Murphy and Albies each have 4 RBIs as Braves beat Royals 9-3

Sean Murphy homered among his three hits and drove in four runs, Ozzie Albies also had four RBIs, and the Atlanta Braves beat the Kansas City Royals 9-3 on Saturday night.

Sean Murphy homered among his three hits and drove in four runs, Ozzie Albies also had four RBIs, and the Atlanta Braves beat the Kansas City Royals 9-3 on Saturday night.

Murphy had RBI doubles in the first and third innings, a solo homer in the fifth and a bases-loaded walk in the eighth. The homer went 395 feet over the left field fence for his third of the season and his second consecutive game. In the first two games of this series, he is 5 for 7 with two homers and seven RBIs.

"Getting hit is always good, but doing it early and just showing the rest of the guys that you belong with them," Murphy said. "It's going well right now but just trying to stay consistent. I've been just trying to do my thing and not take too much stock in whatever pressure is coming from the outside."

Albies had a two-run double in the third inning opening up a four-run lead early in the game. In the eighth inning, he singled in two more runs to put the game out of reach.

Bryce Elder (2-0) continued his promising start to the year going 5 1/3 innings and allowing three runs and seven hits, with two walks and four strikeouts.

"He just picked up right where left off from last year," Braves manager Brian Snitker said. "He's been very aggressive and guys have to love playing behind him, he works fast. ... He got on a nice little run there."

After being down 5-1 in the fifth, Kansas City got back into the game with RBIs by Kyle Isbel and Jackie Bradley Jr. to pull within two.