Vaughn Grissom and Dansby Swanson hit home runs, Spencer Strider overcame a shaky start to go six innings, and the Atlanta Braves ran off to a seventh straight win with a 7-3 victory over the host Oakland Athletics on Wednesday.
The win allowed the Braves (86-51) to match a daytime win by the New York Mets (86-51). The teams remain tied atop the National League East pending the Mets’ result in the evening portion of a doubleheader with the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Atlanta needed an uphill climb to sweep the two-game interleague series after Oakland (50-87) took advantage of Strider’s wildness to score twice in the first.
Strider (10-4) walked three batters in the inning, including two of the first three he faced, setting the stage for an RBI double by Stephen Vogt and a run-scoring infield out by Ramon Laureano.
The A’s also got a home run from Seth Brown, his 21st of the season, in the eighth inning, but the Braves did all the scoring in between.
Grissom drew Atlanta even when he homered following a Travis d’Arnaud hit batsman to open the fifth, ending Oakland rookie Ken Waldichuk’s shutout bid. The homer was Grissom’s fifth.
Swanson made it 3-2 in the sixth with his 18th homer, before the visitors blew the game open with a four-run seventh. Marcell Ozuna and Ronald Acuna Jr. had RBI singles in the uprising, sandwiching a two-run double by Robbie Grossman.
Strider retired 15 consecutive batters between a two-out walk to Jonah Bride in the first and a two-out single by Vogt in the sixth. He allowed just the two runs and two hits — both by Vogt — while walking three and striking out nine.
Making just his second major league start after having been acquired from the New York Yankees at the trade deadline, Waldichuk (0-1) was pulled after 5 1/3 innings, having given up three runs and three hits. He struck out two and did not issue a walk.
Grissom finished with two hits, two RBIs and two runs for the Braves, who continue an eight-game Western swing Friday in Seattle after getting Thursday off. Swanson and Michael Harris II also collected a pair of hits apiece.
The A’s were out-hit 10-3 en route to the sixth loss in their last seven games.
–Field Level Media