Braves 4, Athletics 3: Mike Minor allowed two runs in seven innings, and homers from Justin Upton and Chris Johnson led host Atlanta to a three-game sweep of struggling Oakland.

Minor (5-8) allowed four hits – two of which were Nate Freiman homers – and struck out seven as the Braves moved within 1½ games of San Francisco in the race for the final National League wild-card spot and remained six behind Washington in the NL East. Upton drove in two runs and finished 2-for-3 with two runs scored, Evan Gattis added two hits and a RBI and Craig Kimbrel notched his 37th save as Atlanta won for the fourth time in five games.

Oakland lost its fifth in a row and seventh of eight overall, and sits one percentage point behind the Angels in the AL West. Freiman went 2-for-3 in collecting the first multi-homer game of his career, but Jon Lester (13-8) suffered his first loss in four starts with the Athletics by allowing four runs (three earned) in six-plus innings.

Freiman blasted a 459-foot homer to center leading off the second to stake Oakland to a 1-0 lead, but Atlanta answered in the bottom half when Upton singled leading off the frame and scored two hitters later on Gattis’ single to right-center. The Braves moved ahead 3-1 in the fourth as Phil Gosselin reached on a leadoff single and two batters later Upton hammered a two-run shot deep into the left-field seats.

Freiman brought Oakland within 3-2 on his second homer – and third of the series – with one out and nobody on in the seventh, but Johnson opened the bottom of the seventh by taking Lester deep into the left-field seats to make it 4-2. The Athletics drew back within a run in the eighth when Sam Fuld doubled, reached third on B.J. Upton’s error and scored on Coco Crisp’s sacrifice fly.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Lester had not lost in his past 11 starts, dating to June 7 when the left-hander pitched for Boston. … Justin Upton is tied with Philadelphia’s Marlon Byrd for third in the NL with 23 homers - 16 have come at home, ranking second in the majors to Miami’s Giancarlo Stanton (21). … Minor has allowed 20 homers in 19 starts this season - 14 have been solo shots.