Braves Rally Past Cubs 4-1 on Albies, Olson Homers

Lead: The Atlanta Braves defeated the Chicago Cubs 4-1 at Truist Park on Monday night, fueled by solo homers from Ozzie Albies and Matt Olson and a strong six-plus inning outing from Bryce Elder.

Nut Graf: The victory snapped the Cubs’ three-game winning streak and dealt a setback to their NL wild-card lead, while the Braves snapped a three-game skid and showcased their lineup’s power in the season’s critical stretch.

Braves Strike Early

First Inning Surge: Ozzie Albies opened the scoring with a two-out solo homer to center, his 16th of the season. Ha-Seong Kim followed with a run-scoring single, and Drake Baldwin added an RBI double, giving Atlanta a 3-0 lead in the opening frame.

Cubs’ Lone Rally

Seventh Inning Response: Chicago scratched across its only run when Matt Shaw delivered a sacrifice fly to center, plating Nico Hoerner and cutting the deficit to 3-1.

Insurance Insurance Shot

Olson’s Late Blast: Matt Olson crushed a solo homer to center in the bottom of the eighth, his 23rd homer of the year, to extend the lead back to 4-1 and seal the Braves’ margin of victory.

Pitching Performances

Braves Starter: Bryce Elder (7-9) settled in after the first, allowing one run on five hits over 6⅓ innings with six strikeouts.
Cubs Starter: Shota Imanaga (9-7) yielded three runs in the first but retired 16 of his final 17 batters, finishing with three earned runs over six innings.
Bullpen: Tyler Kinley logged a perfect eighth, and closer Raisel Iglesias earned his 25th save with a scoreless ninth.

What’s Next

Series Continuation: The teams meet again Tuesday, with Cubs RHP Cade Horton (9-4, 2.78 ERA) opposing Braves RHP Spencer Strider (5-12, 4.97 ERA).