April 20, 2024
ATLANTA (AP) — Matt 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 Tuesday night.
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.
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 improvement from the 7.97 road ERA he posted last year.
Tyler Matzek (1-2) faced the minimum in 1 1/3 innings to earn the win on his bobblehead night. Collin McHugh pitched a clean seventh and faced four batters in the eighth before A.J. Minter earned his fourth save with a perfect ninth.
Braves starter Spencer Strider wasn’t as dominant as he was in his last two outings, when he struck out 23 in 12 innings, but the rookie still had plenty of velocity and movement on his pitches to keep the Mets on their heels. The right-hander gave up five hits and one run with three walks and eight strikeouts.
Strider, who threw 103 pitches in 4 2/3 innings, worked out of a jam with two runners in scoring position to end the fourth, getting Travis Jankowski to ground out, but he was less fortunate in the fifth. Brandon Nimmo walked, advanced on a wild pitch and scored when Francisco Lindor’s triple bounced past right fielder Ronald Acuña Jr. to give the Mets a 1-0 lead.
The Braves improved to 22-8 against left-handed starters, best in the NL. They lead the NL with 136 homers and rank second in runs with 421.
