Former Seattle Mariners pitcher Jamie Moyer often said that solo homers won’t beat you.

Seattle’s Logan Gilbert proved that Monday night.

Gilbert allowed four solo shots, but the Mariners came away with a 5-4 victory against the visiting Atlanta Braves in the opener of a three-game series.

“Four of them is not ideal, but I guess it held true tonight,” Gilbert said of the adage.

The interleague series will continue Tuesday night in Seattle.

Matt Olson hit his 300th career homer, and Drake Baldwin, Ozzie Albies and Austin Riley also went deep for the Braves, giving them a 4-0 lead through 5 1/2 innings.

Atlanta rookie right-hander JR Ritchie, a native of nearby Bainbridge Island, Wash., held the Mariners scoreless until the sixth. He walked the first two batters before allowing a three-run homer to Luke Raley.

Raley, mired in a 1-for-24 slump, took the traditional walk the length of the dugout with the Mariners’ home-run trident, then sought hitting coach Edgar Martinez to give him a hug.

“He made some adjustments,” Mariners manager Dan Wilson said of Raley. “Because of how hard he works and how much he cares, it’s good to see.”

The Braves brought in reliever Tyler Kinley, who walked Mitch Garver and allowed a two-run shot to J.P. Crawford that put Seattle ahead.

“Ritchie threw the ball really well … he had a tough start to the sixth with a couple of walks. Kinley has been unbelievable for us; he’s done a heck of a job and Crawford got him there,” Braves manager Walt Weiss said. “We were trying to squeeze a few more outs out of Ritchie because we didn’t have enough available (arms) in the bullpen. We were really light, and that’s what happens.”

So to recap: Three walks and two homers beat four solo shots.

“These guys play with a lot of heart, and tonight was no exception,” Wilson said. “They fell behind and they came right back.”

The Mariners snapped a three-game skid and handed the Braves just their fourth loss in the past 19 games.

Atlanta catcher Sean Murphy made his season debut after recovering from hip surgery last September. The Braves designated Jonah Heim for assignment to clear a roster spot and traded Heim to the Athletics for cash on Monday night.

“It’s good to have Murph back; he’s been a big part of this the past few years,” Weiss said.

Tuesday’s game will feature a pair of right-handers in the Braves’ Bryce Elder (3-1, 1.88 ERA) against the Mariners’ George Kirby (4-2, 3.00).

Elder took his second straight no-decision Thursday against visiting Detroit despite allowing one earned run on six hits over six innings as the Braves lost 5-2. He is 0-0 with a 3.00 ERA in one previous start against Seattle.

Kirby had a streak of three consecutive victories snapped when he took a no-decision Wednesday at Minnesota in a game the Mariners won 5-3 with three runs in the top of the ninth. He gave up two runs on eight hits over 5 2/3 innings.

Kirby is 1-1 with a 2.08 ERA in two career starts vs. the Braves.

–Field Level Media

The New York Mets and Colorado Rockies opened a three-game series in Denver on Monday, and it might be the only game the teams get in this week.

Freddy Peralta (1-3, 3.52 ERA) is scheduled to start for New York against fellow right-hander Michael Lorenzen (2-3, 6.09) on Tuesday night in a rematch from Colorado’s 4-3 road win on April 24.

The Mets overcame five no-hit innings from Tomoyuki Sugano to win the series opener 4-2 on Monday, getting four runs on three hits against him in the sixth inning.

However, Tuesday’s game is in jeopardy of postponement.

With inclement weather expected Monday night, the game was moved up by three hours to start at 3:40 local time. The rest of the series is in jeopardy, however. The area is under a winter storm warning from 8 p.m. Tuesday through 3 p.m. Wednesday. Up to eight inches of snow is expected, with more near the foothills.

The teams have battled each other and the Colorado weather several times. In 2013, when the Mets visited in mid-April, the Denver metro area got close to 10 inches of snow, postponing their game on April 15. The grounds crew, with the help of Rockies owner Dick Monfort and others from the front office, shoveled the field the next day so the teams could play a doubleheader.

Eight years later to the day, 6.9 inches of snow hit Denver, postponing the first game and forcing another doubleheader, and a snowstorm in late May 2022 led to another postponement.

The teams also had to play a doubleheader in New York last week after rain washed out the middle game of the series.

“I think it’s just Denver weather shows up,” Colorado manager Warren Schaeffer said. “Sorry they have to be here when that happens. We have to deal with it, too.”

Should Peralta take the mound Tuesday night, he will make his 10th appearance and ninth start against the Rockies. He is 4-3 with a 3.45 ERA in his career against them after allowing two runs on seven hits in 5 2/3 innings in the April 24 game. Peralta was charged with the loss.

Lorenzen, who got the victory in that game with seven innings of one-run ball in New York, has faced the Mets 17 times in his career, and five of those were starts. He is 3-1 with a 2.42 ERA and two saves in those outings.

If Lorenzen gets to pitch, the first batter he’ll likely see is Juan Soto, who was moved to the leadoff spot for the series opener. The slugger, who went 0-for-3 with a walk and run scored Monday, is batting .301 with three home runs on his injury-impacted season. New York has struggled to put runners on the bases in front of him when he hits in the middle of the lineup.

Manager Carlos Mendoza said he wasn’t putting a timeline on how long he’ll keep Soto at the top of the order.

“I tried with Juan at No. 2 or 3, trying to create traffic in front of him” Mendoza said. “We were having a hard time doing that. So just decided to go the other way, just getting him as many at bats as possible, trying to get him on base and let the other guys drive him in.”

–Field Level Media

Munetaka Murakami has been drilling balls over the fence easily this season, so it was no surprise to see the Chicago White Sox star smack a 429-foot homer in Monday’s series opener against the Los Angeles Angels.

The bigger shocker was Murakami’s first double in 35 major league games.

Murakami, a newcomer from Japan, will seek to continue his power show when the White Sox face the Angels on Tuesday night in the middle contest of a three-game series at Anaheim, Calif.

Murakami’s 14th homer of the season, a two-run shot in the fourth inning, came in Chicago’s 6-0 victory Monday and allowed him to retain the major league lead in homers with New York Yankees slugger Aaron Judge.

But two innings later, Murakami, a left-handed hitter, lined a bullet just inside the right-field line and made it to second base without a throw for his long-awaited initial two-bagger.

“It was my first double, obviously,” Murakami said through his translator on the Chicago Sports Network. “Turning on the base was a bit hard for me. That was kind of interesting.”

Murakami, 26, was one of many hot Chicago players as the White Sox won for the sixth time in the past seven games. Chicago has beaten the Angels four times in a span of eight days and is in third place in the American League Central, only a half-game behind Cleveland and Detroit after three consecutive 100-loss seasons.

Murakami had three hits and three runs while teammate Andrew Benintendi had four hits and an RBI.

Jarred Kelenic had three hits as Chicago out-hit the Angels 16-5. Miguel Vargas homered among two hits, and Sam Antonacci also had two hits.

“We’re putting a lot of runs on the board, and all the pitchers are doing really, really well,” Murakami said. “We just want to keep continuing the success as a team and just keep going.”

Nolan Schanuel and Travis d’Arnaud had two hits apiece for the Angels, who have lost 13 of their past 15 games.

Los Angeles has scored two or fewer runs nine times during the 15-game stretch.

“We’ve just got to trust our work,” Angels manager Kurt Suzuki said after the game. “There’s no mystery. We’re struggling. I mean, there’s no other way around it. Sometimes you just got to face it and believe in what you’re doing and that it’s the right thing and just keep going every single day.”

The Angels recalled left-hander Sam Aldegheri from Triple-A Salt Lake on Monday, and he will try to quiet the Chicago bats on Tuesday.

Aldegheri (1-0, 5.40 ERA) made a relief appearance against the Yankees on April 16 and gave up one win in 1 2/3 innings and earned the victory.

He was optioned back to Salt Lake and is just 1-3 with a 7.77 ERA in five starts for the Bees this season.

“It always feels good to come back here and have the opportunity to play at the biggest level,” Aldegheri told reporters prior to Monday’s game. “I’m ready to do whatever the team needs of me. That’s what I’m here for.”

Aldegheri, 24, is 2-4 with a 6.35 ERA in eight appearances (five starts) over parts of three seasons with the Angels. He has never opposed the White Sox but has faced Randal Grichuk (0-for-2), who was signed by Chicago on Monday.

Right-hander Erick Fedde (0-3, 3.24 ERA) will start for Chicago on Tuesday.

Fedde received a no-decision against the Angels last Wednesday when he gave up two runs and five hits over seven innings in Chicago’s 3-2 victory in 10 innings. He served up solo homers to Mike Trout and Vaughn Grissom.

Fedde has a 1.29 ERA in two career no-decisions and one relief appearance against Los Angeles.

–Field Level Media