Matt Olson reaches 50 homers on the season but Braves lose 7-5 to Phillies

Matt Olson got two steps closer to breaking Andruw Jones’ franchise record for homers in a single season after he smacked both his 49th and 50th home runs of the season in tonight's game. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough to help push the Atlanta Braves to a doubleheader sweep as they dropped the nightcap to the Philadelphia Phillies in a 7-5 defeat.

The Braves had the first scoring chance in this one after a walk from Ronald Acuña Jr. ended up with him on third base after a pickoff attempt from Michael Lorenzen went awry. Atlanta had runners on the corners and were really making Lorenzen work in that first inning but he was able to pick up two strikeouts and a lineout to escape the jam.

On the flip side, newly-activated Kyle Wright immediately found himself in a jam as he gave up two singles and a walk to get into a bases loaded-nobody out situation to start the game. Unlike Lorenzen, Wright was unable to escape the jam as the Phillies got him for a sacrifice fly, an RBI single from Nick Castellanos and then a big double from Edmundo Sosa ended up putting four runs on the board for Philadelphia. So just like that, the Braves were in a four-run hole to start the game.

Fortunately, the Braves brought their bats to the game so they appeared to be up to the task of digging themselves out of that hole. Matt Olson in particular seemed like he was definitely up to the task and he had an opportunity in the top of the third inning to bring the Braves within one run with Ronald Acuña Jr. and Nicky Lopez (who made a great swim move to avoid a tag and stay on base on a fielder's choice play) on base. Matt Olson got a low pitch from Michael Lorenzen that he liked and promptly sent soaring through the Philadelphia night sky for a three-run shot that brought the Braves back into the game at 4-3.

Meanwhile, Kyle Wright was able to get through a scoreless second and third inning before he got into some more trouble in the fourth inning. That was when a leadoff single from Edmundo Sosa and Jake Cave's first triple of the season put the Phillies up two and ended Wright's night as well. Tonight also marked the return of Jackson Stephens, who entered the game in relief of Kyle Wright. Stephens’ near-four inning journey began with a strikeout but hit an early bump when Trea Turner hit a double to plate Jake Cave and make it 6-3 Phillies at that moment. Stephens hit another bump in the fifth inning when Brandon Marsh took advantage of a hanger and sent it flying over the fence to make it a 7-3 ballgame — putting Atlanta right back in the four-run hole that they started the game in.

With that being said, it was as if being down four runs tonight was a bit of an activator signal for Matt Olson. Olson led off the top of the sixth against Michael Lorenzen and by the sixth pitch of the at-bat, Olson got a pitch he liked and swatted it opposite field and into the seats for his second homer of the night.

This was also Matt Olson's 50th homer of the season, putting him in rarefied air as far as single season power performances from Braves hitters goes. Matt Olson joined Andruw Jones as the only two Braves players to hit 50 homers in a single season and he's now one homer away from tying the franchise record and two away from breaking it. There are still 18 games left in the season so it's a pretty safe bet that Olson is going to be the single season home run king for the Braves by the time the regular season ends.

Matt Olson's solo homer brought the Braves to within three but they were unable to add on in the sixth inning. The seventh inning brought a similar story, where the Braves once again chipped away at Philadelphia's lead with a solo homer. This time the hitter of choice was Michael Harris II, who spoiled what was going to be a clean inning from Gregory Soto by smashing a hanging slider into the second deck of seats in right field to make it a 7-5 game at the time.

Thanks to Jackson Stephens ending his return outing with a flourish and Pierce Johnson tossing a scoreless inning himself, this meant that the Braves ere able to stay within two runs of the Phillies heading into the top of the ninth. That's when Atlanta encountered old friend Craig Kimbrel and while Nicky Lopez got a hit in order to bring up Ronald Acuña Jr. to the plate with two out, Acuña grounded out to end the game and split the doubleheader between the two teams.

While it may have been a rough night back on the mound for Kyle Wright, it was nice to see Jackson Stephens come back and have a decent outing. It was also especially nice to see Matt Olson power his way into history. A doubleheader sweep for the Braves sure would've been golden but at the same time, any day that has a Braves win and a Phillies loss in the month of September is still a good day. The Magic Number remains at 4 and they'll have a chance to take it down to 2 tomorrow night at 6:40 P.M. E.T.