AUSTIN Riley homered and drove in three runs as the Atlanta Braves defeated the host Philadelphia Phillies 4-1 on Wednesday (Thursday in Manila) to clinch their sixth straight National League East crown.
Ronald Acuna Jr. added three hits and Ozzie Albies had two for the Braves, the first team to win a division in the majors this year. Kevin Pillar had an RBI double and a single as Atlanta won three of four games in the series.
Braves starter Spencer Strider (17-5) went seven innings and allowed four hits and one run with nine strikeouts and two walks. Kirby Yates threw a scoreless ninth inning for his fifth save in eight chances.
Phillies starter Cristopher Sanchez (2-4) gave up eight hits and four runs with a career-high 10 strikeouts in 7 1/3 innings. He walked one.
In other games, it was the Cardinals 1, Orioles 0; Giants 6, Guardians 5 (10 innings); Marlins 2, Brewers 0; Padres 6, Dodgers 1; Rockies 7, Cubs 3; Rangers 10, Blue Jays 0; Reds 4, Tigers 3; Mariners 3, Angels 2; Mets 7, Diamondbacks 1; Pirates 7, Nationals 6; and Royals 7, White Sox 1.
Astros 6, Athletics 2
Hunter Brown and four relievers came within two outs of a combined no-hitter as host Houston avoided a three-game sweep with a victory over Oakland.
Brown (11-11) walked two and struck out seven before Rafael Montero, Hector Neris and Bryan Abreu each worked a scoreless inning. Ryan Pressly came on for the ninth and got Tony Kemp to ground out to open the inning. He then walked Zack Gelof before Ryan Noda singled up the middle to break up the no-hit bid.
Yordan Alvarez socked a three-run homer to ignite a four-run third inning for the Astros, which completed a six-game homestand with a 3-3 mark.
Rays 5, Twins 4
Randy Arozarena crushed a home run in the ninth inning to lift Tampa Bay to a win over Minnesota.
The Rays took two of three in the series and rebounded after Minnesota rallied to a 3-2 win on Tuesday night. Tampa Bay prevailed after allowing a four-run lead to disappear.
Kevin Kelly (5-2) threw two scoreless innings for the victory, and Robert Stephenson got the last out for his first save. Griffin Jax (6-10) served up Arozarena’s homer. The Twins got back-to-back homers from Matt Wallner and Kyle Farmer in the third inning.
