Braves win 8-2 against Pirates

ATLANTA — Ronald Acuña Jr. homered for the seventh time in 11 games, Eddie Rosario also went deep and drove in three runs, and the Atlanta Braves added to the best record this season in Major League Baseball by beating the Pittsburgh Pirates 8-2 on Friday night.

The Braves (92-48) now have back-to-back wins after a three-game skid. Atlanta, seeking its sixth straight division title in the National League, has a 14 1/2-game lead over the second-place Philadelphia Phillies and a magic number of eight. Any combination of Braves wins or Phillies losses adding up to eight will clinch the championship for Atlanta.

In the opener to a threegame series against the Pirates at Truist Park, the Braves took a 4-0 lead in the third inning on soft hits — Rosario’s RBI single, Travis d’Arnaud’s two-run single and Orlando Arcia’s RBI single. Arcia had the hardest-hit single at 83.1 mph. D’Arnaud’s hit dropped in front of left fielder Jack Suwinski at 71 mph.

Acuña put that trend to rest in the fourth, driving his 35th homer of the season 455 feet to center with an exit velocity of 110.6 mph to make it 5-0. Rosario followed four batters later with his 21st homer of the year, a two-run shot to right for a 7-0 lead.

Acuña, who tacked on an RBI single in the fifth, is bidding to become the first player in MLB history with a 40-homer, 60-stolen base season. His 63 bases lead the majors this year.

Atlanta’sBryce Elder (12-4) gave up four hits and two runs with a season-high nine strikeouts in seven innings. Since losing 7-5 at Pittsburgh on Aug. 10, the All-Star righthander is 4-0 with a 2.30 ERA over his last five starts.