Acuña’s injury sours win for Atlanta
Phils bash Red Sox; Giants rout Nats
MIAMI — Atlanta Braves star Ronald Acuña Jr. was carted off the field in tears after suffering a complete tear of the ACL in his right knee during Atlanta’s 5-4 win over the Miami Marlins on Saturday.
An MRI showed the severity of the injury and the Braves made the announcement late Saturday, finishing the year for one of the most dynamic players in the majors.
Acuña landed awkwardly on his right leg after jumping on the warning track in right field to try to catch a drive from Jazz Chisholm Jr. in the fifth inning. Acuña slammed into the outfield wall and crumbled on the warning track, immediately grabbing toward his right knee while Chisholm sprinted out an inside-the-park homer.
Freddie Freeman had a tworun homer and an RBI single, while Dansby Swanson and Austin Riley ripped doubles as the first three Braves reached base off All-Star pitcher Trevor Rogers (7-6), a native of Carlsbad, in the fourth inning. Atlanta has won three straight over Miami.
PHILLIES 11, RED SOX 2: In Boston, Jean Segura and Alec Bohm homered, and Philadelphia snapped Boston’s ninegame home winning streak.
Segura opened the game with a drive over the Green Monster, and Bohm made it 3-0 with a two-run drive off Martín Pérez (7-5) in the second. The Phillies then broke it open with eight runs in the eighth, earning their fourth win six games.
Segura finished with three hits and three RBIs. Rhys Hoskins and Bryce Harper each hit a two-run double, and Ronald Torreyes had three hits. Bailey Falter (1-0) pitched two hitless innings for his first major league victory.
Red Sox reliever Josh Taylor’s streak of scoreless appearances ended at 26 games.
GIANTS 10, NATIONALS 4: In San Francisco, Brandon Crawford had three hits, including his 18th home run, and San Francisco routed Washington.
Anthony DeSclafani (10-3) had six strikeouts and pitched three-hit ball over six scoreless innings to win his 10th for the Giants. Thairo Estrada added four hits and two RBIs. Darin Ruf doubled and scored twice.
Washington’s Starlin Castro singled to extend his hitting streak to 13 games. Alcides Escobar added a two-run triple.
PIRATES 6-2, METS 2-4: In New York, Pete Alonso homered, Jeff McNeil drove in two runs and New York beat Pittsburgh for a doubleheader split.
Alonso gave the Mets a 3-1 lead when he connected against Max Kranick (1-1) with two outs in the third inning.
The Pirates won the opener behind five innings and a tie-breaking homer by Tyler Anderson off Marcus Stroman.
YANKEES 1, ASTROS 0: In Houston, Gerrit Cole demanded on the mound that manager Aaron Boone let him get the final out, then struck out Yordan Alvarez with a 99 mph fastball
on his career-high 129th pitch to cap the New York’s win over Houston.
Aaron Judge hit a solo homer and Cole completed a three-hitter for his fifth career complete game and third shutout. Cole (9-4) tied a season low in hits and struck out 12.
Zack Greinke (8-3) lasted just four innings, allowing three hits and one run in his first loss since May 25.
ATHLETICS 8, RANGERS 4 (11):
In Arlington, Texas, Jed Lowrie hit a tie-breaking RBI single in the 11th after an earlier homer and Oakland beat Texas.
Lowrie hit a sharp single to right with one out in the 11th off Spencer Patton (0-1), who then threw a wild pitch that allowed another run before Stephen Piscotty added a two-run homer.
J.B. Wendelken (2-1), the sixth Oakland pitcher, worked both extra innings as the A’s won for the third time in nine games.
There were five solo homers before the game went to extra innings, with both teams having back-to-back shots.
RAYS 5, BLUE JAYS 2: In St. Petersburgh, Fla., Brandon Lowe homered twice and Mike Zunino also connected, helping Tampa Bay beat Toronto for its sixth straight win.
Ryan Yarbrough (6-3) pitched five innings of two-run ball, improving to 5-0 in his last 12 appearances. Diego Castillo finished the six-hitter for his 13th save.
Lowe has four career multihomer games, including May 21 against the Blue Jays. He opened the scoring with his 19th homer, connecting on the first pitch leading off the first.
TWINS 9, TIGERS 4: In Minneapolis, Jorge Polanco hit a goahead three-run homer in the seventh inning and Minnesota rallied from a four-run deficit to beat Detroit.
Alex Kirilloff also homered for Minnesota. Luis Arraez drove in two insurance runs with an eighth-inning single.
Niko Goodrum and Zack Short hit back-to-back solo homers in the second inning for Detroit.
Danny Coloumbe (1-0) earned his first win since 2018 with 1⅓ scoreless innings of relief.
WHITE SOX 8, ORIOLES 3:
In Baltimore, Brian Goodwin had four hits, including a solo homer, and drove in three runs as Chicago beat Baltimore for its
fourth straight win. Chicago has won nine of 12. Lucas Giolito (7-6) struck out nine while allowing two runs in 5⅓ innings to beat the Orioles for the second time this season. Liam Hendriks earned his ALleading 23rd save.
Thomas Eshelman (0-2) gave up four runs in two-plus innings and has not completed five innings in any of his five starts.
INDIANS 14, ROYALS 6: In Cleveland, César Hernández and Óscar Mercado each hit a three-run homer as Cleveland beat struggling.
Hernández’s 15th homer capped a six-run fourth inning against Mike Minor (6-8). Mercado’s drive highlighted a fourrun seventh that put the game away.
Cleveland staggered into the series on a nine-game losing streak, but won the first two games on ninth-inning homers by Franmil Reyes on Thursday and Bobby Bradley on Friday. The Indians have beaten KC eight straight times this season.
The Royals have dropped 15 of 18 to fall a season-worst 17 games under .500.
REDS 4, BREWERS 3: In Milwaukee, Eugenio Suárez hit a leadoff home run in the ninth inning against All-Star closer Josh Hader and Cincinnati beat Milwaukee in a game that included three ejections.
Suárez hit a 2-0 pitch from Hader (3-1) into the second deck of the right-field bleachers for his 18th homer.
Heath Hembree took care of Milwaukee in the bottom half for his second consecutive save and sixth overall. Josh Osich (2-0) got one out in the eighth for the win.
Tyrone Taylor hit a two-run homer off Reds reliever Brad Brach in the eighth.
CARDINALS 6, CUBS 0: In Chicago, Paul Goldschmidt, Paul DeJong and Tommy Edman homered in the fifth inning, and St. Louis blanked Chicago.
Kwang Hyun Kim (4-5) struck out seven in six innings, permitting five hits and walking one. He extended his scoreless streak to 15 innings.
The sputtering Cubs lost for the 13th time in 15 games. Javier Báez had two of the team’s six hits.
Zach Davies (5-6) gave up three runs and seven hits in 4⅓ innings.