Matt Olson hit two home runs and drove in a career-high six RBIs, while Marcell Ozuna and Jorge Soler also homered, helping the Atlanta Braves break their six-game losing streak with an 11-8 win over the Colorado Rockies on Saturday night.
Olson’s two-run homer off Angel Chivilli (0-1) broke an 8-8 tie in the seventh inning, and Soler added a solo home run in the eighth to secure the win and end the Braves’ longest losing streak in nearly eight years (Aug. 13-20, 2016).
The Braves came back from an early 3-0 deficit caused by Sam Hilliard’s three-run homer off starter Max Fried and also recovered after losing an 8-5 lead in the sixth inning.
“As hard as it’s been for us to put together a game, it’s huge,” Atlanta manager Brian Snitker said. “That could have been a ‘here we go again’ type of thing, but these guys have played here long enough to know these games are never over until they are over. Anything can happen.”
Hilliard had a homer, two doubles, and a career-high five RBIs for the Rockies, who have lost 10 of their last 11 games against the Braves at Coors Field.
Ozuna homered for the third straight game, and Olson had his second two-homer game in 10 games after hitting two against Milwaukee on July 31. Soler had three hits and three RBIs and has homered in back-to-back games.
“I just wanted to pull the ball,” said Olson, who was up after Ozuna opened the seventh inning with a double. “Just had to try to get him to third base. Was able to kind of lift the changeup a little bit. The quality of at-bats have been better than they were earlier in the year, but there is always room to grow.”
Brendan Rodgers and Brenton Doyle had two hits each for Colorado, and Ezequiel Tovar hit a two-run double in a three-run sixth inning that tied the game at 8-8.
Former Colorado right-hander Pierce Johnson (5-4) pitched 1 1/3 innings for the win for Atlanta, striking out Kris Bryant with the go-ahead runner on second to end the sixth inning.
Raisel Iglesias pitched the ninth inning for his 24th save in 26 chances. “Guys kept fighting the fight,” Snitker said. “It was a good ballgame to win.”
