ATLANTA - The Atlanta Braves, enjoying their best winning streak in almost a decade, are about to take their show on the road after a 6-0 homestand.
The Pittsburgh Pirates, on the losing end of Atlanta's past four games, are probably happy to be headed anywhere besides Truist Park.
Adam Duvall homered twice off José Quintana, William Contreras and Matt Olson also connected for the Braves, and the reigning World Series champions won for the 11th straight game with Sunday afternoon's 5-3 victory against the Pirates, who have lost six straight overall.
Atlanta is the four-time reigning champion in the National League East Division and began the day having trimmed five games off the first-place New York Mets' lead since the winning streak started June 1. The sweep of the Pirates (24-34) pulled the Braves (34-27) within five games of the Mets, who were playing Sunday night against the Los Angeles Angels.
This stretch is the Braves' best since they won 14 in a row from July 26 to Aug. 9, 2013. During the streak, Atlanta has outscored opponents 74-30 while hitting 22 home runs. The pitching staff has a 2.32 ERA over the same span.
It's been equally fun for Duvall, who has mostly scuffled this season with a .206 batting average, six homers and a .614 on-base plus slugging percentage. Last year, Duvall led the NL with 113 RBIs and was second with 38 homers.
He has seven extra-base hits over his past four games.
"We're playing good baseball," he said, "and getting some timely hits is key, so it feels good."
The Pirates, who are headed to St. Louis for four division games against the NL Central-leading Cardinals, were swept for the fifth time this season.
"We need to get out of Atlanta," Pittsburgh manager Derek Shelton said. "That's a good baseball team."
The Braves connected on back-to-back homers in the second inning, when Contreras hit the left-field foul pole for his ninth of the season and Duvall's shot made it 2-0. Olson hit his eighth homer of 2022 in the eighth, pushing the lead to 5-3 against Chase De Jong.
Pittsburgh pulled within 2-1 in the third on Bryan Reynolds' sacrifice fly. His two-run homer off Kyle Wright, his former Vanderbilt teammate and roommate, cut the lead to 4-3 in the fifth.
"I struck him out the first time, though," Wright said with a grin. "He's awesome. He's an incredible player. On the home run, it was actually a good pitch. Fastball up and in. I don't know how he got to it, and I don't know how he kept it fair."
Contreras doubled in the fourth and crossed the plate when Duvall hit an opposite-field shot to right-center to put Atlanta up 4-1. Duvall has 11 multihomer games in his MLB career.
Quintana (1-4), who was charged with six hits and four runs in five innings, had allowed two or fewer runs in nine of his previous 11 starts. The Braves are 16-6 against left-handed starters this season and have won their past 11 games against them.
Wright (7-3) allowed five hits and three runs with two walks and seven strikeouts in six innings. He was coming off a career-high eight innings in a win over the Oakland Athletics on Tuesday and had a 1.69 ERA over his previous five starts. He ranked second in the NL with a .192 opponents' batting average.
Will Smith faced the minimum in the seventh for Atlanta, A.J. Minter pitched to three batters in the eighth and Kenley Jansen earned his 18th save in 21 chances this year after facing four batters in the ninth. It's the 368th save of his career, moving the former longtime Los Angeles Dodgers closer into a tie with Jonathan Papelbon for 10th on the MLB career list; next up is Joe Nathan with 377.
The Braves have won seven straight at home against the Pirates, outscoring them 55-13. Atlanta has won the season series with Pittsburgh the past four years they have played.
Ahead for the Braves are three games with the Washington Nationals before completing the six-game road trip against the Chicago Cubs.
"It'll be business as usual tomorrow," Atlanta manager Brian Snitker said. "They'll come out prepared and try to go out and win another series. That's what the focus is."