Ozzie Albies homered and Eli White doubled and drove in two runs, including the go-ahead run on a sacrifice fly, as the Atlanta Braves earned a 7-2 victory over the Los Angeles Angels in a contest that featured a benches-emptying brawl on Tuesday in Anaheim, Calif.
Matt Olson doubled and scored twice, Austin Riley and Mauricio Dubon each had two hits and a run and Drake Baldwin had two hits and an RBI for Atlanta.
Tyler Kinley (1-0), taking over for starter Reynaldo Lopez, who was ejected in the bottom of the fifth after a fight that started near the mound with Jorge Soler, picked up the win after getting two outs. Raisel Iglesias struck out three while recording the final five outs for his second save.
Soler, who hit a two-run homer in the first inning and was struck by a pitch on his left hand in the third, took exception to a high and inside fifth-inning fastball that glanced off the glove of catcher Jonah Heim and went to the backstop, enabling Nolan Schanuel, who had walked, to advance to second.
Soler then stared at Lopez for several seconds before jogging to the mound. Both players squared up and began throwing punches, none of which appeared to land squarely, as players from both teams rushed in. Braves manager Walt Weiss ended up tackling Soler on the first base line to help break up the fracas.
Angels starter Yusei Kikuchi (0-2) gave up four runs on six hits in five innings. He walked one and struck out eight.
Lopez permitted two runs, both unearned, while fanning seven in 4 2/3 innings. He allowed three hits and two walks.
The Braves snapped a three-game losing streak while the Angels had a three-game winning streak end.
Los Angeles jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first inning when Mike Trout reached base on a throwing error by Riley at third base and scored one out later when Soler lined a home run down the left field line. It was Soler’s fifth homer in 23 career at-bats against Lopez.
Atlanta cut the deficit to 2-1 in the second when Olson led off with a double and scored on White’s two-out double into the left field corner.
The Braves scored three times in the fourth to take a 4-2 lead. Olson led off with a walk, went to second on a wild pitch and scored on a single by Riley, who then advanced to third on a double by Dubon. White then drove in Riley with a sacrifice fly to make it 3-2, and Heim followed with a single to drive in Dubon.
Albies extended the lead to 5-2 when he led off the eighth with his third home run, a 379-foot drive to right off reliever Shaun Anderson. The Braves broke the game open with two more runs in the ninth, highlighted by a RBI single from Baldwin.
–Field Level Media
