Acuna’s blast highlights Braves’ home run binge
BRAVES 4, METS 2
NEW YORK — Ronald Acuna Jr. hit a titanic home run, just before Ozzie Albies and Matt Olson also went deep in the third inning, and the Atlanta Braves beat the New York Mets 4-2 on Friday night.
Charlie Morton (3-0) pitched seven splendid innings as the teams played through raindrops in a game delayed 55 minutes at the start. Atlanta won its third in a row since getting swept at Dodger Stadium last weekend, with two off days in between.
Francisco Lindor homered on Morton’s first pitch in the seventh, one of only three hits off the 40-year-old right-hander. He struck out seven and walked one in his fourth consecutive quality start, surpassing 2,000 innings in the majors.
A.J. Minter struck out all three batters in the eighth. Raisel Iglesias got three outs for his 10th save in 12 chances this season and the 200th of his career.
After giving up Pete Alonso’s two-out RBI single, Iglesias retired J.D. Martinez on a fly to center.
Coming off a horrendous outing, Mets starter Jose Quintana (1-4) gave up 4 runs and 6 hits in 5 innings. The veteran left-hander was hammered for 8 runs and 10 hits over 2 2/3 innings at Tampa Bay a week earlier.
Right after a double play that left the bases empty in the third, Acuna drove a full-count sinker 461 feet to the back of the black batter’s eye incline in straightaway center, beyond the home run apple at Citi Field.
Albies followed with a high fly into the left-field corner, 105 feet shorter than Acuna’s smash but still worth one run. It was Albies’ first home run since March 31 — he missed time with a broken toe — and the second time the Braves hit back-to-back home runs this year.
BREWERS 11, CARDINALS 2
Robert Gasser allowed just two hits over six shutout innings in his major league debut and Milwaukee trounced St. Louis to hand the Cardinals their sixth consecutive loss. Willy Adames hit three doubles with two runs and a pair of RBI
as the Brewers beat the Cardinals for a seventh consecutive time, continuing a streak that began last year.
CUBS 7, PIRATES 2 Cody Bellinger had four hits, including his seventh home run of the season, and Chicago surged past Pittsburgh. Bellinger turned on a 100 mph fastball from Jared Jones (2-4) in the first inning and sent it into the right-field seats for the Cubs. He later added two doubles and an RBI single.
PADRES 2, DODGERS 1
Newcomer Luis
Arraez singled in pinch runner Tyler Wade with one out in the ninth inning and San Diego beat Los Angeles to end the Dodgers’ season-high seven-game winning streak.
PHILLIES 8, MARLINS 2
Ranger Suarez (70) pitched seven scoreless innings, Nick Castellanos and Johan Rojas hit home runs, and Philadelphia beat Miami. The game was played in front of a crowd of 15,119, the majority appearing to cheer for Philadelphia in Miami’s first home game since trading two-time batting champion Luis Arraez to the Padres on May 4.
REDS 4, GIANTS 2
Stuart Fairchild’s insidethe-park home run in the top of the eighth inning put a cap on Cincinnati’s victory over San Francisco, ending the Reds’ eight-game losing streak.
AMERICAN LEAGUE ASTROS 5, TIGERS 2
Framber Valdez (2-1) pitched seven strong innings and Houston used a four-run eighth inning to rally past Detroit. Kyle Tucker homered and scored twice for Houston, which has won two in a row after a four-game skid.
MARINERS 8, ATHLETICS 1
Dylan Moore hit a two-run home run and had a career-high five RBI to help Seattle beat Oakland.
ROYALS 2, ANGELS 1
Adam Frazier hit a two-run home run in the ninth inning and Kansas City rallied for a victory over Los Angeles. TWINS 3, BLUE JAYS 2 Carlos Santana hit a tiebreaking home run in the fifth inning, Joe Ryan pitched seven innings and Minnesota won for the 16th time in 18 games by beating Toronto. Carlos Correa had two hits and scored twice as the Twins won for the ninth time in their past 13 games in Toronto.
WHITE SOX 6, GUARDIANS 3
Garrett Crochet (3-4) struck out 11 in six shutout innings and Chicago beat Cleveland for its third consecutive victory. Taking advantage of a costly error on second baseman Gabriel Arias, Chicago improved to 8-6 since its ugly 3-22 start.
INTERLEAGUE
NATIONALS 5, RED SOX 1
Patrick Corbin allowed one run in five innings for his first victory of the season, Trey Lipscomb had a two-run single and Washington beat Boston. Corbin (13) allowed seven hits and a walk and had four strikeouts in lowering his ERA from 6.45 to 5.91.
ORIOLES 4, DIAMONDBACKS 2
Cole Irvin (4-1) pitched into the sixth inning in another effective start, and a reshuffled bullpen held on for Baltimore in a victory over Arizona. Struggling reliever Craig Kimbrel was taken out of the closer’s role for this game, but he worked a perfect seventh inning. Yennier Cano pitched around a leadoff double in the ninth for his second save.
ROCKIES 4, RANGERS 2
Charlie Blackmon hit a two-run double in the bottom of the eighth inning to break a 2-2 tie and give Colorado a victory over Texas. Blackmon tied the game in the seventh inning when he walked to start the inning, then scored when Elias Diaz reached on an error.