Matt Olson went 3-for-5 with two doubles, a homer and five RBIs, and the Atlanta Braves pulled away for a 10-6 win over the Minnesota Twins in a rain-soaked series opener Monday night in Minneapolis.
Whit Merrifield finished 5-for-5 for Atlanta, which earned its seventh win in the past nine games. Travis d’Arnaud added a two-run home run.
Kyle Farmer and Matt Wallner each hit a solo home run for Minnesota, which dropped its second game in a row. Manuel Margot went 3-for-5 with a double and an RBI.
Braves left-hander Max Fried (8-7) notched his 70th career victory. He allowed three runs (one earned) on four hits, walked none and fanned seven in five innings.
Twins right-hander Bailey Ober (12-6) gave up nine runs on seven hits in two innings. He walked two and struck out two as his streak of 11 straight quality starts ended.
The game was delayed by rain with the Twins trailing 9-1 in the bottom of the second.
The Braves jumped on the scoreboard with four runs in the top of the first. Marcell Ozuna started the scoring with an RBI single, and Olson followed in the next at-bat with a three-run shot for his 23rd homer of the season.
Minnesota cut the deficit to 4-1 on a sacrifice fly by Jose Miranda in the bottom of the first.
The Braves added five more runs in the second against Ober. Ozuna hit an RBI double to left field, Olson belted a two-run double to right and d’Arnaud provided the finishing blow with a two-run homer to left.
After the lengthy rain delay, the Twins scored twice in the fifth to pull within 9-3. Austin Martin drove in Willi Castro with an infield single, and Margot followed with an RBI single to left to score Wallner.
Orlando Arcia scored on a wild pitch in the sixth to make it 10-3 in favor of Atlanta.
Royce Lewis hit a sacrifice fly in the seventh to trim the deficit to six for the Twins.
Farmer and Wallner added solo home runs in the eighth and ninth innings, respectively, with the game out of reach.
–Field Level Media
