Luke Williams doubled twice and drove in two runs, while Chris Sale earned his 15th win as the Atlanta Braves secured a 5-1 victory over the Minnesota Twins on Wednesday night in Minneapolis.
Matt Olson added an RBI double, helping the Braves complete a three-game sweep. Jorge Soler smashed a solo home run, and Ramon Laureano went 2-for-4 with an RBI.
Willi Castro drove in the only run for Minnesota, who have now lost four consecutive games and eight of their last 10.
Sale (15-3) continued his outstanding season, allowing just one run on six hits over six innings. He walked one and struck out six.
The left-hander has now recorded four consecutive quality starts and has won his last five decisions. His 15 wins tie him with Detroit Tigers’ Tarik Skubal for the major league lead.
Minnesota’s starter, David Festa (2-4), took the loss despite giving up just two runs on two hits over six innings. He walked one and struck out seven.
The Braves broke the 1-1 tie with a four-run seventh inning to pull ahead 5-1.
Olson put Atlanta in the lead with a go-ahead RBI double off Caleb Thielbar, who replaced Festa after he walked Marcell Ozuna to start the inning. Laureano followed with an RBI single, scoring Olson to make it 3-1.
Jorge Alcala then replaced Thielbar with one out, but Williams delivered a two-out, two-run double to left, extending the Braves’ lead.
Braves relievers Luke Jackson, Joe Jimenez, and Raisel Iglesias each pitched a scoreless inning to maintain the lead.
The Twins had tied the game at 1-1 in the sixth inning.
Manuel Margot led off with a double but was thrown out at home on Ryan Jeffers’ single. Jeffers advanced to second on a hit by Jose Miranda and then scored on Castro’s two-out single to center.
Atlanta took an early 1-0 lead in the first inning when Soler crushed a 431-foot homer to center on the second pitch he saw from Festa, marking his 17th home run of the season.