Acuña becomes fastest to 200 homers and 200 steals as Braves beat Nationals
· Yahoo Sports
WASHINGTON (AP) — Ronald Acuña Jr. hit a three-run homer to become the fastest player in major league history to reach 200 home runs and 200 stolen bases, and the Atlanta Braves beat the Washington Nationals 9-0 on Wednesday.
Sean Murphy homered for the third time in five games, a three-run shot in the sixth inning that broke a scoreless tie in a game that was interrupted by a 1-hour, 25-minute rain delay in the fourth.
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Acuña followed with a drive to left-center in the seventh, his 14th of the season, to make it 6-0. He needed 904 games to reach the 200/200 club. Alfonso Soriano set the previous record at 929 games in August of 2006 while playing for the Nationals against the Braves.
Acuña stole the 225th base of his career and 20th of the season, swiping second after his leadoff single in the sixth against Riley Cornelio (2-2), who struck out the next two batters. After Michael Harris II was walked intentionally, Murphy took Cornelio deep to left.
Acuña led off the fourth with a single off Nationals starter Brad Lord. A walk and an error loaded the bases before it started raining. When play resumed, Cornelio came in and retired Murphy and Mike Yastrzemski to escape the jam.
Grant Holmes needed only 26 pitches to retire the first nine Nationals before the delay. Dylan Dodd worked a scoreless inning and Elieser Hernández (2-0) pitched the next three, allowing two hits, including James Wood’s two-out single in the sixth for Washington’s first hit.
REDS 7, PADRES 3
CINCINNATI (AP) — Rookie Juan Brito hit his first home run, JJ Bleday and Héctor Rodríguez also went deep and Cincinnati scored seven unanswered runs to beat San Diego.
Despite winning the three-game series, Cincinnati (67-73) fell 6 1/2 games back of Arizona for the third and final NL wild card after the Diamondbacks beat the Phillies. San Diego was half a game behind Arizona.
Brito had a game-tying, three-run shot into the right-field seats in the third inning. Two batters later, Rodríguez tacked on a solo shot to give Cincinnati the lead. Rodríguez has five homers in his last 10 games.
Bleday capped the scoring in the seventh with his 22nd homer of the season, a two-run, 416-foot hit to help the Reds clinch the three-game series. Matt McLain added an RBI sacrifice fly in the sixth.
Brandon Williamson (3-3) pitched a season-best 5 1/3 innings for Cincinnati, striking out five and allowing three runs on seven hits. Pierce Johnson, Tejay Antone, Tony Santillan and Emilio Pagán went hitless out of the bullpen to seal the win.
DIAMONDBACKS 1, PHILLIES 0
PHOENIX (AP) — James McCann hit a solo homer in the eighth inning, eight pitchers combined for a shutout and Arizona avoided a three-game sweep by beating Philadelphia.
Arizona — which ended a three-game losing streak — is now a half-game ahead of the San Diego Padres for the third and final NL wild card with 21 games remaining on its schedule.
The Phillies saw their six-game winning streak end.
McCann hammered the first pitch he saw from reliever Jonathan Bowlan (2-2) deep into the left-field seats for the game’s only run. It was the veteran catcher’s fifth homer of the season.
The D-backs used a parade of relievers to get through the game, starting with Taylor Clarke, who threw 1 2/3 innings. Derek Law, Kevin Ginkel, Jose Cabrera, Brandyn Garcia, Jonathan Loaisiga (6-3) and Juan Morillo followed.
Morillo struck out Kyle Schwarber and Trea Turner to start the ninth before walking Bryce Harper. The hard-throwing righty then coaxed a soft grounder from Luis Arraez to secure his third save of the season.
ATHLETICS 9, RANGERS 2
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Henry Bolte had his first career multihomer game, Zack Gelof, Jonah Heim and Alika Williams also went deep, and the Athletics scored nine unanswered runs to beat Texas.
Bolte hit the first of his homers in the third inning, a two-run, game-tying shot, before Gelof gave the A’s a 3-2 lead with a solo home run.
Bolte struck again in the fourth, crushing his eighth homer of the season over the right-field wall for another two-run blast. Heim, in his return to Globe Life Field after playing for the Rangers from 2020-25, followed with a solo homer against his former team, extending the Athletics’ lead to 6-2.
Alika Williams capped the scoring with a two-run home run in the fifth and an RBI double in the seventh to help the A’s avoid a three-game sweep.
Jacob Lopez (6-4) threw six innings, striking out seven and allowing both runs on six hits. Over his last 10 starts, he has a 2.28 ERA and 61 strikeouts over 51 1/3 innings.
ROCKIES 6, ORIOLES 5, 11 INNINGS
DENVER (AP) — Brett Sullivan’s two-out, two-run single capped Colorado’s 11th-inning comeback, and the Rockies beat Baltimore.
The loss was a blow to Baltimore in its battle for the final AL wild-card spot. The Orioles (69-71) went 6-3 on their trip out West, but they dropped the final two against the Rockies. With Cleveland’s loss later Wednesday, Baltimore was one of three teams 1 1/2 games behind the Guardians for the last playoff berth.
Baltimore took a 5-3 lead in the 11th on RBI singles by Samuel Basallo and Blaze Alexander, who finished with three hits, but Colorado rallied against Grant Wolfram (6-3). TJ Rumfield drove in Connor Norby before Wolfram struck out Cole Carrigg and Zac Veen.
Adael Amador hit a ground-rule double to left. Sullivan then blooped a 3-2 sinker into left, and Amador easily beat the throw home.
The Orioles squandered Trevor Rogers’ career-high 11 strikeouts when Colorado tied it with two outs in the ninth off Andrew Kittredge. That temporarily avenged Monday night’s loss, when Colton Cowser reached over the center field wall to rob Jake McCarthy of a two-out, two-run homer with Kittredge on the mound.
Luis Robert Jr., who was picked up on waivers from the New York Mets on Monday, had a two-run double in the third inning that gave Baltimore a 3-0 lead. He was the automatic runner in the 11th and scored on Basallo’s single to left off Blas Castano (2-0).
MARINERS 8, RED SOX 3
BOSTON (AP) — Jhonny Pereda had a two-run single as part of the second of Seattle’s two four-run innings on the day, and the Mariners beat Boston.
Julio Rodríguez, Josh Naylor, Dominic Canzone and Randy Arozarena added RBIs for Seattle. The Mariners racked up 25 runs and 37 hits over the three-game series, winning the final two as they try to keep their long-shot AL wild-card hopes alive.
Roman Anthony hit his first home run since his return from a 101-game absence with a sprained right wrist for Boston, which has lost four of five as it clings to the league’s second wild-card spot.
Cooper Criswell (3-2) pitched a scoreless ninth inning to get the win. Seattle starter Bryce Miller lasted 4 2/3 innings, allowing one run off seven hits and striking out three.
Boston’s Patrick Sandoval (1-4) lasted four innings, plus one batter, yielding three runs off five hits.
BLUE JAYS 11, GUARDIANS 0
CLEVELAND (AP) — Vladimir Guerrero Jr. hit a three-run homer and had a season-high five RBIs, Dylan Cease scattered four hits over six innings and Toronto routed Cleveland.
The Guardians remain in the third American League wild-card position, but their lead over Toronto, Baltimore and Texas was sliced to 1 1/2 games.
Cease (10-5), one of the top Cy Young Award candidates, struck out four without a walk and did not allow a runner past second base. The right-hander hasn’t lost since July 20, going 4-0 with a 1.38 ERA in eight starts.
Guerrero homered in the second against Joey Cantillo (9-8), capping a five-run inning that made it 6-0. The six-time All-Star, who went 3 for 4, has hit all eight of his home runs on the road.
Rookie Brett Bateman scored three times on Guerrero’s three hits, and Josh Smith belted a solo homer in the eighth off Carlos Hernández as Toronto evened the series at one win apiece.
GIANTS 5, PIRATES 4, 10 INNINGS
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Rafael Devers continued his hot hitting with his 32nd home run of the season and San Francisco scored twice in the 10th inning to defeat Pittsburgh, ending its four-game winning streak.
Devers had a solo shot with one out in the first inning to open the scoring a night after the Giants dropped a wild 13-12 decision in the series opener. The first baseman extended his hitting streak to 10 games by going 2 for 3 with two walks.
Bryce Eldridge’s RBI double down the left-field line in the 10th inning put the Giants ahead 4-3 and Turner Hill added a sacrifice fly. Both runs came off Camilo Doval (3-2), who led the NL with 39 saves for the Giants in 2023.
The Pirates had runners on first and second with two outs in the ninth. However, Hill made a sliding catch of Nick Gonzales’ sinking liner to left field to preserve the 3-3 tie.
The Pirates scored single runs in the seventh and eighth innings.
Jason Foley (2-1) pitched a scoreless ninth. Dylan Smith allowed the automatic runner to score in the 10th but closed it out for his fourth save.
METS 10, RAYS 4
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Rookie Nick Morabito had a three-run double for his first major league hit and later made a sparkling defensive play in left field, helping New York beat Tampa Bay.
Morabito, who entered as a pinch runner for Mark Vientos in the sixth inning, came up with two outs and the bases loaded in the seventh and slashed a 2-2 pitch from Manuel Rodríguez down the left-field line to turn the Mets’ two-run lead into a 9-4 advantage.
In the eighth, Victor Mesa Jr. sent a sinking liner to left that Morabito chased down and made a diving catch to end the inning.
Morabito, who started his big league career hitless in his first 12 at-bats, added a single in the ninth.
Juan Soto slugged his 23rd homer — a solo shot in the eighth — as part of the Mets’ 14-hit performance.
Jared Young hit an RBI single and Marcus Semien doubled in a run as the Mets scored three times in the first off Griffin Jax (6-10), making his first start in a month.
Brett Baty chased Jax with a three-run double with two outs that put the Mets up 6-0 in the third. Jax allowed seven hits and walked two.
ASTROS 2, WHITE SOX 0
HOUSTON (AP) — Nelson Velázquez hit a two-run single in the eighth inning to break a scoreless tie, Hayden Wesneski and two relievers combined on a three-hitter and Houston defeated Chicago.
With one out in the eighth, Yordan Alvarez singled and Isaac Paredes walked before Jose Altuve was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Pinch-runner Nick Allen was thrown out at home trying to score on a grounder by Daulton Varsho back to Sean Newcomb (2-4) before Velázquez laced his single into left-center field.
Wesneski allowed one hit with five strikeouts over seven shutout innings. He has allowed one run and five hits over his last three starts, a span of 17 innings. A.J. Blubaugh (5-2) gave up two hits in the eighth before Josh Hader pitched the ninth for his 22nd save.
Wesneski retired 14 of the last 15 batters he faced, including 12 straight between a one-out walk to Sam Antonacci in the third and a one-out walk to Braden Montgomery in the seventh.
Davis Martin scattered five hits with three strikeouts over 5 2/3 scoreless innings in his first start since Aug. 13. Martin, who had been on the 15-day injured list with a right middle finger blister, was activated before the game.
MARLINS 9, ROYALS 6
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Kyle Stowers homered and had an RBI single, Heriberto Hernández drove in two runs and Miami rallied to beat Kansas City.
Stowers drove in a run in the first inning as the Marlins built a 2-0 lead.
After the Royals plated five in the first, the Marlins began their comeback on Stowers’ solo homer in the third inning, his 18th.
Hernández doubled in the fifth and sixth, the latter off the center-field wall to cap a three-run frame that gave Miami a 7-6 lead.
Cade Gibson (3-1) struck out the only batter he faced, ending a fifth-inning threat.
After Eury Pérez allowed six runs on nine hits and three walks, and five Marlins relievers held the Royals scoreless over the final 4 1/3 innings, with Calvin Faucher recording his third save.
Hernández extended his on-base streak to 19 games, and Otto Lopez extended his hitting streak to nine games and on-base streak to 16 with a first-inning RBI triple.
BREWERS 9, CUBS 5
CHICAGO (AP) — Jackson Chourio homered and Milwaukee beat Chicago, overcoming a shaky performance by Jacob Misiorowski.
William Contreras hit a tiebreaking RBI single as Milwaukee won for the sixth time in eight games, improving to a major league-best 87-53. Chourio had four of the Brewers’ 14 hits and scored twice.
Misiorowski allowed five runs and five hits in four innings. The front-runner for the NL Cy Young Award surrendered three earned runs or fewer in his first 25 starts this year.
Chicago (78-62) dropped nine games behind Milwaukee in the NL Central. It also remained one game back of Philadelphia for the top NL wild card.
Alex Bregman homered and drove in four runs for the Cubs, who have lost three of four. Bregman is batting .331 (48 for 145) with 14 homers and 37 RBIs in his last 35 games.