DETROIT — The Atlanta Braves have a relentless lineup from top to bottom.
That’s a big problem for opponents looking for a weak spot.
Eddie Rosario hit a tiebreaking home run in the sixth inning, and Atlanta held on to beat the Detroit Tigers 6-5 Wednesday night and sweep a doubleheader. Ronald Acuña Jr. and Ozzie Albies also had solo homers for the Braves, who scored in five of the first six innings in the second game.
In Atlanta’s 10-7 win earlier in the day, Michael Harris went 4-for-4 with a homer and four RBIs, while Acuña had three hits, including a homer, and drove in three runs. The doubleheader was scheduled after a game planned for Tuesday night was rained out.
Only a 6-5 loss in 10 innings Monday night kept the Braves from sweeping the three-game series in Detroit. Atlanta (42-26), which is in first place in the National League East as it seeks a sixth straight division title, has won nine of its past 11 games.
“Everyone in the lineup is doing something, and it can be really scary for other teams,” Harris said. “Every game, a different guy is going out and doing something special.
Acuña made a difference throughout the doubleheader. Atlanta’s standout right fielder — a three-time NL All-Star barreling toward a likely fourth selection — hit his 15th homer of the season in the third inning of the second game, sending it 461 feet to center into an ivy-covered wall that is usually out of reach.
“I heard someone say no one has hit it up there before,” Harris said. “He’s doing a lot of things that other players haven’t done, or can’t do.”
Collin McHugh (3-0) pitched three perfect innings in the nightcap after Atlanta starter Dylan Dodd allowed five runs on six hits and three walks in four innings.
“The bullpen is a strange place,” McHugh said. “We talk about it all the time. Most of us are failed starters.”
Joe Jiménez, who pitched in Detroit in his first six MLB seasons before being traded to Atlanta in December, had an eight-pitch eighth inning and retired the first two batters in the ninth. A.J. Minter struck out pinch-hitter Eric Haase for the final out and his 10th save of 2023.
Detroit starter Michael Lorenzen (2-4) gave up six runs on nine hits in six innings.
Andy Ibanez, Jake Rogers and Matt Vierling also cleared the fences in the second game, pulling Detroit into a 5-all tie after five innings.
In the day’s first game, Atlanta ace Spencer Strider (7-2) picked up the win despite allowing five runs and seven hits in five innings. The 24-year-old right-hander gave up three homers, walked two batters, hit another and struck out six. He leads the majors with 127 strikeouts this season.
“I wasn’t very good, and we won the game; that’s what matters,” Strider said. “So credit to everybody else.”
Tigers rookie Reese Olson (0-2) gave up seven runs (six earned) on five hits and two walks in three innings.
Detroit (27-39) got off to a powerful start in the afternoon when Spencer Torkelson hit a 436-foot homer to left-center that went off the brick wall beyond the fence. Miguel Cabrera hit a two-run homer, his first of the year and No. 508 of his career, and Haase in the next at-bat had a solo shot that gave the Tigers a 4-0 lead.
The cushion didn’t last long. Acuña hit a two-run homer in the third, and later in the game, the speedy outfielder stole his NL-leading 29th base of the season.
“He’s an electrifying player,” Tigers manager A.J. Hinch said. “It’s scary when he gets up. He can do everything on the field. It’s good for the game. It’s not good when you play him.”
Harris hit a two-run double to put Atlanta ahead in a five-run inning that made it 7-4. The reigning NL rookie of the year, he has turned around his season at the plate over the past week. Harris hit his fifth homer of the season in the seventh to restore a three-run lead.
“They’re unafraid, and there’s no defensiveness to them when they’re in the batter’s box,” Hinch said. “It starts at the top with Acuña, and they’re a threat from pitch one. Their offense is built with balance. They have power throughout.
“They have a certain flair and freedom that they play with that usually comes with teams that believe they can win.”
Cabrera hit a double in the ninth, and his three-hit game in the opener pulled him within one hit of matching Alex Rodriguez’s total of 3,115 for 21st on MLB’s all-time list. In the second game, Cabrera went 0-for-3 with a walk.
In the first game, Atlanta right-handed reliever Jesse Chavez was helped off the field by two athletic trainers, keeping weight off his left leg, after he got hit by Cabrera’s comebacker in the sixth inning. X-rays were negative and Chavez passed further tests on his shin.
“I feel fine right now,” he said after the game.
The Braves return home to begin a four-game series against the Colorado Rockies. Atlanta rookie right-hander AJ Smith-Shawver (0-0, 0.00 ERA) is set to make his second start and third appearance Thursday night, while the Rockies plan to start left-hander Kyle Freeland (4.7. 3.91).