Swanson’s walk-off shot lifts Braves

Dansby Swanson hit a two-out, two-run homer in the bottom of the ninth inning to cap a four-run rally that gave the Atlanta Braves a stunning 7-6 victory over the Washington Nationals on Monday night.

With the Braves trailing 6-3 against Washington closer Daniel Hudson (1-2), Adam Duvall made it close by hitting a two-run shot that just cleared the wall in left field. Johan Camargo followed with a single, but Hudson retired the next two hitters to put the Braves down to their final out.

It never came.

Swanson drove one over the wall in right-center for the game winner. When he got to home plate, his teammates toasted him from afar, jumping up and down with their hands in the air.

The rally ruined a memorable night for Washington rookie Luis Garcia, who became the first player born in the 2000s to hit a big league homer.

CUBS 5, CARDINALS 4; CARDINALS 3, CUBS 1 (DH)» David Bote hit a three-run homer in Chicago’s four-run sixth inning, and the Cubs beat the St. Louis Cardinals 5-4 for a doubleheader split.

With two outs and runners on the corners, Bote put Chicago ahead to stay with a massive drive to center field off Tyler

Webb (0-1) for his second career pinch-hit homer. Bote belted a game-ending grand slam for his first pinch-hit shot in a 4-3 win against Washington on Aug. 12, 2018.

Chicago was still searching for its first hit before Willson Contreras doubled home Javier Báez earlier in the inning, setting the stage for Bote’s third homer of the season.

St. Louis wasted a big performance by Brad Miller, who homered twice and drove in three runs. Miller also had a big swing in Game 1, hitting a tiebreaking two-run double in the seventh in the Cardinals’ 3-1 victory.

Dexter Fowler connected for St. Louis in the opener of an unusual five-game series, and Max Schrock hit his first career homer in Game 2.

BLUE JAYS 7, ORIOLES 2 » Hyun Jin Ryu pitched six innings of four-hit ball, Randal Grichuk homered and drove in four runs and Toronto beat Baltimore.

Cavan Biggio also went deep for the Blue Jays and finished with three hits and three RBIs.

Ryu (2-1) struck out three and walked none. The lefthander permitted only one runner past second base and yielded just one extra-base hit to a team that came in ranked second in the majors with a .467 slugging percentage.