Knocked back to reality
Anderson, Olson lead Braves over Cubs, avoid sweep
Ian Anderson pitched three-hit ball into the seventh inning, Matt Olson hit three doubles and the Atlanta Braves beat the Cubs 6-0 on Sunday, salvaging the finale of their weekend series.
Travis d’Arnaud and Michael Harris II homered for the defending World Series champion Braves, who avoided their first three-game losing streak of the season.
The Braves, who arrived in Chicago with a 14-game win streak, went 21-8 in a stretch of 29 straight games against teams that were under .500 at the time of the matchup.
Anderson (6-3) struck out six and walked two in a season-high 6 innings. The righthander improved to 3-0 with a 4.37 ERA in four June starts.
Ian Happ had two of Chicago’s six hits. The Cubs dropped to 3-12 in their last 15 games.
While Anderson breezed through Chicago’s lineup for much of the day, Kyle
Hendricks (2-6) struggled for the Cubs.
With two out and Dansby Swanson aboard in the first, Hendricks walked Olson before d’Arnaud reached Waveland Avenue with a 433-foot drive to left for a three-run homer.
Harris led off the fifth with his third homer, and consecutive doubles by Swanson, Austin Riley and Olson made it 6-0 with one out. Olson’s hit also chased Hendricks, who is winless in his last six starts.
Chicago loaded the bases in the eighth against Jesse Chavez, but A.J. Minter escaped the jam when he retired Patrick Wisdom on a flyball to right.
Seiya Suzuki (left ring finger sprain) is slated to travel to Arizona on Monday to continue his rehab at the team’s spring training facility.
Marcus Stroman (shoulder inflammation) threw off the mound in the Cubs’ bullpen before the game.
David Bote (left shoulder surgery) had two hits and three RBIs in a rehab appearance for Triple-A Iowa.
Caleb Kilian (0-1, 8.00 ERA) makes his third major league start Monday night in the opener of a four-game series at Pittsburgh.