RONALD Acuna Jr. made more history on Wednesday (Thursday in Manila) and helped the Atlanta Braves secure home-field advantage throughout the National League playoffs.
With one out in the bottom of the 10th inning, Acuna singled home the tying run, stole second and scored on Ozzie Albies’ single to give the Braves a 6-5 win over the visiting Chicago Cubs.
Acuna became the first player in major league history to have 70 stolen bases and 40 home runs in the same season. He finished the night 2-for-5 with his 69th and 70th steals. Acuna has 41 homers on the year.
The Braves need one win to guarantee home-field advantage through the World Series. The Cubs fell two games behind Arizona for the second NL wild-card spot, as the Diamondbacks beat the Chicago White Sox 3-0.
In other games, it was the Astros 8, Mariners 3; Yankees 6, Blue Jays 0; Orioles 5, Nationals 1; Brewers 3, Cardinals 2; Mets 11, Marlins 2 (Game 1); Marlins 4, Mets 2 (Game 2); Twins 6, Athletics 4; Rangers 5, Angels 0; Rays 5, Red Sox 0; Phillies 7, Pirates 6; Tigers 4, Royals 0 (suspended); Guardians 4, Reds 3; Dodgers 8, Rockies 2; and Padres 5, Giants 2 (10 innings).
Astros 8, Mariners 3
Yordan Alvarez, Mauricio Dubon and Martin Maldonado homered as Houston improved its chances of making the postseason for the seventh consecutive year by winning at Seattle.
The Astros took two of three games in the series to move 1 1/2 games ahead of the Mariners in the race for the American League’s third and final wild-card playoff berth. Houston relievers combined for five scoreless innings, with Kendall Graveman (5-6) getting the win.
J.P. Crawford homered for the Mariners. Bryce Miller (8-7) allowed four runs on six hits in four innings.
Yankees 6, Blue Jays 0
Aaron Judge hit a pair of two-run home runs, right-hander Gerrit Cole pitched nine innings and visiting New York defeated Toronto.
Cole (15-4) allowed two hits–both to Brandon Belt–and no walks. He struck out five in his final start of the season. Cole stamped himself as the leading contender to win the American League Cy Young Award. It was Cole’s second shutout and second complete game of the season. The Yankees have won the first two games of the three-game series after dropping two of three to Toronto last week in New York. Cole was the winning pitcher in the Yankees victory in that series.
The Blue Jays, who haven’t scored a run in the series, lead the Houston Astros by just a half-game in the race for the second American League wild card. Toronto right-hander Jose Berrios (11-12) allowed four runs and five hits while striking out 10 in six innings.
Diamondbacks 3, White Sox 0
Corbin Carroll hit a two-run double to support 5 2/3 shutout innings from Brandon Pfaadt as Arizona bolstered its wild-card chances with a shutout win against host Chicago.
Arizona is now two games ahead of the Cubs and Marlins for the second NL wild-card spot after Chicago lost to the Atlanta Braves and Miami split its doubleheader with the New York Mets Wednesday.
Despite outhitting Arizona 8-4, Chicago lost for the fifth time in seven games to fall to 60-98. The White Sox must win three of their four remaining games to avoid the franchise’s first 100-loss season since 2018–currently the club’s only such campaign since 1971.
