Acuña becomes first 40-70 player as Braves beat Cubs 6-5 in 10 innings

ATLANTA (AP) — 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 home-field advantage throughout the NL playoffs with a 6-5 victory Wednesday night.

Acuña delivered a run-scoring 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.

Parse.ly - related stories

Duran’s 4 hits and Rafaela’s 5 runs propel Red Sox past Guardians 13-3

 

Bohm hits a sacrifice fly in the 10th as the Phillies beat the Cubs 3-1

 

Heliot Ramos’ wild Little League homer punctuates another walk-off win for the Giants

 

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 (1-0) 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

BALTIMORE (AP) — Adley Rutschman homered and drove in three runs, Grayson Rodriguez pitched into the sixth inning and Baltimore beat Washington to lower its magic number to one in the AL East.

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.

Rutchman hit a two-run homer in the third to open the scoring, and Rodriguez (7-4) allowed a run and six hits in 5 2/3 innings. Baltimore swept the four-game season series against the Nationals, outscoring them 11-1.

Patrick Corbin (10-15) allowed four runs and six hits in 5 2/3 innings.

DODGERS 8, ROCKIES 2

DENVER (AP) — Freddie Freeman hit a three-run homer to reach 100 RBIs for the fourth time, and Los Angeles beat Colorado to take another step toward its third straight 100-win season.

The NL West champions will have a bye in the first round of the playoffs as the No. 2 NL seed behind Atlanta.

Rookie Emmet Sheehan (4-1) struck out a career-high 10 and allowed two runs and five hits in six innings with no walks. He had been 0-1 in five starts and two relief appearances since winning at Baltimore on July 17.

Sean Bouchard and Brendan Rodgers homered for Colorado, which has lost nine of 10. The Rockies (57-101) extended their team record for losses.

James Outman homered off Noah Davis (0-4) leading off third, his 23rd, and began a three-run fifth with a bunt single.

ASTROS 8, MARINERS 3

SEATTLE (AP) — Mauricio Dubón hit a tiebreaking, three-run homer in the fourth inning, and Houston boosted its lead over Seattle for the last AL wild card with a contentious victory.

Benches cleared in the sixth with Houston ahead 4-3 after Hector Neris struck out Julio Rodríguez for the inning’s final out. Neris pounded his chest, shouted and walked toward Rodriguez as the Seattle star was returning to the dugout. Umpires restored order after a few tense minutes of shouting.

Rodríguez went 0 for 4 with four strikeouts and was 0 for 9 in the series. Mariners batters struck out 16 times and Seattle, held scoreless over the last five innings, went 1 for 13 with runners in scoring position.

Defending champion Houston moved 1 1/2 games in front of Seattle for the third and final wild card and headed to a three-game series at Arizona in control of its fate. The Mariners, who hold the tiebreaker, host AL West leader Texas in a four-game series. The Rangers lead Seattle by 2 1/2 games.

Kendall Graveman (5-6) pitched a scoreless fifth in relief of Framber Valdez. Bryce Miller (8-7) was the loser.

RAYS 5, RED SOX 0

BOSTON (AP) — Tyler Glasnow pitched five scoreless innings in his final start before the postseason, combining with four relievers on a three-hitter 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.

Glasnow (10-7) allowed two hits, walked one and struck out nine while throwing just 70 pitches to snap a personal two-game losing streak. It was his first scoreless outing since August, and just his second of the season. Andrew Kittredge, Jake Diekman, Chris Devenski and Robert Stephenson each pitched a scoreless inning.

Red Sox starter Brayan Bello (12-11) allowed five runs on nine hits and two walks, striking out three in six innings.

RANGERS 5, ANGELS 0

ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Adolis García had a homer and an RBI double, Dane Dunning yielded three hits over seven dominant innings, and Texas moved to the brink of clinching its first playoff berth since 2016.

Evan Carter hit a two-run homer and Marcus Semien added a solo shot in the ninth inning for the Rangers, who have won seven of eight. They’ve also set the stage to wrap up both a postseason spot and their first AL West title in seven years when they finish the regular season with four consecutive games in Seattle.

Dunning (12-6) remained unbeaten since Aug. 25 and shook off memories of shaky recent starts by throttling the Angels. The right-hander walked one and struck out seven in his longest appearance in his last eight starts.

Griffin Canning (7-8) pitched six innings of five-hit ball with five strikeouts in the final start of his decent rebound year with the Angels, who have lost 11 of 14 in the final week of their eighth consecutive losing season and ninth consecutive non-playoff season.

BREWERS 3, CARDINALS 2

MILWAUKEE (AP) — 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.

The Cardinals have 89 losses for the first time since 1997.

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 7, PIRATES 6

PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- Bryce Harper hit a go-ahead 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.

Connor Joe had four hits for the Pirates.

Phillies designated hitter Kyle Schwarber, third baseman Alec Bohm, catcher J.T. Realmuto and right fielder Nick Castellanos all took the night off.

YANKEES 6, BLUE JAYS 0

TORONTO (AP) — 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. He struck out five and walked none, throwing 72 of 105 pitches for strikes. Cole finished his season with 222 strikeouts in 209 innings.

Toronto was shut out by the Yankees for the second straight night.

Back in the lineup after a day off Tuesday, Judge hit his 36th and 37th home runs. The reigning AL MVP homered to right field off José Berríos (11-12) in the fourth, then hit a second-deck drive to left off Trevor Richards in the seventh.

TWINS 6, ATHLETICS 4

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) -- Pinch-hitter Trevor Larnach broke an eighth-inning tie with an RBI double and Minnesota rallied to send Oakland to its 110th loss of the season.

After Max Kepler opened the eighth with his fourth hit of the game, Larnach sent a 1-1 pitch from Dany Jiménez off the wall in right field that evaded a leaping Esteury Ruiz. Pinch-runner Andrew Stevenson scored from first. Designated hitter Ryan Jeffers, who hit a tying two-run homer in the sixth, followed with a sacrifice fly that scored Larnach and Minnesota won for the sixth time in seven games.

It was the 41st come-from-behind win of the season for the AL Central-champion Twins (85-73).

The loss dropped the Athletics to 48-110, and Oakland became the first team to lose 110 games since Baltimore and Arizona in 2021. Also, it is the highest number of losses for the A’s since the 1916 Philadelphia A’s set a franchise record by going 36-117.

Minnesota’s Dallas Keuchel (2-1) worked 1 2/3 innings of relief and earned the win. Griffin Jax earned the save.

Jiménez (0-2) allowed two runs on two hits in his inning of work for Oakland, which has lost 11 of 13 games.

DIAMONDBACKS 3, WHITE SOX 0

CHICAGO (AP) — 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 two-run 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, and Luis Frias Andrew Saalfrank, Ryan Thompson and Paul Sewald completed the Diamondbacks’ 11th shutout this season. Sewald worked around Lenyn Sosa’s double in the ninth for his 34th save in 39 chances.

In his first start with the White Sox, Luis Patiño (0-1) allowed three runs. three hits and two walks in 2 1/3 innings. The 23-year-old right-hander, acquired from Tampa Bay on Aug. 1, retired his first seven hitters, then allowed the next five to reach base. Chicago was blanked for the 13th time.

METS 11, MARLINS 2, GAME 1

MARLINS 4, METS 2, GAME 2

NEW YORK (AP) — 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, and New York pounded playoff-chasing Miami in the first game of a doubleheader.

Alonso barely missed a tiebreaking homer in the eighth inning of the nightcap when his two-out double caromed off the top of the left-field wall. After an intentional walk to Lindor, left-hander Matt Moore (5-1) retired DJ Stewart on a popup.

Miami loaded the bases against Adam Ottavino (1-7) with nobody out in the ninth on two singles and an intentional walk. Xavier Edwards scored the go-ahead run when Brett Baty flubbed a grounder by pinch-hitter Yuli Gurriel.

Andrew Nardi got three outs for his third save.

In the opener, Alonso scored four times for the first time in his career and finished a triple short of the cycle in busting out of a 5-for-45 slump. He also was hit by a pitch in the eighth.

Braxton Garrett (9-7) was tagged early in a costly loss for the Marlins.

Lindor, Alonso and Mark Vientos each launched a two-run homer to help the Mets build a 6-0 lead for Joey Lucchesi (4-0), who took a shutout into the seventh inning.

GUARDIANS 4, REDS 3

CLEVELAND (AP) — 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. Cleveland’s Emmanuel Clase worked the ninth for his MLB-best 43rd save.

The Guardians strung together five straight hits in the second inning off Reds starter Andrew Abbott (8-6), who didn’t get out of the third inning. Tyler Freeman and rookie Brayan Rocchio had RBI singles in Cleveland’s second.

Francona was honored before the game with a touching video tribute chronicling his long tenure in Cleveland, a run that actually began in his boyhood as his dad, Tito, played six seasons as an outfielder with the Indians.

The 64-year-old Francona has been slowed by major health issues in recent years, and said he made the decision to step away after a tough, two-month stretch earlier this season.

PADRES 5, GIANTS 2, 10 INNINGS

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Manny Machado hit a two-run single in the 10th inning, and San Diego kept its slim postseason hopes alive with the first extra-inning win this year.

San Diego must sweep three games at the Chicago White Sox to have any hope to reach the playoffs while hoping the Cubs and Marlins lose four games each and the Reds drop at least two of their final three.

Xander Boegarts hit a go-ahead sacrifice fly off John Brebbia (3-4) and the Padres were boosted by shortstop Marco Luciano’s throwing error on Fernando Tatis Jr.’s grounder and catcher Patrick Bailey’s throwing error on a pickoff attempt. All three runs off Brebbia were unearned.

Josh Hader (2-3) pitched a scoreless ninth for his 20th career win and Tom Cosgrove earned his first big league save.

TIGERS 4, ROYALS 0, SUSPENDED, 4 INNINGS

DETROIT (AP) — Miguel Cabrera hit his 511th home run to help Detroit take the lead over Kansas City in a game that was suspended by rain.

The game, which was delayed for 80 minutes, will be resumed Thursday afternoon at 1 p.m. before the scheduled series finale.

Detroit starter Tarik Skubal and Kansas City reliever Angel Zerpa were on the mound when play was halted.

___

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB