Anderson shines, Braves shut out Reds in a sweep
ATLANTA » Ian Anderson dazzled in another shutout performance for Atlanta, and the Braves won a playoff series for the first time in almost two decades by sweeping the light-hitting Cincinnati Reds with a 5- 0 victory Thursday.
Ronald Acuña Jr. had three hits for the NL East champions, including a run- scoring double in the fifth. After winning Wednesday’s series opener 1- 0 in 13 innings, Atlanta broke open Game 2 on two-run homers by Marcell Ozuna and Adam Duvall off Raisel Iglesias in the eighth.
Anderson struck out nine in six innings as the Braves snapped their record-tying string of losses
in 10 consecutive postseason rounds since their last playoff series win in 2001. Atlanta will face Miami or the Chicago Cubs in the NL Division Series in Houston.
Fernando Tatis Jr. and Wil Myers each hit two home runs and Manny Machado also connected for San Diego, who rallied to beat St. Louis to force a deciding Game 3 in their NL wildcard series.
San Diego’s powerful offense finally burst to life after slumbering through a 7- 4 loss in Game 1 and a listless first five innings Thursday night.
Tatis and Myers are the second teammates in postseason history with multiple homers in the same game, joining Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig of the New York Yankees in Game 3 of the 1932 World Series — including Ruth’s famed “called shot.”
DODGERS 3, BREWERS 0 » Mookie Betts hit a tworun double in the fifth inning and Los Angeles eliminated Milwaukee in a NL wild-card series. The Dodgers will now advance to the NLDS to meet the winner of the Padres and Cardinals’ Game 3 being played on Friday night.