Swanson and Candelario go deep as the Cubs hold off the Braves 8-6 at rainy Wrigley

Updated Aug. 5, 2023 7:32 p.m. ET

Associated Press

CHICAGO (AP) — Dansby Swanson homered against his former team in a five-run first inning and the Chicago Cubs’ bullpen staved off the major league-leading Atlanta Braves in a rain-soaked 8-6 win on Saturday.

Jeimer Candelario hit his first home run since being reacquired by the Cubs, and Ian Happ also went deep.

Chicago (57-54) went into the game leading the majors in runs since the All-Star break and bounced back after getting shut out 8-0 by Atlanta on Friday. The Cubs began the day 2 1/2 games behind NL Central-leading Milwaukee and two games out of a wild-card spot.

Chicago opened a 5-0 lead early and never looked back. After an error by first baseman Matt Olson allowed two runs to score, Swanson hit his 17th home run off All-Star Bryce Elder (8-3) to make it 4-0. Swanson went 0 for 3 on Friday, his first game against Atlanta since signing with the Cubs in the offseason.

“They have a complete lineup,” Swanson said. “They definitely grind you out until the end. Obviously, I saw it for years. They make you earn 27 outs and today I felt like we fought hard. Pitchers did a great job navigating through that lineup, which is not easy. But it was definitely a good one for us today.”

Atlanta (70-38) scored twice in the sixth after reliever Daniel Palencia walked three straight batters to load the bases. Mark Leiter Jr. struck out Austin Riley to preserve the Cubs’ 7-4 lead.

Olson narrowed the gap with a two-run homer off Adbert Alzolay in the ninth before Travis d’Arnaud grounded out to end the game.

The Braves went 2 for 10 with runners in scoring position.

“It was the total package,” manager Brian Snitker said. “We shot ourselves in the foot a couple of times.”

Candelario hit a solo homer in the first and went 2 for 4 with two runs. It was his 17th homer of the year and first with the Cubs this season after he was reacquired from Washington before the trade deadline.

Marcell Ozuna was ejected in the top of the fourth after striking out looking against Cubs starter Javier Assad.

“I said (that’s not a strike) two times and he threw me out for no reason,” Ozuna said.

Orlando Arcia hit a sacrifice fly in the second and Ozzie Albies launched his 25th home run in the third for the Braves. Ronald Acuña Jr. went 3 for 5 with an RBI.

Nick Madrigal and Christopher Morel each had an RBI single for the Cubs. Happ hit his 13th homer in the seventh. Cody Bellinger went 2 for 3 with an RBI and scored twice.

Michael Fulmer (3-5) replaced Assad in the fourth and worked 1 1/3 scoreless innings.

“It’s a nice win and it’s a good team over there, but we have a long way to go,” Cubs manager David Ross said. “I thought in circumstances with Assad being short and the conditions being awful, to come out and put up some offense on the board ... it was a grinder.”

Elder went 4 1/3 innings and permitted seven runs (five earned) on seven hits.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Braves: LHP Dylan Lee (shoulder inflammation) was scheduled to throw one inning in a rehab outing Saturday night at Triple-A Gwinnett.

Cubs: RHP Marcus Stroman (hip inflammation) was scheduled to play catch.

UP NEXT

RHP Charlie Morton (10-9, 3.62 ERA) starts Sunday for Atlanta. All-Star LHP Justin Steele (12-3, 2.65) looks to win his fourth game in a row for the Cubs.

___

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb