Acuña becomes first 40-70 player as Braves beat Cubs in 10 innings
Ronald Acuña Jr. established the 40-70 club, Ozzie Albies walked him off with a 10th-inning single and the Atlanta Braves dealt the Chicago Cubs another devastating setback by clinching homefield advantage throughout the NL playoffs with a 6-5 victory Wednesday night.
Acuña delivered a runscoring single that tied the game at 5, then immediately took off for second to swipe his second base of the night and 70th this season. He has 41 homers, extending a historic season that already saw him become the first 40-50 and 40-60 player.
Marcell Ozuna hit a tying homer in the ninth before Acuña and Albies drove home the tying and winning runs in the 10th off Daniel Palencia (5-3).
Albies also homered for the Braves. Jesse Chavez (10) earned the win.
Darius Vines made his second big league start for the injury plagued Braves, who are down two starting pitchers in the final days of the regular season. He went six innings, surrendering four hits and two earned runs.
ORIOLES 5, NATIONALS 1 » Adley Rutschman homered and drove in three runs, Grayson Rodriguez pitched into the sixth inning and the Baltimore Orioles lowered their magic number to one in the AL East with a 5-1 victory over the Washington Nationals.
The Orioles would have clinched the division with a victory and a loss by second-place Tampa Bay, but the Rays won 5-0 in Boston. Baltimore will try for its first AL East crown since 2014 on Thursday night.
DIAMONDBACKS 3, WHITE SOX 0 » Rookie Brandon Pfaadt pitched shutout ball for the second time in three starts, and Arizona moved closer to an NL wild-card berth by beating Chicago for its eighth win in 10 games.
Corbin Carroll hit a tworun double in a three-run third, giving the rookie 76 RBIs, and Tommy Pham had an RBI single for the Diamondbacks, who were outhit 8-4.
Pfaadt (3-9) scattered five hits, struck out eight and walked none in 5 2/3 innings.
DODGERS 8, ROCKIES 2 » Freddie Freeman hit a three-run homer to reach 100 RBIs for the fourth time, and the Los Angeles Dodgers took another step toward their third straight 100-win season.
At 98-60, the Dodgers need only a split in their last four games to become the first team to win 100 games in three straight seasons since the 2017-19 Houston Astros.
RAYS 5, RED SOX 0 » Tyler Glasnow pitched five scoreless innings in his final start before the postseason, combining with four relievers on a threehitter and leading Tampa Bay over Boston.
Josh Lowe had three hits, including a home run, and Isaac Paredes also homered for Tampa Bay, which has clinched a wild-card berth.
BREWERS 3, CARDINALS 2 » Tyrone Taylor hit two run-scoring doubles and NL Central champion Milwaukee came from behind to beat St. Louis.
Taylor’s second double in the seventh drove in Brian Anderson with the tiebreaking run after Anderson doubled off Jacob Barnes (0-1).
Joel Payamps (7-5) pitched a scoreless seventh for the win. Devin Williams pitched the ninth for his 36th save in 40 chances.
Milwaukee claimed the division crown for the third time in six seasons on Tuesday night. It was the Brewers’ sixth division crown in franchise history.
PHILLIES
Bryce Harper hit a goahead solo homer in the seventh inning as one of the few regulars in Philadelphia’s lineup in a win over Pittsburgh, a day after the Phillies clinched the NL’s top wild-card spot.
Rookie reliever Orion Kerkering struck out two in a scoreless inning of relief and earned the win. Gregory Soto struck out the side in the ninth for this third save.
YANKEES
» Gerrit Cole pitched a two-hitter to near his second AL ERA title, Aaron Judge homered twice and New York blanked Toronto to ensure they won’t finish with a losing record.
Cole (15-4) faced two batters over minimum, allowing a single and double to Brandon Belt.
METS 11, MARLINS 2, GAME 1 MARLINS 4, METS 2, GAME 2»
Jon Berti hit a leadoff homer to complete his cycle for the day and Miami pulled even in the race for the final National League playoff spot, beating New York for a doubleheader split.
Pete Alonso was 4-for-4 with a homer, Francisco Lindor also went deep and drove in four runs in the first game.
GUARDIANS 4, REDS 3 » Shane Bieber shut down Cincinnati for six innings and Cleveland sent manager Terry Francona off with a victory in his final home game.
Bieber (6-6) limited the Reds to one run and five hits in just his second start since July 15 — and maybe his last for Cleveland.