Matt Olson delivered a long two-run walk-off homer in the ninth inning against closer Kenley Jansen to lift the Atlanta Braves to a 4-3 win over the visiting Detroit Tigers on Thursday.

Ozzie Albies opened the inning with a walk and Olson followed with his ninth homer, a 397-foot shot to right-center field that landed in the Atlanta bullpen.

It was the second straight outing in which Jansen (0-2) has allowed a walk-off homer.

The win extended Atlanta’s winning streak over Detroit to nine games.

The winning pitcher was Reynaldo Lopez (2-1), who worked the final two innings of scoreless relief. He allowed no hits and struck out two.

The loss ruined a fine effort from Detroit starter Tarik Skubal, who only allowed a two-run homer to Ozzie Albies in the first inning. Skubal gave up five hits, did not walk a batter and struck out seven.

Skubal appeared to tweak something in his left arm after throwing the first pitch to Olson to lead off the seventh. Manager A.J. Hinch rushed to the mound, all while Skubal was saying, “I’m fine.” After a couple of warm-up throws, he was left in the game. Skubal went on to strike out the side, fanning Olson, Austin Riley and Mauricio Dubon.

The Tigers scored twice in the second to tie the game. Wenceel Perez doubled, Jace Jung walked and Kevin McGonigle had an RBI single to center field, which extended his hitting streak to 13 games and his on-base streak to 25 straight when starting.

Jung was able to race home with the tying run when Atlanta starter JR Ritchie threw errantly to first while trying to pick off McGonigle, hitting him in the back.

Detroit took a 3-2 lead in the fourth inning on Riley Greene’s solo home run, his fourth, a 417-foot shot to straightaway center field.

Ritchie pitched 5 1/3 innings and allowed three runs, two earned, on five hits and four walks, striking out four. Dylan Lee followed and struck out four of the five batters he faced in 1 2/3 innings.

–Field Level Media

Alexandre Texier netted a tiebreaking goal early in the third period, and the visiting Montreal Canadiens took control of their Eastern Conference first-round playoff series by holding off the Tampa Bay Lightning 3-2 in Game 5 on Wednesday night.

The Canadiens grabbed a 3-2 edge in the best-of-seven series, and they head home to Montreal for Game 6 on Friday.

Just 1:06 into the third, Texier took a long feed from defenseman Lane Hutson, skated into the left circle unobstructed and blasted a shot that deflected off goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy’s glove and in.

Montreal fended off 2:33 with Vasilevskiy (21 saves) pulled for the extra skater. Canadiens goalie Jakub Dobes wound up with 38 saves on the night.

Brendan Gallagher and Kirby Dach also scored for the Canadiens, who are in the playoffs for the first time since 2020-21.

Dominic James and Jake Guentzel found the net for the Lightning, who dropped to 1-2 on home ice in the series. Tampa Bay managed no shots over a span of 10:03 in the third, but they did test Dobes with 17 shots in the frame overall.

After former Tampa Bay Buccaneers Super Bowl-winning coach Jon Gruden fired up the crowd in the pregame, Montreal stemmed the enthusiasm three minutes in when Alex Newhook stole the puck in the neutral zone and drove the net on Vasilevskiy to create a rebound.

The gritty Gallagher, scratched the first four games and inserted for Oliver Kapanen, followed it up for a lead.

Following a failed Tampa Bay power play after Hutson went off for a delay of game in the second period, the home side had another man advantage for Arber Xhekaj’s roughing infraction. Vasilevskiy had to immediately stop Jake Evans’ breakaway attempt to start the Lightning’s third power play.

James evened it 32 seconds after the power play ended, drilling his first career playoff goal by Dobes on the glove side. However, Dach tallied 11 seconds later when he worked his way around Gage Goncalves, kicked the puck to his stick through the crease and flipped in a shot for a 2-1 edge.

Tampa Bay caught Montreal for the second time on a 2-on-1 and scored as Guentzel fired one through the Dobes’ pads at 17:23 of the middle period.

–Field Level Media