Matt Olson, Ronald Acuna Jr. ignite Braves' sweep in St. Louis

 

[April 06, 2023]  Matt Olson doubled, homered and drove in three runs as the visiting Atlanta Braves defeated the St. Louis Cardinals 5-2 Wednesday to complete a three-game sweep.

Ronald Acuna Jr. had two hits and was driven in twice by Olson. Austin Riley went 2-for-4 with a double, an RBI and a run.

Braves starting pitcher Bryce Elder (1-0) blanked the Cardinals for six innings on two hits and three walks. He struck out six.

Jesse Chavez, Atlanta's fourth reliever, got the final out to earn his first save as the Cardinals threatened a late rally.

Rookie outfielder Jordan Walker hit his first big league homer and ripped an RBI double past third in the bottom of the ninth for St. Louis.

Cardinals starting pitcher Miles Mikolas (0-1) allowed five runs on nine hits in six innings. He struck out six and walked one.

The Braves continued their hot hitting, taking a 3-0 first-inning lead when Acuna legged out an infield single, then turned on the jets to score from first on Olson's double into the right-center field gap. Riley followed with an RBI single to make it 2-0.

Michael Harris II hit a one-out single, sending Riley to third base, then Ozzie Albies hit a sacrifice fly. After walking Marcell Ozuna, Mikolas finally got out of the inning with Eddie Rosario's liner to third base.

Olson's solo homer in the second inning made it 4-0.

Acuna hit a two-out single in the fourth inning and came around to score on Olson's double to expand Atlanta's lead to 5-0.

The Cardinals threatened in the bottom of the inning, but Rosario threw out Paul Goldschmidt trying to score on Nolan Gorman's bloop double into shallow left field.

Apr 5, 2023; St. Louis, Missouri, USA; Atlanta Braves right fielder Ronald Acuna Jr. (13) shortstop Orlando Arcia (11) and second baseman Ozzie Albies (1) celebrate after the Braves defeated the St. Louis Cardinals at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports

Elder capped his strong performance by working out of trouble in the sixth inning. After Alec Burleson hit a two-out single and Goldschmidt walked, Elder struck out Nolan Arenado to strand them.

Walker's solo homer in the seventh inning put the Cardinals on the scoreboard.

Harris kept the score at 5-1 with a leaping catch at the center field wall going to his left to rob Goldschmidt of a two-run homer in the eighth inning.

Doubles by Dylan Carlson and Walker cut the lead to 5-2 in the ninth inning, but Chavez got Edman to hit a game-ending pop up.

--Field Level Media

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