Braves 5, Angels 4 (12)
Joe Mather doubled in the go-ahead run in the top of the 12th inning and hit a three-run homer to spark a rally in the seventh as the visiting Atlanta Braves outlasted the Los Angeles Angels 5-4 on Saturday.
Atlanta finished with 17 hits, but left eight runners in scoring position with two outs.
Trevor Bell (1-1) got two outs in the 12th before Alex Gonzalez singled and moved to second on an error by second baseman Alexi Amarista. Mather immediately made the Angels pay when he drove a 1-0 pitch to right to plate Gonzalez. Mather finished 4-for-6.
Scott Proctor (1-0) pitched the 11th for Atlanta and Craig Kimbrel picked up his 12th save.
The Braves failed to push a run across in the first 15 innings of the series before they broke through in the seventh. Mather, starting in place of the injured Jason Heyward and batting out of the No. 9 spot, followed hits by Freddie Freeman and Gonzalez with a three-run blast to left off Joel Pineiro for his first homer of the season.
Atlanta added another run in the seventh on Brian McCann’s RBI double to make it 4-4.
Torii Hunter and Bobby Abreu had two RBIs apiece for Los Angeles.