AROUND THE HORN

Braves:

Matt Olson says it’s no mystery why he’s leading the majors in RBIs. In the Braves’ powerful lineup, Olson is often hitting with runners on base. Olson drove in five runs with two homers, including a go-ahead, two-run blast in the eighth, and the Braves beat the Brewers 8-6 on Sunday in Atlanta to cap their sweep of the high-scoring series. Olson has 35 homers, the most in the NL, and 88 RBIs, the most in the majors. The Braves scored 29 runs in the threegame sweep in the matchup of NL division leaders. “There’s always dudes on base,” Olson said. “I feel like I’m rarely taking at-bats with the bases empty.” The only player in the majors with more homers than Olson is Shohei Ohtani, with 39. Ohtani will bring the Angels into Atlanta for a series beginning Monday night. With the sweep, the Braves won five of six against the Brewers in the last two weeks, including two of three in Milwaukee on July 21-23. “You know you’re probably not shutting them out,” said Brewers left fielder Christian Yelich, who had a homer and drove in two runs but described the series as “a tough three days.” Yelich said a “backand-forth game” is likely against the Braves. Sure enough, the Brewers lost despite holding leads of 1-0, 3-2 and 6-5. “To keep roaring back, it’s a testament to how tough these guys are,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said. The Braves began the day leading the Phillies by 11 games in the NL East. The Brewers led the Reds by game in the NL Central.

Rays: Nansemond River High graduate Brandon Lowe hit a two-run HR and drove in three, Josh Lowe capped a four-run first with a three-run double and the

Rays beat the host Astros 8-2. The Rays got to starter Brandon Bielak (5-6) for four runs in the first, with Yandy Díaz scoring on a fielding error by José Abreu before Josh Lowe hit his three-run double. Bielak allowed six runs — three earned — on eight hits with four strikeouts in five innings. Zack Littell (1-2), making his fourth start of the season, yielded two runs on eight hits with four strikeouts in a career-high five innings.

Reds: Elly De La Cruz, Joey Votto and Matt McLain homered, and Cincinnati took over sole possession of first place in the NL Central with a 9-0 victory over the host Los Angeles Dodgers. De La Cruz went 4 for 5 and scored twice as the Reds rapped out 14 hits in taking two of three from the NL West-leading Dodgers. It was LA’s worst loss since a 15-0 defeat to San Francisco on June 17. Graham Ashcraft (6-7) scattered five hits over six innings and struck out two. Dodgers shortstop Miguel Rojas made his first career pitching appearance in the ninth. Dodgers starter Michael Grove (2-3) got hit hard over the first three innings.

Cardinals: Steven Matz and two relievers combined on a five-hitter, and the Cardinals snapped the Cubs’ eight-game winning streak with a 3-0 victory. Tyler O’Neill, Andrew Knizner and Paul Goldschmidt drove in runs in the first two innings for the Cards before the pitchers took it from there. Matz (2-7) allowed four hits in six innings with two strikeouts and no walks. He hasn’t allowed an earned run over his last two starts, covering 12 innings. Giovanny Gallegos tossed two hitless innings. JoJo Romero threw a scoreless ninth to pick up his first save.