Olson’s 3-Run Blast, 4 Hits Power Braves Past Nationals 11-3.

Matt Olson kept swinging a hot bat Monday night, going 4 for 5 with a three-run homer as the Atlanta Braves cruised to an 11-3 win over the Washington Nationals.

Olson homered for the third straight game, piling up three extra-base hits and four RBIs for his second four-hit effort of the season. Rookie Drake Baldwin matched him with three hits and four RBIs of his own, giving Atlanta plenty of firepower.

Spencer Strider (6-13) snapped out of a rough stretch, working seven innings of one-run ball. The right-hander scattered four hits, struck out six, and walked two after dropping five of his previous six starts.

Olson’s biggest swing came in the fifth, when he sent a three-run shot over the right-field wall to make it 5-1. Two innings later, he ripped an RBI double down the left-field line to stretch the lead to 7-1.

Daylen Lile briefly put Washington on top with a solo homer in the second—his sixth of the season and part of a 15-game on-base streak—but the Braves quickly flipped the game. The Nationals went hitless from the fourth through the seventh before scratching across two runs in the eighth.

Mitchell Parker (8-16) took the loss, tagged for six runs and 10 hits across five innings.

Key moment

The Nationals loaded the bases in the fourth with a chance to pull even, but Baldwin turned a double play on a dribbler in front of the plate—tagging home and firing to first to end the inning.

Key stat

Olson, who hit his 26th home run of the year, has gone deep seven times in his last 18 games. After hitting just one homer in a 34-game slump from late July to late August, he has rediscovered his power stroke. He has now hit at least 25 home runs in all four of his seasons with Atlanta.

Up next

The teams play a doubleheader Tuesday. Washington’s Jake Irvin (8-12, 5.70 ERA) will make his seventh career start against Atlanta in Game 1, while the Braves have yet to name a starter. Game 2 will feature Nationals lefty MacKenzie Gore (5-14, 4.14) against Atlanta’s Chris Sale (5-5, 2.52).