Matt Olson Explains Approach Behind Go-Ahead Homer

Bryce Elder held Arizona to one run over six innings Sunday, and for a while his effort looked like it might go to waste.

The Diamondbacks had already taken the first two games of this series at Truist Park, and a third loss would have meant a sweep.

Matt Olson made sure that did not happen.

Olson turned on a 3-0 fastball from Arizona reliever Brandyn Garcia in the bottom of the seventh and drove it to center field for a three-run home run.

The swing broke a 2-2 tie and turned the game into a 5-2 lead.

Atlanta held on from there and won 5-3, salvaging the finale after losing 2-0 and 10-3 in the first two games of the set.

"It's got to be the highest-percentage fastball count. It was a good time to, if I saw a pitch I liked, go at it," Olson said, describing his mindset heading into that at-bat.

Elder gave the Braves what they needed early, allowing four hits and one run while striking out five over six strong innings.

Arizona tied it in the top of the seventh on Ildemaro Vargas' solo homer off reliever Didier Fuentes, but Atlanta answered right back.

Austin Riley opened the bottom half with a double, and after a sacrifice bunt and a walk from Drake Baldwin, Olson delivered the three-run shot that put the Braves in front for good.

Ronald Acuña Jr. also drove in a run with a fifth-inning double, and Fuentes worked around the homer to pick up the win.

Raisel Iglesias closed it out for his 25th save, even after allowing a run in the ninth that made things a little tighter than Atlanta would have liked.

The Braves sit at 74-50 and hold a 7.5-game lead over Philadelphia in the NL East, a cushion that has not always felt this safe this season.

Olson has been the biggest reason the lead has stayed this wide.

His homer Sunday was his 36th of the year, and his MVP-caliber production has carried this lineup on nights other bats have gone quiet.

Manager Walt Weiss has said Olson's game goes well beyond the power numbers, and that praise has only grown as his production has piled up this season.

Weiss also touched on Elder's health, saying the right-hander has been working through soreness in his knee that has not been serious enough to force him out of a start, but was enough to keep him out of the seventh Sunday.

Weiss called it the deciding factor in turning to his bullpen when he did.

It is worth watching as Atlanta heads into a road trip, starting with a series at Minnesota, then a game at the Chicago White Sox and a two-game set at Milwaukee.

None of those come at Truist Park, so the Braves will lean on their rotation and bullpen depth away from home.

With the division lead this wide, Atlanta can manage Elder carefully, but a first-place team still wants its top arms healthy heading into September.