ST. LOUIS -- At the conclusion of 26 of the 27 innings played in this week’s three-game set against the Cardinals, Atlanta held the lead. Charlie Morton allowed a game-tying grounder to Nolan Arenado in the bottom of the first inning Monday night to even the score of that game at 1-1. That was as close as any of the games in the series ever got.

Matt Olson drummed out three extra-base hits -- two RBI doubles and his third home run -- in support of Bryce Elder in a 5-2 victory Wednesday afternoon in the series finale, completing a sweep for Atlanta ahead of Thursday’s home opener and securing a 5-1 season-opening road trip.

“It was good to have a little pad there for Bryce, and he went on the attack after we scored those runs, too,” manager Brian Snitker said.

The three-hit game was Olson’s first since Aug. 26, which was also his club’s most recent game played in St. Louis prior to this week.

“It’s a crazy game, [and] every day is different,” said Olson, who went 0-for-5 with four strikeouts in Tuesday night’s 4-1 win. “You’ve got to be able to flush it, the good and the bad, and show up the next day and do it.”

Olson also turned a sparkling unassisted double play in the ninth inning to help snuff out a potential St. Louis rally. He leapt and snared a 92.5 mph line drive off the bat of Nolan Gorman, diving back to first to double off Arenado.

“Just be tall and stick your arm out,” Olson said with a smile.

“That’s why I like those big, tall first basemen,” Snitker added about the 6-foot-5 Olson.

Elder was outstanding in his first start of the season, filling in for an injured Max Fried. He didn’t allow a hit until Gorman’s wind-aided double with two outs in the bottom of the fourth, and finished surrendering only two hits and no runs in six innings. Elder struck out six, walked three and hit Paul Goldschmidt with a pitch in the first.

“That always helps, especially being a sinker guy,” Elder said when asked about starting his appearance with runs on the board. “Staying in the zone and forcing swings is a lot easier when you have a lead.”

The best chance St. Louis had against Elder came with two on and two out in the bottom of the sixth, washed away by a timely strikeout of Arenado which sent the 23-year-old right-hander to the showers on a high note. It was a familiar experience for him, as he's allowed one run or fewer in five of his last six big league starts, dating back to Aug. 14.

“In the beginning, he was kind of finding himself, I guess, but then he got rolling. I thought Travis [d’Arnaud] did a remarkable job with him,” Snitker said.

Atlanta piled on a combined six runs in the first innings of this series, setting a tone from which the Cardinals were unable to recover. St. Louis trailed Wednesday after Olson drove Miles Mikolas’ eighth pitch to the gap in right-center for a double which scored Ronald Acuña Jr. from first base. 

The two would repeat that act in the fourth, capitalizing on Acuña’s elite speed. He was clocked by Statcast at 29.3 feet per second during his first-inning trek and 28.9 feet per second in the fourth, making it from first to home in 10.3 and 10.55 seconds, respectively.

“It’s great seeing him out there running around like that. He couldn’t do that last year,” Snitker said, referring to Acuña’s recovery from a torn right ACL he suffered during the 2021 season. “Now that he’s healthy and all that, it’s a fun thing to watch.”

Acuña’s single to lead off the game marked his fourth infield hit of the young season, which leads the National League. The run he scored in the first was the 400th of his career.

“It seems like he’s trying to go for 100 [stolen] bags,” defending NL Rookie of the Year Michael Harris II said of Acuña, who swiped one base in the series and was also thrown out in one attempt. “He’s an electric player. I’m glad he’s feeling good and back healthy.”

Harris’ wall-climbing catch on a Goldschmidt drive in the eighth inning also contributed to maintaining Atlanta’s comfortable cushion.

With Thursday’s pending pomp at Truist Park on the immediate horizon, a statement sweep in St. Louis will send the club home with a well-earned faith in its deep, aggressive offense, allowing that confidence to feed efforts on both sides of the ball.

“When you get on a roll on one side, it kind of transitions into the other,” Olson said. 

Spending a series without trailing is one way to get on a roll quickly.