ST. LOUIS (AP) — Atlanta Braves first baseman Matt Olson made franchise history on Friday night against the St. Louis Cardinals when he played in his 741st consecutive game for the team to break Dale Murphy’s record of 740 set from 1981 to 1986.
Olson signed with Atlanta as a free agent ahead of the 2022 season after playing parts of six seasons with the Oakland Athletics.
He has started 740 of his 741 games as a member of the Braves with the lone exception coming on Sept. 24, 2022 at Philadelphia when he entered the game in the bottom of the eighth inning as a defensive replacement.
“It’s quite an accomplishment,” Braves manager Walt Weiss said. “This is a tough league. We play virtually every day, so to do something like that is mind boggling, really. The Ripken thing is another universe, but what Matt Olson is doing is really, really impressive.”
Olson has played in 875 consecutive games overall which is the ninth-longest streak in major league history, 20 games shy of Stan Musial’s 895 game streak with the Cardinals from 1952-57.
Cal Ripken played in 2,632 consecutive games for Baltimore from May 1982 until September 1998.
Olson last sat out a game on May 1, 2021, when he missed three games with the Athletics after suffering a left eye contusion during batting practice on April 29.
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Atlanta Braves' Matt Olson watches his two-run home run against the New York Mets during the ninth inning of a baseball game, Monday, July 6, 2026, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Erik S. Lesser)
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Kyle Karros hit a broken-bat, two-run single during a three-run ninth inning and the Colorado Rockies held on to beat the San Francisco Giants 4-3 on Friday night.
The Rockies trailed 2-1 when Mickey Moniak opened the ninth with a single off Caleb Kilian (2-5), who then walked pinch-hitter Troy Johnston.
Jake McCarthy followed with a bunt single to load the bases, setting up Karros for a base hit to center that brought home Moniak and Johnston. McCarthy moved to third and Kilian departed in favor of lefty Erik Miller.
Cole Carrigg greeted Miller with a sacrifice fly to left to bring home McCarthy and make it 4-2.
In the bottom of the ninth, the Giants got a sacrifice fly from Rafael Devers off Jordan Romano to make it 4-3. Romano then walked Willy Adames to load the bases with two outs.
Juan Mejia replaced Romano and got Bryce Eldridge to ground out to second to end the game. Mejia earned his fourth save.
Antonio Senzatela (9-1) worked a perfect eighth inning to pick up the win.
Devers drove in all of the Giants' runs.
San Francisco grabbed a 1-0 lead in the second when Devers took Tanner Gordon deep to right. It was Devers’ 19th home run of the season. He hit two off Gordon in the Rockies’ 7-6 win over the Giants in Denver on Sunday.
Devers gave the Giants a 2-1 lead with an RBI single with two outs in the seventh.
The Rockies tied it 1-1 in the fifth on consecutive two-out doubles by Ezequiel Tovar and McCarthy.
The Giants had won in each of starter Robbie Ray’s previous eight outings and had won 19 of their previous 20 home games against Colorado.
Colorado LHP Kyle Freeland (2-7, 7.46 ERA) faces San Francisco RHP Tyler Mahle (1-8, 5.70) on Saturday.
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San Francisco Giants center fielder Drew Gilbert catches a fly out hit by Colorado Rockies' Mickey Moniak during the fifth inning of a baseball game, Friday, July 10, 2026, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)
Colorado Rockies' Hunter Goodman, right, is tagged out by San Francisco Giants shortstop Willy Adames while trying to steal second base during the fourth inning of a baseball game, Friday, July 10, 2026, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)
Colorado Rockies right fielder Tyler Freeman cannot catch a single hit by San Francisco Giants' Jung Hoo Lee during the second inning of a baseball game, Friday, July 10, 2026, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)
Colorado Rockies' Ezequiel Tovar, middle, runs home to score against the San Francisco Giants during the fifth inning of a baseball game, Friday, July 10, 2026, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)
San Francisco Giants' Rafael Devers gestures after hitting a home run during the second inning of a baseball game against the Colorado Rockies, Friday, July 10, 2026, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)
