Bryce Elder pitched 6 1/3 strong innings and the Atlanta Braves beat the visiting Chicago Cubs 4-1 on Monday to give manager Brian Snitker his 800th career victory.
The Braves (65-79) ended a two-game losing streak and evened the season series with Chicago (81-63) at 2-2.
Ozzie Albies and Matt Olson both hit solo home runs to pace the Atlanta attack.
Elder (7-9) allowed one run on five hits and one walk with six strikeouts. He left with runners on the corners after throwing 89 pitches. It was the third straight start in which Elder has allowed only one run; he has a 1.37 ERA over his last four outings.
Raisel Iglesias pitched the ninth inning and earned his 25th save.
Snitker became the 86th manager in baseball history to win at least 800 games and the third in the history of the Braves franchise to reach the milestone. Only Bobby Cox (2,149) and Frank Selee (1,004), both members of the Hall of Fame, have more victories.
The losing pitcher was Shota Imanaga (9-7). He pitched six innings and allowed three runs on five hits with four strikeouts. He retired the final 12 batters he faced.
The Braves scored three runs in the first inning on a rally that started with two outs and no one on base. Albies hit his 16th home run, a solo shot that carried 435 feet to center field. Ha-Seong Kim singled and scored on Drake Baldwin’s double and Ronald Acuna Jr. ended a career-long 0-for-25 streak with an RBI single.
Chicago got a run in the seventh. Nico Hoerner doubled, advanced to third on a ground ball and scored on Matt Shaw’s sacrifice fly to shallow center field.
The Braves got the run back in the eighth when Olson hit a solo homer, his 23rd, to center field.
–Field Level Media
