Matt Olson hit a home run and Ronald Acuna Jr. doubled twice and scored a run to lead the Atlanta Braves to an 8-2 victory over the Los Angeles Angels in the rubber game of their three-game series on Wednesday afternoon in Anaheim, Calif.
Austin Riley doubled, stole a base and scored three runs, and Mauricio Dubon had a two-run double for Atlanta, which finished a seven-game western road trip with a 4-3 record.
Atlanta starter Grant Holmes (1-1) picked up the win, allowing two runs on five hits in 6 2/3 innings. The right-hander walked three and struck out six.
Jorge Soler, appealing a seven-game suspension for his role in a benches-emptying brawl with Braves pitcher Reynaldo Lopez on Tuesday night, homered for the second straight game, and Jo Adell had three hits for Los Angeles.
Reid Detmers (0-1) suffered the loss, allowing six runs (five earned) on five hits in 4 1/3 innings. The left-hander walked two and struck out four.
Atlanta took a 1-0 lead in the first inning when Acuna Jr. led off with a broken-bat bloop double down the left field line, advanced to third on a groundout by Drake Baldwin and scored on a sacrifice fly by Ozzie Albies.
The Braves extended the lead to 2-0 in the second inning when Riley led off with a walk, stole second and scored on Jonah Heim’s ground-rule double down the right field line.
Los Angeles had Holmes on the ropes in the bottom of the second. Soler led off with a 402-foot homer to left to cut the lead to 2-1. The Angels then loaded the bases with no outs on walks to Yoan Moncada and Josh Lowe sandwiched around a single by Adell. Holmes then walked Logan O’Hoppe to force in the tying run but rebounded by getting Oswald Peraza to strike out, Zach Neto to fly out to shallow right and Mike Trout to ground into a fielder’s choice to get out of the jam.
Atlanta then took a 5-2 lead in the third on a two-run home run by Olson, a 399-foot line drive to right-center, and a throwing error by shortstop Neto on a Dubon grounder, allowing Riley, who had doubled, to score.
The Braves extended the lead to 7-2 in the fifth on a two-run double by Dubon and added another insurance run in the sixth on an RBI single by Baldwin, driving in Michael Harris II, who had walked and stole second.
–Field Level Media
