PHILADELPHIA – Matt Olson tied the Braves’ home run record, and with more than two weeks left in the season, the Braves have already set a new National League home run record.
The Braves threw another long ball party, reducing their magic number to two with a 7-6 win in 10 innings over the Phillies on Tuesday night. But it was Eddie Rosario’s tenacious plate performance against Craig Kimbrel that put Atlanta in position to come to Citizens Bank Park on Wednesday with a chance to clinch its sixth straight National League East title.
“It feels like we are eagerly waiting for the celebration,” Rosario said through interpreter Franco García. “I feel very lucky. We’ve been celebrating a lot since I arrived in Atlanta. I’m ready for it.”
Rosario fell behind 2-0 and then fouled off four consecutive 1-2 fastballs while waiting for a curveball. He finally gave in and looked for the fastball, which he shot through the right side to provide a lead that Brad Hand defended with a perfect 10th. Hand took the load off Joe Jiménez, who gave up home runs to Bryce Harper and Bryson Stott during the eighth in Philadelphia. Trea Turner then hit a game-winning home run in the ninth against Braves closer Raisel Iglesias, who has allowed runs in four of his five September appearances.
“[The Phillies scare] “Honestly, I’m as much in favor of myself as any team in the game with the firepower they have,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said. “We saw it right there. If they have one shot left, they are dangerous.”
That’s essentially what every opposing manager thought when dealing with the Braves’ relentless lineup.
Olson’s 51 home runs tied Andruw Jones’ franchise record set in 2005. The Braves hit three home runs in the first five innings of Tuesday’s game, raising their season total to 281, which is two more than the NL record set by the Dodgers in 2019.
The Braves are on pace to hit 311 home runs, which would be four more than the Twins’ 2019 MLB record.
“We got it today?” Braves catcher Travis d’Arnaud asked about the NL record. “You don’t really notice it when you’re going through it because it feels normal and it’s something that happens all year long.”
Come to think of it, Olson may have given a hint when he had eight hits in 47 at-bats during spring training.
Olson’s record-breaking home run was an opposite-field shot from Phillies starter Zack Wheeler. Both Olson and Wheeler were young Braves fans growing up in suburban Atlanta when Jones was enjoying his 51-homer season.
“It’s a cool feeling,” Olson said. “I watched him grow up. So I know what kind of player he was. It’s cool to be mentioned with him.”
Ronald Acuña Jr.’s two-run home run off Wheeler in the fifth gave the Braves the new NL record for home runs at 280, passing the 2019 Dodgers. Marcell Ozuna increased that total four batters later when he hit a three-run shot from Wheeler, who appeared to agree with the many Philadelphia fans who loudly booed Acuña during the series.
“Olson, we threw him away on the first hit,” Wheeler said. “And then he just came along. That could have been the cause of this. The same goes for Ozuna. I think we finished him off with a few high throws and then the next attack it was his turn. And then I just have the curveball on…what’s it called? Acuna?”
A rematch between the Phillies and Braves in the NL Division Series could be a lot of fun.
Acuña is just three home runs away from his fifth 40-homer, 40-steal season. It would also be his first 40-60 season as he already has 65 stolen bases. No one has ever had more than 46 steals in a 40-homer season.
Olson leads the MLB in both home runs and RBIs. No other player has more than 44 home runs. The Braves first baseman’s 128 RBIs are 25 more than any other player. He is seven seconds shy of the Braves’ modern franchise record set by Eddie Mathews in 1953. Gary Sheffield set the Atlanta single-season record when he drove in 132 runs in 2003.
Ozuna’s home run in the fifth inning was his 34th of the season, tying him with Austin Riley for the team’s third-highest total. If either of those two players hits at least six more home runs and Acuña hits at least three more, it would be only the fourth time a team has had three players hit more than 40 home runs in a season.
The 1996 Rockies (Ellis Burks, Vinny Castilla and Andrés Galarraga) and the 1997 Rockies (Galarraga, Castilla and Larry Walker) are the most recent clubs to achieve this. The only team from the non-Coors Field division to accomplish this was the ’73 Braves (Hank Aaron, Davey Johnson and Darrell Evans).
Olson provided much of the energy. But when asked what he was most proud of this year, he replied: “Our record.”