Braves bash Twins starter Bailey Ober before storm delay and then breeze to 10-6 victory
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Matt Olson hit a three-run homer and a two-run double in the first two innings against Bailey Ober before the game was stopped by a thunderstorm, powering Max Fried and the Atlanta Braves past the sputtering Minnesota Twins 10-6 on Monday night.
Fried (8-7) endured the 86-minute delay for his first win since June 23, finishing five innings and allowing only one earned run.
“We know that he always wants the ball,” Olson said. “I personally thought that someone was going to tell him no, but I thought it was cool.”
Braves manager Brian Snitker gave Fried the rare option to return after the rain.
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“‘Whatever you feel like,’" Snitker told him. “He said, ‘I want to go. I don’t care how long we wait.’”
Travis d'Arnaud hit a two-run homer and Marcell Ozuna had two runs and two RBIs for the Braves, who emphatically ended Ober's streak of 11 straight quality starts with four runs before he recorded an out.
Whit Merrifield, who went 5 for 5, began the game with a single. Three batters later, Ober (12-6) threw an 0-2 cutter that Olson drove 423 feet into the second deck above right-center field for his 23rd homer.
Olson is well off the 54-home run pace he led baseball with last season, but in his last 16 games he has 17 RBIs, 12 runs, five homers and five doubles.
After severe weather warning sirens started wailing in the middle of the first inning, the Braves managed to squeeze in five more runs before the downpour began, the napkins and wrappers swirled down from the upper deck, and the grounds crew hustled the tarp onto the infield in the middle of the second.
“I didn’t know the rain was coming that early. I don’t think anyone did. It was hot, and I was sweating a lot, but I’ve had games like that before and I was able to pitch through it," Ober said. "No excuses.”
Ober, who had logged at least six innings and allowed three runs or fewer over his last 11 turns for a 2.09 ERA and eight wins by the Twins, threw 55 pitches and made manager Rocco Baldelli's decision easy to go to the bullpen after the game resumed.
The 6-foot-9 right-hander, who has blossomed into an ace for a rotation thinned by injuries and now rounded out with three rookies, got two outs in the second inning before the Braves got in some more batting practice with five straight men on base.
Fried gave up two unearned runs in the fifth, before striking out Royce Lewis to end the inning and strand runners at the corners.
“I’ve already had an outing where I went two-thirds of an inning,” Fried said, “so the last thing I wanted to do is to have a similar one knowing that we were going to be playing tonight and the guys would have to cover another eight.”
Having struggled in his return from a forearm injury after the All-Star break, Fried had seven strikeouts without a walk and only one extra-base hit allowed on a double by Manny Margot to lead off the first.
“He kind of turned the corner the last start against the Phillies,” Snitker said. “I mean, it was like him again. It was Max. And tonight, too. That was more of what we expect.”
The resiliency of the Braves (71-60) has been remarkable, considering five of their eight All-Star selections from last year have had their seasons either ended or ruined by injuries, starting with 2023 NL MVP Ronald Acuna Jr.
Atlanta kept pace with NL East-leading Philadelphia, six games back with its streak of six straight division titles in trouble. The Braves, though, have a three-game lead on the New York Mets for the third and final NL wild card.
The Twins (72-59) actually gained ground on AL Central leader Cleveland despite their sixth loss in the last eight games, because the Guardians (75-57) were swept in a doubleheader by Kansas City. The Royals pulled within one game, and the Twins — who lead Boston by five games for the final AL wild card — are now 2½ games back of Cleveland.
Matt Wallner homered late for the Twins, who started their third straight interleague series and dropped to 16-22 against NL opponents.
Up next
The Braves will send RHP Spencer Schwellenbach (5-6, 3.94 ERA) to the mound on Tuesday night opposite Twins RHP Simeon Woods Richardson (5-3, 3.69).