Olson hits tiebreaking homer and Braves beat Marlins 6-2 to stay 2 back of Mets for wild card
Matt Olson broke a seventh-inning tie with a two-run homer and the Atlanta Braves beat the Miami Marlins 6-2 on Saturday to stay two games behind the New York Mets for the last National League wild card.
New York beat Philadelphia 6-3 at Citi Field, preventing the NL East-leading Phillies from clinching the division crown.
Gio Urshela and Jorge Soler also went deep for the Braves. Marcell Ozuna and Michael Harris II each had three hits.
Atlanta starter Max Fried allowed two runs — one earned — and five hits over six innings. Fried (10-10) walked one, struck out six and reached double-digit wins for the fourth time in his career.
"It's the time of the year and where we're at — I have two starts left — so you've got to dig deep," Fried said. "Every ounce of what I had today, I wanted to make sure I left it out there."
Olson connected off reliever Lake Bachar (0-1), sending his 29th homer over the right-center wall to snap a 2-all tie. Later in the inning, Urshela chased Bachar with a two-run drive that landed in the left-field seats.
"So happy for Matt for where he is right now," Braves manager Brian Snitker said. "When you look up, he's pushing 30 (homers) and 100 (RBIs). And Gio — what power in that guy. That was big. Nice to score those runs."
Olson has 16 homers since July 27 and 28 extra-base hits since Aug. 1.
"I was looking for something to drive," Olson said of his go-ahead homer. "I wanted to see something in the zone and he left a fastball kind of off the middle."
Pierce Johnson, Joe Jiménez and Raisel Iglesias each worked a scoreless inning in relief.
Harris also made two spectacular plays in center field, robbing Connor Norby and Derek Hill of extra-base hits with running catches in the first and eighth.
"You're getting to a point where you're having a pretty long highlight film with what he's doing," Snitker said.
Olson hit an RBI single in the fifth that put the Braves ahead 2-1. Ozzie Albies singled and advanced on a walk to Ozuna before racing home on Olson's line drive to left.
The Marlins tied it in the sixth when Jonah Bride scored from second on a throwing error by Albies at second base as he tried for a double play.
Hill's run-scoring triple in the first gave Miami a quick lead before Soler tied it with a leadoff homer against starter Adam Oller in the second.
Oller was lifted after 5 2/3 innings. The right-hander allowed two runs and eight hits. He walked two and struck out seven.
"I thought he was really good, threw a lot of first-pitch strikes," Marlins manager Skip Schumaker said. "He got out of a couple of tough innings as well. It shows that he has stuff that should play up here and should be enough to be in a rotation."
Trainer's room
Braves: RHP Reynaldo López (shoulder inflammation) played long toss in the latest step of his rehabilitation. López has been sidelined since Sept. 10.
Marlins: LHP Braxton Garrett will undergo an MRI after he experienced discomfort in the back of his elbow following his last bullpen session. Garrett has not pitched since June 17 because of a forearm flexor strain. He had been scheduled to start Sunday before getting scratched Friday.
Up next
Braves RHP Grant Holmes (2-1, 3.84 ERA) starts the series finale Sunday against RHP Darren McCaughan (0-0, 7.64).
