Olson hits tiebreaking homer and Braves beat Marlins 6-2 to stay 2 back of Mets for wild card

MIAMI (AP) — Matt Olson broke a seventh-inning tie with a two-run homer and the Atlanta Braves beat the Miami Marlins 6-2 on Saturday to stay two games behind the New York Mets for the last National League wild card.

New York beat Philadelphia 6-3 at Citi Field, preventing the NL East-leading Phillies from clinching the division crown.

Gio Urshela and Jorge Soler also went deep for the Braves. Marcell Ozuna and Michael Harris II each had three hits.

Atlanta starter Max Fried allowed two runs — one earned — and five hits over six innings. Fried (10-10) walked one, struck out six and reached double-digit wins for the fourth time in his career.

“It’s the time of the year and where we’re at — I have two starts left — so you’ve got to dig deep,” Fried said. “Every ounce of what I had today, I wanted to make sure I left it out there.”

Olson connected off reliever Lake Bachar (0-1), sending his 29th homer over the right-center wall to snap a 2-all tie. Later in the inning, Urshela chased Bachar with a two-run drive that landed in the left-field seats.

“So happy for Matt for where he is right now,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said. “When you look up, he’s pushing 30 (homers) and 100 (RBIs). And Gio — what power in that guy. That was big. Nice to score those runs.”

Olson has 16 homers since July 27 and 28 extra-base hits since Aug. 1.

“I was looking for something to drive,” Olson said of his go-ahead homer. “I wanted to see something in the zone and he left a fastball kind of off the middle.”

Pierce Johnson, Joe Jiménez and Raisel Iglesias each worked a scoreless inning in relief.

Harris also made two spectacular plays in center field, robbing Connor Norby and Derek Hill of extra-base hits with running catches in the first and eighth.

“You’re getting to a point where you’re having a pretty long highlight film with what he’s doing,” Snitker said.

Olson hit an RBI single in the fifth that put the Braves ahead 2-1. Ozzie Albies singled and advanced on a walk to Ozuna before racing home on Olson’s line drive to left.

The Marlins tied it in the sixth when Jonah Bride scored from second on a throwing error by Albies at second base as he tried for a double play.

Hill’s run-scoring triple in the first gave Miami a quick lead before Soler tied it with a leadoff homer against starter Adam Oller in the second.

Oller was lifted after 5 2/3 innings. The right-hander allowed two runs and eight hits. He walked two and struck out seven.

“I thought he was really good, threw a lot of first-pitch strikes,” Marlins manager Skip Schumaker said. “He got out of a couple of tough innings as well. It shows that he has stuff that should play up here and should be enough to be in a rotation.”

TRAINER’S ROOM

Braves: RHP Reynaldo López (shoulder inflammation) played long toss in the latest step of his rehabilitation. López has been sidelined since Sept. 10.

Marlins: LHP Braxton Garrett will undergo an MRI after he experienced discomfort in the back of his elbow following his last bullpen session. Garrett has not pitched since June 17 because of a forearm flexor strain. He had been scheduled to start Sunday before getting scratched Friday.

UP NEXT

Braves RHP Grant Holmes (2-1, 3.84 ERA) starts the series finale Sunday against RHP Darren McCaughan (0-0, 7.64).

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb

Miami Marlins starting pitcher Adam Oller (77) aims a pitch during the first inning of a baseball game against the Atlanta Braves, Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024, in Miami. (AP Photo/Marta Lavandier)

Miami Marlins' Derek Hill hits a triple during the first inning of a baseball game against the Atlanta Braves, Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024, in Miami. (AP Photo/Marta Lavandier)

Atlanta Braves' Matt Olson celebrates a two-run home run with Jorge Soler (2) during the seventh inning of a baseball game against the Miami Marlins, Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024, in Miami. (AP Photo/Marta Lavandier)

Atlanta Braves' Jorge Soler celebrates after hitting a home run during the second inning of a baseball game against the Miami Marlins, Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024, in Miami. (AP Photo/Marta Lavandier)

Atlanta Braves' Marcell Ozuna hits a single to left field during the third inning of a baseball game against the Miami Marlins, Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024, in Miami. (AP Photo/Marta Lavandier)

Atlanta Braves starting pitcher Max Fried aims a pitch during the second inning of a baseball game against the Miami Marlins, Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024, in Miami. (AP Photo/Marta Lavandier)

Atlanta Braves' Matt Olson celebrates a two-run home run during the seventh inning of a baseball game against the Miami Marlins, Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024, in Miami. (AP Photo/Marta Lavandier)

Atlanta Braves' Matt Olson hits a two-run home run during the seventh inning of a baseball game against the Miami Marlins, Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024, in Miami. (AP Photo/Marta Lavandier)

NEW YORK (AP) — Francisco Alvarez salivates for big moments.

“He’s almost foaming at the mouth to get up there,” New York Mets teammate Brandon Nimmo said. “The way that he walks around the batter’s box, the mannerisms, the body language when he’s up there and he takes a swing and steps back out, it just tells me he wants that moment and he wants to take it head on.”

A starting catcher in his first pennant race at age 22, Alvarez hit a second-inning homer and a two-run double in a three-run seventh that lifted New York over the Philadelphia Phillies 6-3 on Saturday. The Mets remained two games in front of Atlanta for the third and final NL wild-card berth.

Alvarez has five home runs in his last eight starts after hitting two in his previous 45. He has four three-RBI games in September.

“He’s been working really hard behind the scenes for months and finally he’s paying off,” Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said. “This is a guy that when it was really hard for him, he was the first guy on the field, whether it was at home, on road trips, hitting on the field, hitting in the cages, watching film, talking to coaches. So I don’t think this is an overnight thing.”

Less than two years after his big league debut on Sept. 30, 2022, Alvarez has been a key to the Mets' surge. They have won 17 of their last 22 games and are 64-36 following a 22-33 start that left them six games back of a wild card on May 29.

Alvarez approaches games with intensity. He has “THE BEST” tattooed in red capital letters under his Adam's apple and before each game has crosshatched eye black on each cheek instead of the horizontal strip most players prefer. He began the supersized smudges last year as a way to tell himself to switch onto competitive mode.

“This is something I have to do before the game,” he said. “I feel like I'm locked in.”

Alvarez is hitting .238 with 11 homers and 44 RBIs in 94 games.

“He’s invaluable not just for what he does on the field, but that persona he brings and that penchant to want the big moment,” Nimmo said.

After Kyle Schwarber opened the game with his record 15th leadoff home run this season, Alvarez tied the score in the second with a 113.8 mph drive for his 11th home run and fifth in nine games. His 37 home runs before age 23 tied Iván Rodríguez for second-most among catchers behind Johnny Bench's 87, according to Major League Baseball.

Nimmo's seventh-inning RBI single put the Mets ahead 3-2 and Alvarez reached for a sweeper from Orion Kerkering at the bottom of the strike zone and with one hand on his bat lofted a flyball. It dropped just beyond the glove of left fielder Weston Wilson, who tried for a diving catch in left-center.

Alvarez pulled into second base standing up and raised both arms in triumph.

“I feel very good,” he said. “I feel more powerful, like last year when I was doing good.”

A crowd of 44,152 filled Citi Field, just the fourth sellout this season after opening day and a pair of Subway Series games against the Yankees. Sunday's finale of the four-game series is the Mets' final home game of the regular season before a trip to Atlanta and Milwaukee.

“We expect to be back here this year and play more games here,” Mendoza said.

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb

New York Mets' Pete Alonso, second from left, and Brandon Nimmo (9) react after scoring on a double by Francisco Alvarez during the seventh inning of a baseball game, Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Noah K. Murray)

New York Mets' Francisco Alvarez reacts rounding the bases after hitting a home run against the Philadelphia Phillies during the second inning of a baseball game, Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Noah K. Murray)