Braves blitz another ace, upend Mets

ATLANTA — Dansby Swanson and Matt Olson homered off Max Scherzer on Saturday, lifting Atlanta to a crucial 4-2 victory over the New York Mets and a one-game lead in the National League East.

The defending World Series champion Braves beat aces Jacob degrom and Scherzer on consecutive nights to take their biggest division lead of the season. New York, which had a 10½game cushion on June 1, faces its biggest deficit of the year with four games left.

Atlanta will try for a three-game sweep Sunday, with the winner earning the season-series tiebreaker between the teams. Though both teams are headed to the postseason, the NL East champion gets a first-round bye.

Kyle Wright (21-5) allowed two runs on seven hits and one walk while striking out three in five innings as he won his eighth straight decision. The Braves have won 16 of the 27-year-old righthander’s past 17 starts.

Scherzer (11-5) was charged with four runs on nine hits and no walks while striking out four in 5⅔ innings as the Mets were knocked out of first place for the third day all season.

Wright will become the first Braves pitcher since Hall of Famer Tom Glavine in 2000 to lead the majors in wins. Wright entered Saturday 1-4 with a 6.75 ERA in six career starts and one relief appearance against the Mets.

Since Atlanta was a season low-tying four games under .500 at 23-27 after play May 31, it has gone 76-32, tying the Los Angeles Dodgers for the majors’ best record in that span.

■ Nationals 13-2, Phillies 4-8: At Washington, Joey Meneses homered and had a three-run double in Game 1 off Kyle Gibson (10-8), who allowed seven runs in six innings. Kyle Schwarber hit two of Philadelphia’s five homers in the first four innings of Game 2.

■ Marlins 4, Brewers 3: At Milwaukee, Bryan De La Cruz hit a go-ahead two-run single in the ninth for Miami, which prevented Milwaukee from tying Philadelphia for the final NL playoff spot.

■ Mariners 5, Athletics 1: At Seattle, Sam Haggerty had a two-run single and a sacrifice fly to back Luis Castillo (8-6), who allowed one run on two hits while striking out eight in six innings.

■ Yankees 8, Orioles 0: At New York, Giancarlo Stanton hit a three-run homer to back Nestor Cortes (12-4), who struck out 12 while allowing one hit in 7⅓ shutout innings.

■ Blue Jays 10, Red Sox 0: At Toronto, Danny Jansen homered, doubled, singled and drove in five runs to back Ross Stripling (10-4), who pitched six shutout innings.

■ Royals 7, Guardians 1: At Cleveland, Salvador Perez had a homer, three singles and two RBIS to back Kris Bubic (3-13), who struck out eight in five shutout innings.

■ Astros 2, Rays 1: At Houston, Cristian Javier (11-9) shut out Tampa Bay on two hits over six innings, extending his scoreless-innings run to 25⅓.

■ Cubs 2, Reds 1: At Chicago, Seiya Suzuki hit a tiebreaking solo homer in the seventh, the third and final hit by Chicago, which won its sixth straight.

■ Cardinals 13, Pirates 3: At St. Louis, Albert Pujols hit a two-run single and Corey Dickerson a grand slam in St. Louis’ six-run first.

■ Diamondbacks 8, Giants 4: At San Francisco, Sergio Alcantara hit two two-run doubles for Arizona.

■ Tigers 3, Twins 2: At Detroit, Eric Haase had three hits, including a home run, for Detroit.

The Associated Press Brett Davis Braves center fielder Michael Harris catches a ball hit by Brandon Nimmo during the third inning of the Mets’ 4-2 loss Saturday night.