Nolan Arenado crushes 2 homers as Diamondbacks’ bats wake up in win over Braves

Third baseman Nolan Arenado crushed two home runs as the Arizona Diamondbacks’ bats woke up in a 10-3 win over the Atlanta Braves on Saturday.

Arenado’s impressive night started in the fourth inning with a home run off Braves righty Grant Holmes to make it 6-2.

Three innings later, Arenado would get his second of the night and 20th of the season off Brent Suter to make it 7-2.

Unc still got it. pic.twitter.com/8bTZx09YLM

— Arizona Diamondbacks (@Dbacks) August 16, 2026

It was a bounce-back game for an offense that went 0-for-14 with runners in scoring position in a 2-0 win on Friday. The D-backs went 5-for-12 with RISP in Saturday’s win.

The D-backs were without second baseman Ketel Marte, who was out of the lineup Saturday after leaving Friday’s game with left knee soreness. Ildemaro Vargas started for Marte and capped off Arizona’s impressive offensive night with a three-run homer in the ninth inning to make it 10-2.

Eduardo Rodriguez settles down after bumpy start

Eduardo Rodriguez’s Saturday night got off to a bumpy start in the first inning as he surrendered three straight hits, including a leadoff home run by Ronald Acuña Jr. to make it 1-0. Facing runners on first and third with no outs, Rodriguez surrendered only one more run while getting the next three batters out to limit it to a 2-0 game.

Following Arizona’s three-run second inning to give the D-backs a 3-2 lead, Rodriguez locked in on the mound, surrendering only two more hits in the next five innings. He retired 11 consecutive batters at one point while striking out five to pick up his 12th win of the season.

Diamondbacks’ next game

Following the series-clinching win, the D-backs will go for the sweep against the Braves on Sunday.

D-backs righty and former Brave Michael Soroka will make his second start for Arizona since returning from the injured list on Monday. Bryce Elder will start for the Braves.

First pitch from Truist Park is at 10:35 a.m. MST. Listen to the game on 98.7 and the Arizona Sports app. 

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