With 4 swings, Olson, d'Arnaud complete a 1st for Atlanta since 1998

MILWAUKEE -- What’s better than seeing Matt Olson homer twice in one game? How about seeing Travis d'Arnaud follow Olson with a homer of his own twice in one game?

Olson and d’Arnaud teamed to twice hit back-to-back homers in a 6-2 win over the Brewers on Wednesday afternoon at American Family Field. Their consecutive solo shots in the eighth provided some insurance as the Braves won for the fourth time in their past five games.

“That was sweet,” d’Arnaud said. “I think that was the first time [Olson and I] have gone back-to-back, and then to do it two times. I don’t think I’ve ever seen it before. I couldn’t believe it. I still can’t believe it.”

d’Arnaud and Olson actually went back-to-back against the Phillies’ Zack Wheeler on June 28, 2022. But this was a unique experience. Going back to 1961, this was just the 23rd instance of one pair of teammates hitting back-to-back homers twice in the same game.

How long had it been since a Braves duo had done this? Well, current Atlanta bench coach Walt Weiss was leading off when Javy Lopez and Andruw Jones teamed to do this against the Expos on June 13, 1998. The only other time this had happened in franchise history was when Fred McGriff and David Justice teamed to do it against the Giants on Aug. 25, 1993.

“It’s fun,” Braves starting pitcher Chris Sale said. “Any time your catcher hits homers when you’re pitching, it’s fun. We know what we have here and we know what the expectation is. We just need to keep playing like that.”

The Braves have moved within 6 1/2 games of the Phillies in the National League East. This is the closest they have been to the division lead since they exited June 21 six games behind Philadelphia.

With Sale allowing two runs or fewer over at least five innings for the 17th time in 20 starts, the Braves provided hope their offense will be much better over the season’s final two months. Jorge Soler was acquired from the Giants on Monday and he arrived in time to bat leadoff on Wednesday. He drew a two-out walk ahead of Austin Riley’s game-winning two-run single in the seventh.

While Soler’s addition should be beneficial, the biggest impact the Braves could feel over the season’s final two months could come from an Olson resurgence. The first baseman, who finished third in NL MVP voting last year, began this seven-game road trip with a .689 OPS.

Olson’s OPS has risen to .716 as he has homered four times in 18 at-bats going back to Saturday. This was his first multi-homer game of the season. He had eight multi-homer games when he set a franchise record with an MLB-best 54 homers last year.

“We still have some important games left,” Olson said. “What’s in the past is in the past. You’ve got to learn how to flush it. Hopefully, our best baseball is ahead of us as a team.”

Olson began his power barrage with a one-out, opposite-field homer off Freddy Peralta in the fourth. d’Arnaud followed by lacing a no-doubt homer into the left-field seats off the Brewers starter.

“We know what [Olson] can do and it’s good,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said. “He’s been working at it and showing up and playing his tail off. We all know how big that would be if we could get him on a nice roll.”

Olson began the eighth inning with his 17th homer of the season, a 416-foot shot that soared beyond the right-center-field wall. d’Arnaud then added to newly-acquired Brewers reliever Nick Mears’ woes by drilling another solo shot to left-center field. This capped the catcher’s third multi-homer game of the year.

The most encouraging thing about Olson’s homers was that they were both hit against a fastball, including Mears’ 97.2 mph fastball. The Braves first baseman hit .316 with a .630 slugging percentage against fastballs last year. But he entered Wednesday having hit .226 with a .399 slugging percentage against these pitches.

“The timing has just been a little off,” Olson said. “When you feel a little late on fastballs, you start rushing to it a little bit and you’re not going to be on time for offspeed. So I’ve been caught in between a little more than you’d like.”

But Olson now seems to be heading in the right direction with plenty of time to help the Braves get where they want.

Things haven't been going the way he's wanted, but I think he deserves all the praise for being the same guy every day, regardless of not playing up to his standard,” d’Arnaud said. “He always continued to work. So, to see some results starting to come is very encouraging.”