ATLANTA (AP) — William Contreras homered twice, Ian Anderson allowed one hit in six scoreless innings and the Atlanta Braves beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 6-2 on Saturday night.
The victory was Atlanta’s second straight and boosted the defending World Series champion Braves to 38-14 since June 1, the best record in the major leagues over that span. Atlanta stayed three games behind the New York Mets in the NL East.
Contreras, the Braves’ No. 2 catcher, thought Anderson’s performance was stellar. The two know each other well from spending time in the Braves’ farm system, and Contreras was pleased to see Anderson having all his pitches working.
“We have a good connection between the two of us,” Contreras said through a translator. “He had everything going tonight — fastball, change, curve. I’m really happy for him. He had a tremendous game, and I’m happy to see him have that kind of a performance out there.”
The Braves improved to 17-8 this month to guarantee consecutive months with single-digit losses for the first time since the 2004 team won the division with 96 victories. They are 35-21 at home.
Matt Olson, who has gone deep nine times in his last 18 games, made it 1-0 in the first with his 21st homer, a 415-foot shot into left-center. Olson matched his career-best 25th RBI for a month from September 2021.
Eddie Rosario began the second with a walk and crossed the plate when Contreras connected with a 427-foot shot to center field. Contreras homered into right in the fourth to pad the lead at 4-0. It marked the All-Star’s third career multihomer game and first since May 21 at Miami.
Contreras likes the role he’s carved out with the Braves, backing up Travis d’Arnaud and occasionally serving as designated hitter.
“I’m just going to keep taking advantage of the…