The Braves survived a late scare to defeat the Red Sox 7-6 at Fenway Park, as Michael Harris carried Atlanta's offense with a perfect night at the plate while Boston mounted a furious ninth-inning rally that fell one run short.
Harris went 4-for-4 with a home run and three RBIs, capping his performance with a two-run homer in the eighth inning that provided the decisive margin. The center fielder is batting .304 with 12 home runs and 32 RBIs this season. Spencer Strider earned the win for Atlanta, allowing 3 runs over 5 innings with 5 strikeouts and 3 walks to improve to 3-0 with a 3.46 ERA.
Boston jumped ahead early as Jarren Duran and Ceddanne Rafaela hit back-to-back home runs in the first inning. Atlanta answered in the fifth when Matt Olson launched a two-run homer to tie the game 2-2. The Braves seized control in the sixth inning, scoring three times on Harris's RBI double, Dominic Smith's RBI groundout, and Ronald Acuña Jr.'s RBI single. Harris struck again in the eighth, homering to center field to score Austin Riley and extend Atlanta's lead to 7-4.
Kutter Crawford took the loss for Boston, allowing 5 runs over 5 innings to fall to 2-3 with a 3.02 ERA. The Red Sox made it interesting in the ninth when Isiah Kiner-Falefa delivered a two-run single, but Raisel Iglesias closed out his ninth save despite allowing four hits in the final frame.
Atlanta snapped a two-game losing streak to improve to 36-18 and maintain first place in the division. Boston extended its losing streak to three games, falling to 22-30.