Ozzie Albies and Matt Olson hit back-to-back homers off Paul Sewald to break a scoreless tie in the ninth inning, and the Atlanta Braves beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 2-0 on Friday night in Phoenix.
Albies, leading off the inning, put the Braves ahead by depositing an 0-1 fastball from Sewald (0-1) over the right field wall for his second homer of the season. Olson followed three pitches later with a 426-foot blast to left-center field.
Olson collected his second homer in as many games, having hit one as the Braves routed the Diamondbacks 17-2 in the opener of the four-game series on Thursday.
Albies had three hits on Friday for Atlanta, which has slugged 12 homers in its first eight games.
Robert Suarez (1-0) pitched a perfect eighth inning for the win. Raisel Iglesias retired the D-backs in order in the ninth for his first save.
Atlanta out-hit Arizona 6-2 in a game that featured a pitchers’ duel between the Braves’ Grant Holmes and the Diamondbacks’ Eduardo Rodriguez.
Holmes took a no-hitter into the sixth inning, when Ketel Marte singled to left field with one out. Corbin Carroll then walked before Geraldo Perdomo grounded into a double play.
Holmes threw 85 pitches and allowed one hit over six scoreless innings. He walked three and struck out four.
The Braves put two runners on with one out in the first, but Rodriguez escaped unscathed when Carroll made a leaping catch on Matt Olson’s fly ball to right field and Austin Riley grounded out.
Rodriguez gave up four hits and one walk while striking out three over seven shutout innings. He fired 90 pitches.
Holmes retired his first eight batters in order before Tim Tawa drew a two-out walk in the third. Tawa moved to second on a wild pitch but was stranded when Marte lined out.
The game featured several stellar defensive plays, including a diving catch by Arizona center fielder Alek Thomas on Drake Baldwin’s liner to end the eighth inning.
Arizona played without outfielder Jordan Lawlar, who will be sidelined for six to eight weeks after breaking his right wrist when he was hit by a pitch in the Thursday game.
–Field Level Media
