ATLANTA (Interstat) — Martín Pérez pitched five scoreless innings and the Atlanta Braves defeated the Detroit Tigers 5-2 on Tuesday night at Truist Park, extending their lead in the National League East with a 21-9 record while dropping Detroit to 15-15.

Pérez improved to 2-1, allowing two hits and striking out five without a walk. He retired 11 of the last 12 batters he faced after a first-inning double by Ronald Acuña Jr. gave Atlanta an early scoring chance. The left-hander followed up a six-inning, four-strikeout win at Philadelphia on April 17 with another sharp outing, mixing a low-90s fastball with a changeup that kept Detroit hitters off balance.

Casey Mize took the loss for Detroit, falling to 2-2. The right-hander allowed three hits and two earned runs over 2 1/3 innings, striking out three and walking one. Mize labored through the first two innings, needing 44 pitches to get through the Braves lineup once, and was lifted after allowing a double and a sacrifice fly in the third.

The game remained scoreless through the first two innings despite Acuña’s leadoff double in the bottom of the first. He advanced to third on a groundout by Drake Baldwin, but Mize walked Matt Olson and struck out Ozzie Albies before Michael Harris II grounded out to end the threat.

Atlanta broke through in the third. Mike Yastrzemski led off with a double, and Acuña followed with his second double of the night, a line drive to left field that scored Yastrzemski and put the Braves ahead 1-0. After Baldwin grounded out, Olson lifted a sacrifice fly to center field, scoring Acuña and extending the lead to 2-0.

Detroit’s offense managed little against Pérez. The Tigers had only two hits through five innings. Dillon Dingler singled in the fourth but was left stranded when Riley Greene flied out and Spencer Torkelson struck out. In the fifth, Hao-Yu Lee doubled but was left at second as Javier Báez grounded out, Jahmai Jones struck out and Gleyber Torres walked before Kevin McGonigle flied out.

Brant Hurter provided effective relief for Detroit, entering in the third inning after Mize was pulled. Hurter pitched 2 2/3 scoreless innings, allowing no hits and striking out one. He worked around a throwing error that put Austin Riley on second in the fourth, striking out Kyle Farmer and getting Mauricio Dubón to ground out. Hurter’s outing kept the Tigers within striking distance.

Atlanta added a run in the seventh against Burch Smith. Dubón led off with a double to right field, and Yastrzemski followed with a single to center that scored Dubón and gave the Braves a 3-0 lead. Yastrzemski finished 2-for-3 with an RBI and a run scored. Smith, who pitched two innings, allowed two hits and one earned run while striking out four.

The Braves put the game away in the eighth inning. After Olson doubled to right field, Albies launched a two-run home run to left field, his sixth of the season, making it 5-0. Albies went 1-for-3 with the homer and two RBIs. Acuña also had two hits, both doubles, and drove in a run.

Detroit finally got on the board in the ninth. With one out, Colt Keith singled off Braves reliever Tyler Kinley. Wenceel Pérez then hit a two-run home run to center field, his second of the season, cutting the deficit to 5-2. Kinley struck out Kerry Carpenter and got Gleyber Torres to pop out to end the game. Kinley earned the save with a 1 2/3-inning appearance, allowing two hits and striking out two.

Didier Fuentes had pitched two scoreless innings earlier for Atlanta, striking out one and allowing no hits. The Braves bullpen combined for four innings of two-run ball, with Fuentes and Kinley each working effectively.

Detroit had chances to score earlier but could not convert. In the eighth, with the Braves leading 3-0, the Tigers put two runners in scoring position with one out. Kevin McGonigle singled, Dingler doubled to left field, and both advanced into scoring position. But Kinley, who had just entered, struck out Greene on a called third strike and got Matt Vierling to ground out to end the threat.

The Tigers finished with six hits, including the homer by Wenceel Pérez, a double by Dingler, and singles by Keith, Lee, and McGonigle. Atlanta had nine hits, with Olson doubling twice and scoring twice. The Braves also drew four walks, while Detroit walked five times but struck out 11 times.

The game took 2 hours, 36 minutes before an announced crowd of 32,162.

Atlanta has now won four of its last five games and holds the best record in the National League. Detroit, which had won 5-3 on Sunday in Cincinnati, could not build momentum and fell back to .500. The teams will meet again Wednesday night in the second game of the three-game series, with a 7:20 p.m. first pitch scheduled.

Interstat’s game simulator had projected a final score of Atlanta 7, Detroit 5. Interstat’s ELO system gave Atlanta a 57.70 percent probability to win. Detroit was installed as a pregame favorite with a spread of minus-1.5, but the Braves covered easily. The total of seven runs went over the over-under line of 8.5.