Acuna, Braves roll to defeat Nationals
Ronald Acuna Jr. joined the exclusive 40-40 club as the Atlanta Braves beat the Washington Nationals 9-6 on Friday night.
With the win, Atlanta moves four games ahead of the Dodgers for the top seed in the National League. The Braves hold the tiebreaker over Los Angeles based on a 4-3 season series.
Acuna’s 40th homer led off the game against Nationals left-hander Patrick Corbin. The blast was Acuna’s 34th leadoff home run in his career and eighth this season. He is the first player to have 40 homers and at least 60 stolen bases in one season.
TWINS 8, ANGELS 6 >> Minnesota clinched the AL Central title with an victory over the Los Angeles Angels.
BLUE JAYS 6, RAYS 2 >> Chris Bassitt became the American League’s second 15game winner and Toronto beat Tampa Bay in a matchup of teams holding the top two American League wild-card positions.
BREWERS 16, MARLINS 1 >>
Christian Yelich and Josh Donaldson homered during a 12-run second inning and Milwaukee clinched a playoff berth.
PHILLIES 5, METS 4, 10 INNINGS >> Alec Bohm lined the game-winning single in the 10th inning, J.T. Realmuto hit a three-run homer in the sixth and Philadelphia moved closer to its second straight playoff appearance.
YANKEES 7, DIAMONDBACKS 1>> Aaron Judge became the first player in Yankees history with two threehomer games in one season, and New York cruised to victory over Arizona.
CUBS 6, ROCKIES 0 >> Seiya Suzuki and Jared Young each hit two-run homers, Jameson Taillon pitched six scoreless innings and struggling Chicago improved its playoff chances by beating Colorado.
PIRATES 7, REDS 5 >> Bryan Reynolds drove in the tying run in the seventh inning with an RBI single and scored the go-ahead run two batters later on Elly De La Cruz’s throwing error Pittsburgh beat Cincinnai.
GUARDIANS 9, ORIOLES 8 >> David Fry delivered a tworun double with one out in the ninth inning as Cleveland recovered from closer Emmanuel Clase blowing another save and rallied to beat AL-East leading Baltimore.
RED SOX 3, WHITE SOX 2 >> Masataka Yoshida hit a go-ahead RBI single in the eighth inning after Adam Duvall’s sacrifice fly, and Boston rallied for a win over the Chicago White Sox.
RANGERS 8, MARINERS 5 >> Corey Seager got Texas started with his 32nd homer and rookie Evan Carter added a three-run blast as the Rangers took over the AL West lead for the first time in September with a victory over Seattle in a key series opener.
ROYALS 7, ASTROS 5 >> Cole Ragans gave up three hits and two runs over six strong innings and Kansas City used two big innings to defeat Houston, knocking the Astros out of first place in the AL West.