Riley, Olson set Braves mark with back-to-back HRs

ATLANTA -- Whether looking at a Braves lineup that has placed Matt Olson before Austin Riley or Riley before Olson, opposing pitchers have seen nothing but potential trouble.

Riley and Olson did their thing once again, as they hit back-to-back homers in a 12-5 win over the Angels on Wednesday afternoon at Truist Park. This duo has accounted for six of the MLB-best 13 back-to-back homers Atlanta’s mighty lineup has produced this year.

According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Olson and Riley now have the franchise record for most back-to-back homers in a season by teammates. Chipper Jones and Bret Boone set the previous Braves record by going back to back five times in 1999.

“You’ve got to talk to [Olson]. He's got the hard part,” Riley said. “I'm just trying to go out there and put a solid swing on the ball. He seems to follow suit right after. Not much to say, other than it's impressive on his part.”

Riley is pointing out he has hit the front end of the past four back-to-back homers hit with Olson. But he’s the one who followed Olson in the first two instances this year.

“You can’t go back to back without the first one,” Olson said. “So that’s all him.”

You know who really feels the pressure?

“Hitting behind them is a little tough, because you want to go back to back to back,” Braves catcher Travis d’Arnaud said. “It stinks for the opposing pitchers. If Riley gets one, it’s like, ‘Let’s try to regroup and get ahead,’ and then boom, there goes another one. It’s demoralizing.”

Arguing who should get credit for back-to-back homers seems to be a first-world problem for a club like the Braves, who went 5-1 to end their homestand after entering it having lost seven of 10. They will attempt to improve their MLB-best record (69-37) when they send Max Fried to the mound Friday afternoon to make his first start since May 5.

So the guy who finished second in last year’s National League Cy Young Award balloting will now get to benefit from a lineup that is on pace to hit 314 homers, which would be seven more than the MLB record (307, set by the 2019 Twins).

“What these guys are doing is something else,” Braves manager Brian Snitker.

Ronald Acuña Jr. got the Braves rolling with a three-run homer off Lucas Giolito in the third inning. Riley and Olson chased Giolito when they capped a six-run bottom of the fourth with their consecutive home runs.

Riley and Olson are within one of the MLB record Barry Bonds and Rich Aurilia set in 2001, when they teamed to go back-to-back seven times, per Elias.

The Braves are within three of the franchise-best total they set when they had 16 back-to-back homers in 2019. The Mariners set the MLB record with 18 back-to-back homers in 1996, with a team that featured Ken Griffey Jr. (49 homers), Jay Buhner (44), Alex Rodriguez (36) and Edgar Martinez (26).

Olson leads the National League with 37 homers, and Acuña and Riley both tallied their 25th homers on Wednesday. The Braves joined the Dodgers as the only clubs to have three players with 25-plus homers this season.

Ozzie Albies has 24 homers, and Marcell Ozuna has 22. So there’s a good chance the Braves end up having five players hit 25 or more homers for the first time in franchise history. The 2003 Red Sox and the 2019 Twins are the only teams that have had six players reach this total in the same season.

Sean Murphy has 17 homers, and Eddie Rosario -- who was one of those 2019 Twins to hit 25-plus -- has 16. If either finishes strong, the Braves could match that MLB record.

None of this would surprise Brewers manager Craig Counsell, who was overpowered by the Braves twice at the end of July. Before he left Truist Park on Sunday, he was highly complimentary of Atlanta's lineup.

“They swung the bats as well as you can swing it, as well as I’ve seen in a three-game series,” Counsell said. “They just have a lot of hitters locked in. Which hitter you choose to go after, it’s tough because it’s up and down the lineup.”

The Braves’ lineup Wednesday began with Acuña, who tallied three hits and scored four times. The No. 9 hitter was Michael Harris II, who followed Tuesday’s two-homer performance with a three-hit game and owns a .980 OPS dating back to June 26.

“With the guys we have in here and the juice we have in the bats, balls are going to leave the yard from time to time,” Olson said.