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ATLANTA — — Adam Duvall hit a homer twice on José Quintana, William Contreras and Matt Olson also scored, and the Atlanta Braves won their 11th straight game 5-3 over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Sunday.
Defending World Series champion Braves started the day after being five games away from the New York Mets’ lead since the winning streak began on June 1. They were 5½ games behind in the NL East.
That stretch is the club’s best since they won 14 consecutive times from 26 July to 9 August 2013. During that streak, Atlanta has beaten its opponents 74-30 with 22 home runs. The pitching staff has an ERA of 2.32 over the same span.
Pittsburgh has lost a season-high six straight games. The Pirates were swept for the fifth time this season.
Atlanta went back-to-back in the second round when Contreras hit the foul pole in left field for his ninth homer and Duvall connected with left to make it 2-0.
Olson hit his eighth homer in the eighth and extended the lead to 5-3 against Chase De Jong.
Pittsburgh pulled back on Bryan Reynolds’ victim fly 2-1 in the third. Reynolds’ double homer in front of Kyle Wright, his former Vanderbilt teammate and roommate, cut the lead to 4-3 in the fifth.
Reynolds has hit safely in his last seven games on the road for a .500 average with two doubles and four homers.
Contreras doubled in the fourth and crossed the plate when Duvall hit his sixth homer, a counterfield shot down right center to give Atlanta a 4-1 lead. Duvall has completed 11 multihomer games in his career.
Quintana (1-4) was charged with six hits and four runs in five innings and had conceded two runs or fewer in nine of his previous 11 starts. The Braves are 16-6 against left starters and have won their last 11 games against them.
Wright (7-3) allowed five hits and three runs with two walks and seven strikeouts in six innings. Wright, who hit a career-high eight innings in a win over Oakland last Tuesday, has had a 1.69 ERA in his last five starts. He placed second in the NL with a batting average of .192 opponents.
Will Smith hit the minimum in the seventh for Atlanta, AJ Minter hit three batters in the eighth, and Kenley Jansen made his 18th save from 21 chances after encountering four batters in the ninth.
The Braves have beaten the Pirates seven times in a row at home, beating them 55-13. Atlanta has won the season series with Pittsburgh for the last four years they’ve played.
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Reynolds started the day with a career average of .376 in 58 June games. With at least 200 record appearances in June since 1901, Reynolds’ average for that month is behind only Joe Jackson (.381) and Lou Gehrig (.378).
TRAINING ROOM
In rehab performances Saturday with Triple-A Indianapolis, Pirates allowed RHP Heath Hembree (right calf strain) two runs and one hit in an inning and RHP Nick Mears (elbow) batted two in an inning.
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Braves RHP Ian Anderson (5-3, 4.53 ERA) is on the mound as Atlanta begins a three-game streak in Washington.
Pirates RHP Mitch Keller (2-5, 5:26) will start when Pittsburgh opens a four-game series in St. Louis.
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