Orlando Arcia drilled a three-run homer in the 10th inning and the Atlanta Braves won their sixth straight game, 4-1 over the Los Angeles Dodgers in a matchup of the National League’s best teams.
With the initial runner at second, Alex Vesia got the first two outs of the 10th but walked Sean Murphy before Arcia sent a first-pitch fastball over the left-centre field wall for his 17th home run and a 4-1 lead.
Max Muncy had a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the 10th, but Raisel Iglesias struck out Amed Rosario with a runner on for his 28th save.
Major league-leading Atlanta has won the first three games of this much-anticipated series, becoming the first team to reach 90 victories.
The Braves are cruising to their sixth straight NL East title with a 16-game lead over Philadelphia.
Ronald Acuna Jr. opened the scoring in the third inning with his third home run of this series and 32nd of the season.
The Dodgers got the run back in the bottom half when Austin Barnes doubled, moved to third on two walks and scored on a double-play grounder.
Bryce Elder pitched six innings for the Braves and allowed one run and five hits.
Joe Jimenez, A.J. Minter and Michael Tonkin each pitched one hitless inning before Iglesias took over in the 10th.
Reds rally to walk-off Cubs again
Elly De La Cruz delivered a tying single and newcomer Hunter Renfroe beat out a double-play ball as the Cincinnati Reds rallied for their second straight walk-off win, 2-1 over the Chicago Cubs.
Chicago took a 1-0 lead to the ninth after a brilliant eight-inning performance from Javier Assad but Cincinnati scored twice in the ninth to win.
Jake Fraley opened the inning with a double off Mark Leiter Jr. and pinch-runner Harrison Bader stole third. After TJ Friedl walked and Spencer Steer was hit by a pitch, De Le Cruz’s hit tied it.
Nick Martini flied out to keep the bases loaded and Renfroe – claimed off waivers from the Angels earlier this week – hit a grounder to short and barely beat the throw to first, allowing the winning run to score.
Guardians score 2 in 11th to rally past Rays
Steven Kwan had a sacrifice fly and after a key hit by rookie Jose Tena and the Cleveland Guardians rallied for their fourth straight win, 7-6 over the Tampa Bay Rays.
Brandon Lowe gave the Rays a one-run lead in the top of the 11th with a sacrifice fly, but Chris Devenski was unable to protect it in his first appearance with the team.
With one out, Myles Straw stole third and Bo Naylor walked to put runners at the corners. Tena’s single to right tied the game and moved Naylor to third before Kwan’s fly ball to shallow right-centre scored the winning run.
The loss dropped the Rays 2 ½ games behind AL East-leading Baltimore, while the Guardians remained five games in back of Minnesota in the Central.
Martino: Miami fell 'too short' with early MLS playoff exit
A frustrated Gerardo Martino admitted Inter Miami fell "too short" after being knocked out in the first round of the MLS playoffs by Atlanta United.
Miami won the first match in the best-of-three series at Chase Stadium, but subsequently lost the next two, being beaten 3-2 in the decider on Saturday.
Bartosz Slisz netted the winner in the 76th minute, but the hosts struggled to find an equaliser that would have forced penalties, with Brad Guzen in inspired form as he thwarted their attack.
It is arguably one of the biggest upsets in playoffs history, with Miami the favourites to lift the MLS Cup after a record-breaking regular season saw them claim 74 points in the Eastern Conference.
"In this last part of the year, we get used to achieving the objectives that we set for ourselves, and we have not been able to achieve the most important one," Martino told reporters.
"If you think about where we were in November last year, obviously there is progress as far as the club is concerned, not just the team.
"If you think about the expectations we had for this playoff, obviously we have fallen too short."
While the loss has come as an obvious shock, Atlanta have actually now won three matches against Miami this season.
Jamal Thiare scored two goals in two minutes to give the Five Stripes the lead in the first half, having also hit the post moments before Miami had opened the scoring.
They face another trip to Florida to face Orlando City in the Eastern Conference semi-finals, and the forward is excited to see what else Atlanta can do.
"It took everyone's special amount of running and giving everything that they got," said Thiare. "Everyone's held each other accountable, fighting when we're basically backs against the wall.
"We didn't want to finish the season like this, so it was a good effort in training, but it was really something that the group discovered along the lines of the last few games. And something great is igniting from all of this."
Inter Miami 2-3 Atlanta United: Slisz completes comeback to upset favourites
Atlanta United stunned MLS Cup favourites Inter Miami, coming from behind to win 3-2 and setting up another trip to Florida to face Orlando City in the Eastern Conference semifinals.
Bartosz Slisz scored the all-important winner to ensure Atlanta overturned the deficit in the series, having lost their first trip to Chase Stadium.
The hosts started brightly, with Matias Rojas sharply turning in the rebound of Lionel Messi's saved shot moments after Jamal Thiare was denied by the post.
However, the Senegalese striker would soon turn things around with two goals in two minutes – he powered his first shot past Drake Callender after some chaos in the box and was left with a simple tap-in from close range for his second.
Diego Gomez was denied an equaliser by VAR shortly after, having drifted offside before receiving Luis Suarez's pass, while Brad Guzen made a string of fine saves to keep Atlanta's lead intact.
He could not keep them out forever though, with Messi peeling away at the back post to nod in an equaliser in the 65th minute.
It was Slisz who would have the last say though, leaping high to power a header past Callender against the run of play, with Atlanta causing the biggest upset of the playoffs so far.
Data Debrief: One for the books
Miami were classed as the favourites to win the MLS Cup this year, but their defeat to Atlanta maybe should not be too big of a surprise, with this their third loss against them this season.
The Five Stripes ended a six-match winless run on the road in the play-offs (D1 L5), but have still conceded multiple goals in each of their last six such games.
Slisz is not known for his goalscoring, but he stepped up at the right time for Atlanta - it was just his second goal in MLS this season, and his first since May 18.
Inter Miami 'have the advantage', says Martino ahead of playoff decider
Inter Miami head coach Gerardo Martino gave an update on the availability of midfielder Sergio Busquets ahead of their playoff decider against Atlanta United at Chase Stadium.
The Spanish midfielder missed their 2-1 defeat in Game 2, which levelled the series and put the Eastern Conference winners potentially a game away from elimination.
"He had a problem because of a knock in the last game and he had the beginnings of pneumonia, he had a fever and did not train all week, today he was better," Martino told a press conference.
Thinking ahead to the final game, Martino stressed that his players have played through pressurised games before and that they will be able to deal with the situation.
"We have the advantage of hierarchy in the team with many players who have been through much more difficult situations than this," Martino said.
Interim Atlanta United coach Rob Valentino, meanwhile, was clear that his team were concentrating on themselves.
"It's been the theme of our team that we don't control that, so whatever the outside is saying, it's not our focus. Our focus is on ourselves," he told a press conference.
"We have our own internal pressure individually, collectively as a team, and that's the pressure we put on ourselves to perform everyday.
"We're in a great position to be in the playoffs and now we're hoping that with one game left, we've got more after that."
The deciding game will be played at Chase Stadium, where Inter Miami are unbeaten in 11 matches, while they also beat Atlanta 2-1 in Game 1 of their best-of-three series.
But Valentino was unbothered by that, or Lionel Messi's impressive record on home turf, saying: "Nothing changes in terms of where the venue is.
"Messi is fantastic, there is no slander on my end, he's a fantastic player.
"That doesn't change for the venue, we have to have a really good start, be really aware of where he's at among other players."
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Inter Miami – Lionel Messi
Who else? Messi scored 20 goals in the regular season in MLS, contributing another 10 assists.
The 37-year-old has recorded at least one goal contribution in 12 of his last 13 matches in all competitions at Chase Stadium, including in each of his last six.
Atlanta United – Saba Lobjanidze
Lobjanidze is Atlanta United's top scorer in MLS this season, with nine goals in the regular season and one in the first game of the series against Inter Miami.
The Georgian equalised for his team at Chase Stadium late last month in their 2-1 defeat, while he has also supplied seven assists over the course of the 2024 season.
MATCH PREDICTION: INTER MIAMI WIN
Inter Miami are unbeaten in 11 straight home matches in all competitions (W9 D2) following a 3-1 defeat to Atlanta in May. They have also outscored opponents, 30-14, in those matches.
Atlanta, meanwhile, are winless in their last six away playoff matches (D1 L5), though they advanced on penalties in its lone draw in that time, a 2-2 draw at Montreal in this year’s Wild Card Round.
However, they will have hope of stopping Messi playing a starring role in proceedings. The Five Stripes' 2-1 win in Game 2 was the 21st MLS match (regular season and playoffs) Messi has played in 2024 but just the second defeat. The other loss also came at the hands of Valentino's side.
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
Inter Miami – 63.3%
Draw – 19.5%
Atlanta United – 17.2%
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