ATLANTA — A power-hitting lineup with no glaring weaknesses has been given plenty of credit for the Atlanta Braves’ remarkable blitz through the month of June, and it’s well deserved.
There are other factors to the team’s success, though, and those showed up Wednesday as the Braves added to their latest winning streak.
Matt Olson homered late and doubled in an early run, five pitchers combined on a four-hitter and 14 strikeouts, and they were backed by error-free defense as Atlanta won its fifth straight game, beating the Minnesota Twins 3-0 in a midday matchup to sweep a three-game series at Truist Park.
Atlanta has won 21 of its past 25 games to improve to 53-27, the best record in the National League with Major League Baseball’s All-Star Game less than two weeks away. Kolby Allard, Kirby Yates, A.J. Minter, Joe Jiménez and Raisel Iglesias combined to post the first shutout for the Braves since they beat the Texas Rangers 12-0 on May 15 in Arlington.
“It was a really good job by everybody,” Atlanta manager Brian Snitker said. “Any time you throw a shutout, it’s a team effort.”
Olson’s NL-leading 26th homer, a solo shot, came off Jordan Balazovic in the eighth inning and made it 3-0.
“Just trying to continuously progress as the season goes on,” Olson said. “I feel like I’m working in the right direction.”
The Braves manufactured a run in the first inning when Ronald Acuña Jr. drew a leadoff walk, stole second base, advanced on a wild pitch and scored on Olson’s double. Atlanta leads the majors with 76 first-inning runs.
Atlanta went up 2-0 in the third on Ozzie Albies’ sacrifice fly, which followed back-to-back singles by Michael Harris II and Acuña to start the inning.
The Twins, who had won four of their previous five games heading to Atlanta, couldn’t capitalize on their scoring opportunities Wednesday and finished 0-for-8 with runners in scoring position; for the series, they were 0-for-23 in those situations.
Minnesota’s Byron Buxton snapped a 0-for-17 streak with a double in the fourth, but after advancing on a flyout he was tagged out at home while trying to score on Kyle Farmer’s grounder to third. Donovan Solano struck out against Yates (3-0) with runners on first and second to end the fifth. Christian Vazquez lined into a double play to end the seventh.
The Twins closed their clubhouse after the game, and only manager Rocco Baldelli was made available to speak with reporters.
“Yeah, we’re scrapping just to score a run right now,” Baldelli said. “We’re going to have to win some close ballgames like that, but you can’t win every game clawing for a run, two runs. It feels like we’ve been like that for a long time.
“I’m hoping that getting this out, and the players are in there talking right now in the clubhouse, I’m hoping that me getting this out, them getting it out as a group and feeling this together as a team is what is going to help lead us to where we need to be.”
Allard made a spot start in his season debut, having most recently pitched in the majors on Oct. 2, 2022, when he was with the Rangers. A first-round pick by Atlanta in MLB’s amateur draft in 2015, Allard was reacquired by the Braves in November. He began the game with a 9-23 record and a 6.07 ERA in 65 career games in the majors, including 35 starts, but pitched well.
The 25-year-old left-hander allowed three hits in 4 2/3 innings, did not walk a batter and struck out eight, one off his career high.
Yates struck out three batters while working 1 1/3 innings, and A.J. Minter and Joe Jimenez each pitched an inning.
Iglesias faced the minimum in the ninth to earn his 13th save in 15 chances this season. He struck out Buxton on three pitches, came back from a 3-0 count to strike out Royce Lewis with three straight pitches, then got Farmer to line out on the first pitch he saw.
The Braves lead the majors with 147 homers, including 55 in June, one off the franchise mark for a single month, set in June 2019.
Atlanta improved to 20-4 this month, best in the majors.
“I think we were playing fine to start the season, but we’ve just kind of hit our stride here a little bit and are playing some good baseball,” Olson said. “We can win many different ways. We know our pitching can throw up a zero any night, and we scored just enough to have a comfortable lead and they did a great job.”
Minnesota starter Kenta Maeda (1-5) allowed two runs and five hits in five innings. He was coming off his first win of the season last Friday at Detroit, where he threw five scoreless innings against the Tigers. Maeda missed all of May and most of June due to the aftereffects of Tommy John surgery, which sidelined him all of last season.
The Braves are off Thursday before continuing their homestand with a three-game series against a division foe, the Miami Marlins. Atlanta is first in the NL East as it seeks a sixth straight title, while the Marlins are second.
Although the Braves did not announce a starting pitcher for the series opener immediately after Wednesday’s game, right-hander Michael Soroka (0-1, 8.38 ERA) is a candidate to get called up from Triple-A Gwinnett. Snitker said the team wouldn’t announce a starter until Friday morning.