ATLANTA (AP) — Before another sellout at Truist Park, Matt Olson delivered another big blow for the Atlanta Braves.
“Obviously a big crowd here tonight, which is cool on a Tuesday night, showing up for a big division matchup,” Olson said. “It was cool. I was pretty fired up.”
Olson hit a go-ahead, two-run homer in the sixth inning, Adam Duvall went deep for two runs in the seventh and the Atlanta Braves beat the New York Mets 4-1.
The defending World Series champion Braves trimmed the Mets’ NL East lead to 1 1/2 games, and the teams will play the rubber match of the three-game series Wednesday. The Braves haven’t lost consecutive games since June 17-18. They are 30-9 since June 1, best in the major leagues over that span.
Atlanta had one hit against Mets starter David Peterson before Olson crushed a slider 426 feet to straightaway center field, the 14th time he’s gone deep this year. Peterson had retired 14 of 15 batters before he walked Dansby Swanson with one out in the sixth. Olson, the next batter, made it 2-1.
“Looking back on it, I don’t feel like I’ve been locked in or that everything has totally clicked for me yet, so with that being said, I’m happy to have something to show for it,” said Olson, who leads the majors with 33 doubles and began the day tied for fourth with 46 extra-base hits. “There’s definitely some room for improvement, but we’re winning games and that’s the name of the game.”
Duvall connected off Seth Lugo with a 412-foot shot to the second level of seats in left field, putting Atlanta up 4-1 after Travis d’Arnaud singled. It was Duvall’s 11th homer.
Peterson (5-2) allowed two hits and two runs with three walks and nine strikeouts in 5 1/3 innings. He remained tough on the road, lowering his ERA away from New York to 2.84 — a major…
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