Walden and James Russell combined for three perfect innings. Hammel allowed five runs and six hits, including three homers, in three innings. He was pulled after walking B.J. Upton to open the fourth. "Three-run homers do some damage," Hammel said. "Solo ones you can deal with, but that third one obviously was a big one. "Otherwise I felt great. My body hasnt felt that good in a while." The Braves had their second four-homer game of the homestand and only their fourth game with four or more homers this season. They also hit four homers in a 7-6 win over Washington on Aug. 8. Before that, the Braves hadnt hit four homers in a game since May 25 against Colorado. Their high mark was five homers at Philadelphia on April 14. Freemans homer, his 17th, drove in Jason Heyward and Gosselin, who reached on singles. Justin Upton leads Atlanta with 22 homers. Chris Johnson was credited with a ground-rule double when As centerfielder Coco Crisp lost his deep fly ball in the lights in the third. The ball landed well behind Crisp and bounced over the wall. Hammel hit Gattis with a pitch and then escaped the jam. A NIGHT OF FIRSTS Gosselins first homer came in his first start at shortstop. He previously started two games at second base and one at third. His homer followed a two-out fielding error by Freiman, the first baseman, on Heywards grounder. "It was awesome just to contribute to a win tonight and get the series off on the right foot," Gosselin said. OVERTURNED After Wood issued one-out walks to Jonny Gomes and Josh Donaldson in the first, the left-hander made a pickoff throw to second base. Umpire Ted Barrett called Gomes safe. Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez challenged the ruling and the call was overturned following a review of 1 minute, 50 seconds. The ruling proved important when Derek Norris followed with a single to left field that likely would have driven in Gomes from second. TRAINERS ROOM Athletics: CF Craig Gentry, on the 15-day disabled list with a broken right hand, will take batting practice with Triple-A Sacramento on Saturday. Braves: LF Justin Upton started after leaving Thursday nights game with a mild left hamstring strain. ... SS Andrelton Simmons was held out after having two teeth extracted. UP NEXT Athletics: RHP Sonny Gray will try to snap a streak of losses in three straight starts in Saturday nights game. The three-game skid is the longest of his career. Braves: RHP Julio Teheran will try to improve his 2-3 career interleague record in his first appearance against Oakland. He is 1-2 with a 2.41 ERA in two starts against AL teams this season. Jake Lamb Diamondbacks Jersey . - Derek Wolfe says hes finally healthy after suffering a seizure in November that doctors now believe was related to the spinal cord injury he suffered in the preseason. David Peralta Jersey . -- Slugger Jose Abreu, All-Star left-hander Chris Sale and closer Matt Lindstrom are on the disabled list. http://www.diamondbackssale.com/diamondbacks-rob-refsnyder-jersey/ . -- Derek Jeter spoke for 25 minutes, 44 seconds and answered 26 questions about his decision to retire at the end of this season. Luis Gonzalez Diamondbacks Jersey . Although taking two of three from the Baltimore Orioles wasnt nearly as uplifting as winning the World Series, it still felt pretty darn good. Felix Doubront and four relievers combined kept Baltimores potent lineup in check, and David Ortiz had three of Bostons 12 hits off Wei-Yin Chen in a 4-3 victory Thursday night. Andrew Chafin Diamondbacks Jersey .com) - The Minnesota Twins made it official on Wednesday, announcing the signing of outfielder Torii Hunter to a one-year contract.GLENDALE, Ariz. -- Ryan Millers debut for the St. Louis Blues started with a tough break and ended with a victory. Miller made 23 saves and Patrik Berglund scored twice during St. Louis four-goal, third-period rally and the Blues beat the Phoenix Coyotes 4-2 on Sunday night. Kevin Shattenkirk and Magnus Paajarvi added goals for the Blues, who had been scoreless for a franchise-record 187:44 before scoring three in a nine-plus minute span. Miller was playing in his first game since being acquired by St. Louis in a five-player deal with Buffalo on Friday. In addition to posting a 284-186-57 record in 10-plus seasons, all with the Sabres, Miller entered the game 6-0-0 with a shutout and a 1.15 goals-against average in his career against Phoenix. "I was pretty anxious and nervous all day," Miller said. "Its a new group of guys and you want to show them what youve got and let them know youre there for them." The night got off to a rocky start courtesy of an unlucky bounce less than three minutes into the game. With a teammate skating down the slot, Paul Bissonnette wristed a soft shot toward the net. St. Louis defenceman Barret Jackman, seemingly anticipating a harder attempt, dropped to the ice for the block. But the puck ticked off the prone Jackmans left skate and bounced off Millers right shoulder and into the net for the goal and a 1-0 Phoenix lead at 2:56 of the first. "Things like that happen," Miller said. "You need to be able to react quickly enough to recover." Halpern made it 2-0 at 7:09 of the second, slipping behind Shattenkirk after the Blues defenceman cleared Bissonnette from the front of the crease and scoring off Yandles pass from the left boards. But momentum turned quickly in the third. Berglund took a backhand pass from Jaden Schwartz and beat Mike Smith from the left of the net to pull St. Louis within a goal at 3-1 at 3:18 of the third, his first goal in 17 games. "Everyoone on the team could see Berglund was going to score," Blues coach Ken Hitchcock said.dddddddddddd "He was on a 2-on-1 and when it went in everyone jumped up. Once we got that first goal, it was a like the weight was lifted off of everybodys shoulders and they just took off." Just over four minutes later, Paajarvi rifled a shot past Smith from the middle of the faceoff circle to tie the game with 12:26 to go. Shattenkirk gave the Blues their first lead of the game with 7:14 left when he took a pass at the point, skated into the left faceoff circle and took advantage of a screen from T.J. Oshie to score his first goal since Jan. 21. Berglund capped the scoring with an unassisted goal with 1:39 left, jumping on a loose puck after Yandle was apparently tripped between the circles in the St. Louis zone and skating the length of the ice before scoring on a sharp wrist shot. "I think that in the last few games weve had a lot of chances, but we havent been able to capitalize," Shattenkirk said. "We did a great job of going down 2-nothing and staying with our game plan." Jeff Halpern scored his 150th career goal and Bissonnette added his first goal since Dec. 14 for the Coyotes, who have lost four straight and five of six. "I still look and there are good things that we are doing," said Coyotes coach Dave Tippett, whose team squandered a chance to move from 11th place into a wild-card playoff spot in the Western Conference. "They pushed hard and we couldnt push back." Smith made 26 saves for the Coyotes. NOTES: The Blues have won four straight in Phoenix. ... Shattenkirks goal was his first since Jan. 23. ... Bissonnette set a career high with his seventh point of the season. ... Ott, who had been the Sabres captain before the trade, also was making his St. Louis debut. ... St. Louis power-play goal was its first in its past 28 chances. ... Phoenix has surrendered the lead in five of its past 11 games. ' ' '