Matt Olson and Travis d’Arnaud went back-to-back for the Atlanta Braves
MILWAUKEE — What’s better than seeing Matt Olson homer twice in one game? How about seeing Travis d’Arnaud follow Olson with a homer of his own twice in one game?
Olson and d’Arnaud teamed to twice hit back-to-back homers in a 6-2 win over the Brewers on Wednesday afternoon at American Family Field. Their consecutive solo shots in the eighth provided some insurance as the Braves won for the fourth time in their past five games.
“That was sweet,” d’Arnaud said. “I think that was the first time [Olson and I] have gone back-to-back, and then to do it two times. I don’t think I’ve ever seen it before. I couldn’t believe it. I still can’t believe it.”
d’Arnaud and Olson actually went back-to-back against the Phillies’ Zack Wheeler on June 28, 2022. But this was a unique experience. Going back to 1961, this was just the 23rd instance of one pair of teammates hitting back-to-back homers twice in the same game.
How long had it been since a Braves duo had done this? Well, current Atlanta bench coach Walt Weiss was leading off when Javy Lopez and Andruw Jones teamed to do this against the Blue Jays on June 13, 1998. The only other time this had happened in franchise history was when Fred McGriff and David Justice teamed to do it against the Giants on Aug. 25, 1993
“It’s fun,” Braves starting pitcher Chris Sale said. “Any time your catcher hits homers when you’re pitching, it’s fun. We know what we have here and we know what the expectation is. We just need to keep playing like that.”
The Braves have moved within 6 1/2 games of the Phillies in the National League East. This is the closest they have been to the division lead since they exited June 21 six games behind Philadelphia.
With Sale allowing two runs or fewer over at least five innings for the 17th time in 20 starts, the Braves provided hope their offense will be much better over the season’s final two months. Jorge Soler was acquired from the Giants on Monday and he arrived in time to bat leadoff on Wednesday. He drew a two-out walk ahead of Austin Riley’s game-winning two-run single in the seventh.