Braves beat Marlins again, but Fried hurt in first inning

ATLANTA » Dansby Swanson hit a three-run homer and the Atlanta Braves cruised to their third straight win over the Miami Marlins, 9-4 Wednesday night in a game overshadowed by Max Fried’s early departure with an ankle injury.

The Braves ace was making his final regular-season start, hoping to boost his NL Cy Young Award credentials ahead of starting Game 1 in the NL playoffs next week.

But Fried lasted only one inning, tweaking an ankle while fielding a bunt down the third-base line by Starling Marte. While the left-hander didn’t appear to be hurt, he wasn’t the same pitcher after the play.

Having gone the entire season without allowing a homer, Fried suddenly gave up two in a row.

Atlanta bounced back with three runs in the bottom half of the first to ensure Fried wouldn’t take his first loss. He finished the regular season 7-0 with a 2.25 ERA.

The second-place Marlins lost their fourth in a row. They are a half-game ahead of the Phillie. ANGELS 5, PADRES 2 » San Diego Padres might have suffered a blow to the front of its playoff rotation when right-hander Mike Clevinger was suddenly pulled after only one inning in a loss to Los Angeles.

The Padres said Clevinger’s departure wasn’t planned but offered no other details.

RAYS 8, METS 5 » Randy Arozarena homered twice and Tampa Bay clinched its first AL East title in 10 years with a victory over New York. DIAMONDBACKS 7,L RANGERS 3 » Rookie Wyatt Mathisen hit his first two career homers, fellow rookie Daulton Varsho knocked in the goahead run with a triple, and Arizona rallied to beat Texas. PIRATES 2, CUBS 1 » Adam Frazier and Ke’Bryan Hayes led off the bottom of the first inning with backto-back homers off Kyle Hendricks, giving Pittsburgh all the offense it needed to beat Chicago.

REDS 6, BREWERS 1 » Joey Votto homered for his first hit all season against Milwaukee, Trevor Bauer dominated on short rest, and Cincinnati won a pivotal series for playoff contention, beating Milwaukee. INDIANS 3, WHITE SOX 2 » Shane Bieber lowered his ERA to 1.63 in his final regular-season start, the lowest in the American League since Luis Tiant’s 1.60 for Cleveland in 1968, and Jordan Luplow hit a game-ending home run that gave the Indians a win over Chicago.