Matt Olson and Michael Harris II each hit two home runs as the Atlanta Braves dominated the Cincinnati Reds 15-3 on Thursday afternoon, securing the rubber match of their three-game series.
Olson started the scoring with a solo homer in the second inning and later hit a three-run blast in the fifth, pushing Atlanta (83-70) to an 8-1 lead. Harris added a solo shot to open the eighth inning and followed up with a three-run homer in the ninth. He finished 3-for-5, driving in four runs and scoring four times.
Ramon Laureano and Jorge Soler also contributed three-run homers for the Braves, who are trailing the Mets and Diamondbacks by 1 1/2 games in the National League wild-card race. Both New York and Arizona were scheduled to play later on Thursday.
Braves starter Chris Sale (18-3) earned his 18th win of the season, setting a single-season career high. He allowed two runs on five hits over five innings, with two walks and six strikeouts.
Blake Dunn led the Reds (74-80) with his first major league home run in a 2-for-3 performance, scoring three times. Cincinnati has now lost five of its last eight games.
Reds starter Julian Aguiar (2-1) struggled, giving up seven runs on six hits over four-plus innings, with two walks and four strikeouts.
Laureano gave Atlanta an early cushion in the third inning by launching a three-run homer off Aguiar, making it 4-0. Cincinnati responded in the bottom half when Dunn singled, stole second and third, and scored on Jonathan India’s RBI single.
In the fifth inning, Harris and Soler were hit by pitches ahead of Marcell Ozuna’s RBI double. Yosver Zulueta relieved Aguiar and immediately gave up Olson’s three-run homer, extending Atlanta’s lead to 8-1. Dunn hit a solo homer in the bottom of the fifth to narrow the gap to 8-2.
Soler added a three-run home run in the sixth to make it 11-2, while Elly De La Cruz singled home Dunn in the seventh for the Reds’ final run. Harris closed out the scoring with his back-to-back home runs in the eighth and ninth innings.
Atlanta tied its season high with 18 hits, while De La Cruz accounted for three of the Reds’ 10 hits.
Source: Field Level Media
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