On Sunday, the Chicago Cubs won 6-4 and clinched a three-game series victory against the visiting Atlanta Braves with a three-run fifth inning.
The Cubs trailed 3-2 entering the fifth inning, but Ian Happ and Jeimer Candelario each got RBI singles, and Cody Bellinger added an RBI double. The surge gave Chicago a 5-3 lead for good.
The Cubs have won 15 of their last 19 games in the second half of the season. Sunday was a team effort, with four different Cubs earning RBIs and eight batters reaching base.
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Justin Steele (13-3) tied for the MLB lead with his 13th win, striking out seven batters in 5 1/3 innings while surrendering four runs (three earned) on eight hits and four walks.
The Braves were paced by three hits from Ozzie Albies. Ronald Acuna Jr. and Matt Olson each got two hits and nine RBIs in the series, with Olson driving in six of them.
For the Braves, Charlie Morton (10-10) pitched 4 1/3 innings, allowing five runs on four hits with four walks and four strikeouts.
The Braves took the lead in the third inning on Olson’s 453-foot home drive, his NL-leading 39th of the season, which scored Acuna, who had singled.
The Cubs were able to respond in the bottom frame by scoring two runs with just one hit.
With the bases loaded, Happ hit into a fielder’s choice but was able to leg out the ball to first to give the Cubs their first run. Morton then walked Cody Bellinger and Dansby Swanson to bring in another run before inducing a fly out from Jeimer Candelario to close the 37-pitch inning.
The Braves responded in the top of the fifth with Olson’s third RBI of the day, a single to left that scored Albies from second base for a 3-2 lead.
With the bases loaded in the sixth, Michael Fulmer came in for Steele and hit Acuna to get the Braves within one run, 5-4, but he struck out the next two batters to escape the jam.
Swanson’s RBI double against his former team in the eighth inning gave the Cubs a 6-4 lead.
Adbert Alzolay, the Cubs’ right-hander, earned his 14th save after allowing a leadoff double in the ninth inning.