Travis d’Arnaud hit three home runs, including a tiebreaking grand slam, to power the Atlanta Braves to an 8-3 win over the visiting Texas Rangers on Friday and extend their winning streak to five games.

The veteran catcher was 3-for-4 with six RBIs. His first two homers were solo shots, but the third came against reliever Jacob Latz (0-1) with the bases loaded, a 433-foot blast to center field. It was his third career grand slam. D’Arnaud grounded out in his final at-bat.

It was the seventh multiple-home run game and the second three-homer game of d’Arnaud’s career. It was the first three-homer game by an Atlanta player since Adam Duvall did it twice in 2020.

Atlanta starter Chris Sale (2-1) pitched seven innings and allowed three runs on five hits, one walk and seven strikeouts. He improved to 9-2 in his career against Texas and hasn’t lost to the Rangers since 2014.

Tyler Matzek pitched a scoreless eighth and Pierce Johnson finished with a scoreless ninth.

Texas starter Andrew Heaney pitched a season-high five innings and allowed three runs on three hits, two walks and five strikeouts. He needed 35 pitches to get through the first inning, but only 55 to cover the next four.

Both teams scored in the first inning. The Rangers got on the board when Marcus Semien hit a fastball into the seats in left field for his fourth homer and second leadoff homer this season. The Braves answered with Marcell Ozuna’s RBI single that tied the game and extended his hitting streak to a career-best 17 games.

D’Arnaud hit his first home run in the second inning, which traveled 429 feet to left, and added a second long ball in the fifth, a 440-foot blast to left.

The Rangers tied the game 3-3 on a two-run double from Adolis Garcia, who upped his team-leading RBI total to 20.

Atlanta’s Michael Harris II added a solo homer, his third, in the eighth.

–Field Level Media