Olson's 2-run walk-off homer sends Braves over Tigers 4-3

The Thu, April 30, 2026 at 3:19 AM UTC

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Atlanta Braves' Matt Olson (28) celebrates hitting a walk-off two run home run in the ninth inning of a baseball game against the Detroit Tigers Wednesday, April 29, 2026, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson) ()

ATLANTA (AP) — Matt Olson hit a two-run homer in the ninth inning off Kenley Jansen, ruining a dominant performance by Tarik Skubal and rallying the Atlanta Braves to a 4-3 victory over the Detroit Tigers on Wednesday night.

Jansen, who blew his third save in nine chances, walked Ozzie Albies to lead off the ninth. Olson followed with his ninth homer, a shot into Atlanta’s bullpen to end the game.

Skubal fell behind on Ozzie Albies’ two-run shot in the first but gave up only three hits the rest of his seven-inning stint, with two of those runners wiped out by double plays.

The two-time reigning AL Cy Young Award winner gave the Tigers a bit of a scare in the seventh, rubbing his left arm after a 2-2 pitch to Olson to draw a visit from the trainer and manager A.J. Hinch. Skubal threw one warmup pitch, decided he was OK and struck out the side to end his night. He allowed five hits, fanned seven and didn’t walk anyone.

But Jansen couldn’t finish it for the Tigers.

Atlanta rookie JR Ritchie turned in another solid outing. He gave up three runs (two earned) in 5 1/3 innings, with five hits, four walks and four strikeouts.

Reynaldo López (2-1), who began the season as Atlanta’s No. 2 starter before being demoted to the bullpen this week, pitched two perfect innings for the win.

WHITE SOX 3, ANGELS 2, 10 INNINGS

CHICAGO (AP) — Rookie Sam Antonacci hit a tying triple with two outs in the ninth inning and Colson Montgomery had a winning single in the 10th, lifting Chicago over Los Angeles for a three-game sweep that extended its losing streak to six.

Mike Trout hit his 10th home run of the season for the Angels, who have lost 10 of 11 and dropped to 12-20. Los Angeles starter Yusei Kikuchi left after two innings with left shoulder tightness.

With the White Sox trailing 2-1, Tristan Peters was hit by a Ryan Zeferjahn pitch with one out in the ninth and scored on Antonacci’s triple.

Montgomery singled with one out in the 10th off Drew Pomeranz (0-3) for his first big league walk-off hit, giving the White Sox their second series sweep this season.

Seranthony Domínguez pitched a perfect 10th.

GUARDIANS 3, RAYS 1

CLEVELAND (AP) — Chase DeLauter had two hits and drove in a pair of runs, Gavin Williams allowed one unearned run and struck out nine in 7 2/3 innings and the Cleveland Guardians defeated the Tampa Bay Rays 3-1 on Wednesday to stop a four-game losing streak.

Brayan Rocchio had three hits and scored two runs as the Guardians avoided being swept in the three-game series.

Tampa Bay had its six-game winning streak snapped and allowed more than two runs for the first time in seven games. Chandler Simpson had two hits for the Rays, who had won 13 straight games against American League opponents.

Williams (5-1) is among four pitchers in the majors this season to go at least seven innings in three starts. The right-hander gave up five hits and didn’t issue a walk for the first time in 46 starts.

Cade Smith worked the ninth for his seventh save in nine chances.

RANGERS 3, YANKEES 0

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Nathan Eovaldi allowed four hits over seven scoreless innings, hot-hitting Josh Jung had a two-run single and Texas beat AL-best New York to avoid a three-game sweep.

Jung’s grounder through the left side of the infield with the bases loaded in the fifth inning put Texas up 2-0 and chased Elmer Rodriguez (0-1), a top Yankees prospect making his big league debut. Jung has hit .381 (32 of 84) with 17 RBIs over 24 games in April.

Sam Haggerty added an RBI single in the seventh for Texas. He had entered as a pinch-runner in the fifth after leadoff hitter Brandon Nimmo experienced right hamstring tightness when running the bases.

Eovaldi (3-4), who gave up four homers against the Athletics in his previous start on Friday, struck out seven and walked one against the Yankees. He threw 70 of 102 pitches for strikes against the team that entered the game with a majors-best 48 homers.

Jacob Latz struck out one and allowed a hit over the final two innings for his second save, and wrap up the Rangers’ third shutout this season.

MARINERS 5, TWINS 3

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Cole Young had three late-inning RBIs for Seattle, including the go-ahead two-run single in the ninth that fueled a victory over Minnesota.

Young reached for an outside pitch he slapped in front of the mound and just past the glove of Eric Orze (0-1), who watched the ball scoot past a diving second baseman Luke Keaschall with the infield drawn in. Orze retired only one of five batters he faced in the three-run inning for the Mariners.

Andrés Muñoz pitched a perfect ninth for his sixth save in seven attempts as the Mariners won for the eighth time in 11 games. The 22-year-old Young, who also delivered a tying double with two outs in the seventh, is batting .383 with 10 RBIs in 47 at-bats over his last 13 games.

Seattle (16-16) improved to .500 for the first time since April 3.

Victor Caratini’s pinch-hit single with two outs in the eighth gave the Twins a 3-2 lead against Gabe Speier, who was hustled in from Seattle’s bullpen when Matt Brash was pulled after two pitches as a precaution with discomfort in his side. Cooper Criswell (1-0) got the last out of the inning with the bases loaded.

The Twins went 3 for 22 with runners in scoring position while losing the last two games of the series.

BLUE JAYS 8, RED SOX 1

TORONTO (AP) — Ernie Clement hit a two-run home run, Brandon Valenzuela added a solo homer and Toronto beat Boston.

Kazuma Okamoto hit a two-run single and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. went 3 for 3 with a walk as the Blue Jays took two of three from the Red Sox. It was Toronto’s third straight series win after losing the previous six.

George Springer returned from the injured list to deliver a pinch-hit RBI single as the Blue Jays improved to 9-2 when scoring five runs or more.

Willson Contreras hit a solo home run, his seventh, but the struggling Red Sox lost for the eighth time in 12 games.

After winning their first two games under interim manager Chad Tracy, the Red Sox have lost the past two and seen ace left-hander Garrett Crochet land on the 15-day injured list because of shoulder inflammation.

Boston right-hander Brayan Bello (1-4) allowed four runs and six hits in 3 2/3 innings, his third straight defeat.

MARLINS 3, DODGERS 2

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Javier Sanoja singled in the go-ahead run with two outs in the eighth inning, lifting Miami over Los Angeles.

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Sanoja’s infield bloop hit off reliever Will Klein (1-2) scored Xavier Edwards, who singled leading off. Sanoja entered in the sixth as a defensive replacement in left field.

Liam Hicks and Esteury Ruiz hit solo homers for the Marlins, who took two of three from the Dodgers for the first time in Los Angeles since April 2018 and improved to 5-10 on the road.

The Dodgers trailed in the bottom of the ninth in all three games.

Marlins reliever Calvin Faucher opened the ninth with back-to-back walks to Hyeseong Kim and Alex Call. The runners moved up on Alex Freeland’s sacrifice bunt. Shohei Ohtani was intentionally walked to load the bases.

Freddie Freeman grounded into a double play to end the game. The Dodgers challenged the out call at first, but it was upheld. Ohtani was called out at second.

Andrew Nardi (2-1) got the win with a hitless inning of relief. Faucher finished for his first save.

CUBS 5, PADRES 4

SAN DIEGO (AP) — Pete Crow-Armstrong hit his third home run of the season and drove in three runs to lead Chicago to a win over San Diego.

The Cubs have won 12 of their last 15 games.

Crow-Armstrong’s homer was a two-run shot down the right-field line in the fourth to give the Cubs a 3-0 lead.

Cubs starter Jameson Taillon (2-1) did not allow a baserunner through the first 4 2/3 innings. The Padres broke through on a solo home run to left field by Miguel Andujar, a walk by Jake Cronenworth, and a two-run blast to left by Nick Castellanos to tie the game 3-3 in the fifth.

Taillon gave up three runs, three hits and struck out six in seven innings.

Chicago reliever Hoby Milner earned his first save.

Padres starter Matt Waldron pitched five innings, giving up three runs and six hits. Reliever Adrian Morejon (2-1) gave up a run in 2/3 of an inning.

Matt Shaw had a solo homer to left in the eighth to give the Cubs a 5-3 lead.

ROCKIES 13, REDS 2

CINCINNATI (AP) — Hunter Goodman homered twice, Brett Sullivan hit a three-run double, and Tomoyuki Sugano pitched 5 1/3 scoreless innings as Colorado beat Cincinnati.

Goodman and Sullivan both went 3 for 4 and drove in three. Brenton Doyle, TJ Rumfield and Willi Castro had two hits apiece as the Rockies had 15 hits in all, the fourth time they have had 15-plus hits in a game this season.

Sugano (3-1) gave up four hits, walked three and struck out a pair.

Cincinnati starter Brandon Williamson (2-3) allowed four runs on four hits, walked four and had four strikeouts in three innings. He missed all of last season following Tommy John surgery.

NATIONALS 14, METS 2

NEW YORK (AP) — Brady House capped a seven-run fourth inning with his first career grand slam and Washington routed reeling New York.

Curtis Mead homered late and had four of Washington’s 15 hits as the Nationals set a season high for runs. He also scored four times.

James Wood drove in three runs and scored three more. CJ Abrams had three hits and two RBIs for the young Nationals, who rebounded from an 8-0 loss in the series opener Tuesday and improved to 11-7 on the road.

Cade Cavalli (1-1) threw six solid innings and struck out 10, equaling the career high he set in five innings during his previous outing against Atlanta. The last 24 of his 97 pitches were strikes — the longest streak in the majors this season.

The right-hander became the first Washington pitcher with at least 10 strikeouts in consecutive starts since Max Scherzer in July 2020.

CARDINALS 5, PIRATES 4

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Rookie Nathan Church ended the game by robbing Nick Gonzales of what would have been a game-ending, two-run homer by making a leaping catch at the left-field wall, giving St. Louis a win over Pittsburgh.

Ryan O’Hearn singled with one out in the ninth off Riley O’Brien and Marcell Ozuna struck out on three straight pitches. Gonzales drove a first-pitch slider to left, and Church jumped and caught the ball above the top of the 6-foot wall, 373 feet from home plate.

Gonzales’ drive would have been a home run in 27 of the 30 big league ballparks, according to MLB Statcast.

O’Brien escaped with his eighth save in 10 chances as the Cardinals won their third straight in a four-game series that ends Thursday.

Pittsburgh has lost a season-high four straight. The Pirates went 1 for 12 with runners in scoring position and stranded 11 runners.

Andre Pallante (3-2) allowed one run and five hits in a season-high six innings.

Bubba Chandler (1-3) gave up three runs, three hits and four walks in five innings.

DIAMONDBACKS 6, BREWERS 2

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Nolan Arenado hit a three-run homer, Ildemaro Vargas extended his hitting streak to 22 games, and Arizona beat Milwaukee.

Adrian Del Castillo, Corbin Carroll and Ketel Marte also homered for the Diamondbacks and starter Eduardo Rodriguez struck out four and allowed five hits, two runs and four walks in 4 2/3 innings.

Vargas had a pair of singles and is now tied with Joe Torre for the third-longest hitting streak to begin a season since 1940. Torre’s streak came in 1971 for the Cardinals. Detroit’s Ron LeFlore hit in 30 straight to start the season in 1976.

Counting the end of last season, Vargas has hit safely in 25 straight.

Kevin Ginkel (1-1) earned the win in relief with three strikeouts and one hit in 1 1/3 innings.

Brice Turang and Luis Rengifo each had two hits for the Brewers. Jake Bauers started the scoring with an RBI double in the first, and Turang had an RBI double in the third.

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Source: “AOL Sports”