Recap: Matt Olson hits his 25th homer as Braves beat Reds 7-6

The Atlanta Braves and Cincinnati Reds have played an incredible series this weekend. There has been no lack of offense between both sides in any of the games.

Sunday's rubber match was no different as both teams managed to get key hits and score runs in big situations. Charlie Morton started this game for Atlanta and was opposed by Reds pitcher, Levi Stoudt.

Morton's outing wasn't perfect and it started out a little rocky as he walked the first batter of the game. That runner would advance to second on a steal and then reach third on a single from Spencer Steer. The Reds had runners at first and third with one out in the inning.

There would be a close play at the plate during the next at-bat. Elly De La Cruz grounded out to first and the runner from third tried to score on the play. Matt Olson fired a strike to Sean Murphy and tagged out the runner. Cincinnati would challenge the call but they would lose the challenge as the call on the field stood. Morton induced a pop-up to end the inning with no damage done.

The third inning was where the Braves decided to turn on the offense. Michael Harris II led off the inning with a triple. Harris would score on a sacrifice fly off the bat of Ozzie Albies to give Atlanta a 1-0 lead. Stoudt would then walk Austin Riley and Matt Olson in consecutive at-bats. Riley scored the game's second run thanks to a Sean Murphy single to left field.

Olson would then score the third run of the inning on a single from Marcell Ozuna. Eddie Rosario would walk to load the bases but Atlanta wouldn't be able to add on any more runs as Arcia lined out to end the Braves threat.

Cincinnati wasted no time responding to the Braves as they hit back-to-back doubles to start the bottom half of the inning. This cut the lead down to 3-1. However, Morton was able to wiggle his way out of the inning with just one run scored.

The Reds weren't done with their scoring though as they added more in the fourth inning. Morton struggled with locating his fastball early on and really was only able to get the curveball over for strikes. Two singles led off the fourth inning and those two runners advanced to second and third on a sacrifice bunt.

Matt McLain then hit a double that scored both runs and tied the game at three runs apiece but that's all the Reds would get. Morton was able to get through five innings allowing 3 ER on 7 H with 3 BB and 7 K.

The Braves took the lead in the sixth inning as Matt Olson launched a 3-run home run. Atlanta now led the game by a score of 6-3. That home run was Matt's 25th of the season and tied him for the Major League lead with Shohei Ohtani. Olson is batting .310 with 6 HR and 14 RBI over his last seven games.

It was back-and-forth between both teams after that point. The Reds added a fourth run after Matt McLain, who was 4-for-5 on the day, hit a solo home run. Atlanta added their seventh run of the game on a bases-loaded walk in the eighth inning.

As we headed into the bottom of the eighth, Atlanta enjoyed a 7-4 lead. A.J. Minter remained in the game after checking in to finish out the bottom of the seventh. Minter walked the first batter he saw in the inning but was able to get the next two outs with relative ease.

He did issue another walk after that which gave the Reds runners at first and second with who else but Matt McLain coming to the plate. Brian Snitker decided to go to the bullpen and handed the reins to Joe Jimenez to get the last out.

Jimenez promptly allowed a 2-run double off the bat of McLain and the Reds, much like they had done all series, made things interesting and now trailed by just one run. Jimenez was, fortunately, able to get out of the inning with the Braves leading 7-6.

This game came down to the last inning just as it has every single game of the series. Both of these offenses have been scorching hot. Raisel Iglesias came into the game in the bottom of the ninth hoping to record another save.

He struck out Reds phenom, Elly De La Cruz, to start the inning on a good note. Jake Fraley would line a single to center field on a two-strike count and then Jonathan India was able to get a bloop single behind first base to give Cincinnati runners at first and third with one out in the inning.

Iglesias, however, was able to get Kevin Newman to ground into a 5-4-3 double play to seal the victory for the Braves. It was a stressful ending but Atlanta came out on top at the end of the day. They improved to 50-27 which is the second-best record in all of baseball just behind the Rays who have 54 wins.

Atlanta now returns home to Truist Park to face the Minnesota Twins beginning on Monday night. Spencer Strider will take the mound for Atlanta and face off with Sonny Gray. The Twins are 40-39 and sit in first place in the AL Central. Game one kicks off at 7:20 PM EST.