The Braves beat the Angels 8-2 on April 8, and Matt Olson helped make the difference with a two-run home run in the third inning. Atlanta scored five runs across three frames and moved to 8-5 without dropping a series all season.
Ronald Acuña Jr. opened the game with a bloop double behind third base and later scored Atlanta’s first run. Austin Riley drew a leadoff walk in the second inning, and Jonah Heim’s ground rule double brought him home after Riley stole second with two outs. The Angels answered in the inning when Jorge Soler homered and Logan O’Hoppe, after an initial strikeout call was overturned to a walk, drove in a run to tie it.
Olson’s blast pushed the Braves back in front, and the game turned further in the fifth when Mauricio Dubon lined a two-run double. Drake Baldwin added another run in the sixth with a ball into center field that scored Michael Harris II, who had stolen second earlier in the inning. Grant Holmes handled the middle of the game and worked nearly seven innings, surviving what was described as an ugly second before settling in.
The Braves still had to finish the night through a bit of pressure. Joel Payamps was asked to face Mike Trout in relief and got him to swing through high heat, while Jose Suarez covered the final two innings for the Angels. By the end, Atlanta had spread the damage across the lineup and kept its early-season run intact, with 13 games now in the books and no series losses to show for it.
