Matt Olson homered for the fourth straight game and Ronald Acuna Jr. added a pair of solo home runs to help the Atlanta Braves beat the visiting St. Louis Cardinals 8-5 on Thursday to end a three-game skid and salvage a game from the three-game series.
Olson broke a 3-3 tie in the fifth inning with a 410-foot shot to center field. Olson's league-leading 47th homer leaves him four away from matching the team record of 51 set by Andruw Jones in 2005.
Acuna opened the game with a home run and added his 34th in the sixth inning. It was Acuna's sixth leadoff home run this year and the 32nd of his career. It was the 12th multi-homer game for Acuna and third of the season.
Michael Harris II added a solo homer, his 14th, in the sixth inning and Travis d'Arnaud hit a two-run homer in the seventh, his 11th. The Braves hit 11 homers during the three-game series, 10 of them solo shots.
Atlanta starter Max Fried (7-1) went six innings and allowed three runs on six hits, two walks and four strikeouts.
St. Louis starter Adam Wainwright (3-11) pitched 5 2/3 innings and allowed six runs on eight hits, three walks and four strikeouts in his final career appearance against the Braves, the team that selected him in the first round of the 2000 draft.
The Braves scored three times in the first inning to set a franchise record with 129 this season. Acuna opened the game with a solo homer and Eddie Rosario added a two-run double.
The Cardinals tied the game in the second inning. Andrew Knizner was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded and Tommy Edman drove home two runs with a single. Nolan Gorman was originally called out at the plate, but a video review reversed the call.
St. Louis pitching coach Turner Ward was ejected from the game for arguing balls and strikes in the sixth inning.
—Field Level Media