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• MLB: Acuna hits 40th home run to join exclusive 40-40 club in Braves' win

  Ronald Acuna Jr. joined an exclusive club with his 40th homer of the season and the Atlanta Braves defeated the Washington Nationals 9-6 on Friday.

  Acuna’s 40th home run came off starter Patrick Corbin in the first inning for the 34th leadoff homer of his career and eighth this season.

  He joins Alphonso Soriano (2006), Alex Rodriguez (1998), Barry Bonds (1996) and Jose Canseco (1988) as the only players with 40 homers and 40 stolen bases in a single season.

  The Atlanta superstar has hit safely in 14 of his last 15 games, with eight homers and 15 RBIs during that span.

  Braves starter Charlie Morton walked the two batters in the first inning and left due to right index finger discomfort after throwing 24 pitches.

  He will have an MRI on Saturday but hopes to be ready for the postseason.

  Austin Riley hit a two-run homer and Marcell Ozuna added a three-run shot to increase the Braves’ major league-leading home run total to 296.

   

  Twins hold off Angels to clinch AL Central

  The Minnesota Twins clinched their third AL Central title in five seasons with an 8-6 victory over the Los Angeles Angels.

  Alex Kirillof homered and Pablo Lopez pitched six strong innings as Minnesota held on in the ninth for their 82nd win, assuring it of being a division champion with an over .500 record.

  The Twins locked up their 15th trip to the postseason since the Washington Senators moved to Minnesota in 1961 and became the Twins.

  The Twins have lost 18 straight playoff games since their last win in 2004.

   

  Judge hits 3 home runs in Yankees’ win

  Aaron Judge became the first Yankees player to hit three home runs in a game twice in one season in a 7-1 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks.

  Judge hit a three-run homer in the third, a two-run shot in the fifth inning off starter Brandon Pfaadt and went deep again in the seventh off Slade Cecconi.

  Judge, who had his first career three-homer game against Washington on August 23, is the sixth player in franchise history with multiple three-home run games.

  The others are Lou Gehrig, Joe DiMaggio, Alex Rodriguez, Tony Lazzeri and Bobby Murcer.

   

• MLB: Margot's hit in 9th caps rally as Rays edge Angels

  Manuel Margot singled to cap a two-run rally in the bottom of the ninth inning to lift the Tampa Bay Rays to a 5-4 win over the Los Angeles Angels on Thursday.

  Trailing by one entering the ninth, the Rays rallied against Angels closer Carlos Estevez.

  Pinch-hitter Harold Ramirez and Yandy Diaz opened the inning with singles and runners were at the corners after Curtis Mead’s fly ball.

  Isaac Paredes singled home the tying run and after Randy Arozarena struck out and Josh Lowe walked to load the bases, Margot flared a single to right to win it.

  Tampa Bay already holds the top AL wild card and pulled within 1 ½ games of AL East-leading Baltimore after the Orioles’ 5-2 loss in Cleveland.

  The late rally kept the Rays from losing consecutive games to the Angels, who stopped a six-game skid with an 8-3 win on Wednesday.

  Tampa Bay starter Zach Eflin failed in his bid to become the AL’s first 16-game winner, allowing two runs and six hits in five innings.

   

  Cole sharp as Yankees cool Blue Jays

  Gerrit Cole boosted his Cy Young Award resume with eight stellar innings and the New York Yankees snapped the Toronto Blue Jays’ five-game winning streak, 5-3.

  Cole retired the first 16 batters and allowed a run and two hits in his longest start since pitching a two-hit shutout against Minnesota on April 16.

  He struck out nine without a walk and lowered his AL-best ERA to 2.75.

  Jake Bauers gave Cole all the offense he needed with a three-run homer in the first inning.

  Toronto is one-half game ahead of Texas and Seattle for the second of three AL wild-card spots.

   

  Acuna, Olson power Braves

  Matt Olson hit his major league-leading 53rd home run and Ozzie Albies homered for one of his four hits as the Atlanta Braves rolled to a 10-3 win over the Washington Nationals.

  Atlanta totalled 18 hits with every member of the lineup reaching base at least once.

  The Braves need only two wins in their final nine games to reach 100 wins for the second straight season.

  Olson’s solo homer in the eighth inning gave him 132 RBIs, matching Gary Sheffield in 2003 for the most by a Braves player since the club moved to Atlanta in 1966.

  Ronald Acuna Jr. tripled and scored in the third inning for his 140th run, making him the first player to reach that total since Alex Rodriguez had 143 in 2007.

   

• MLB: Acuna hits two home runs, closes in on 40-60 season as Braves snap skid

  Ronald Acuna Jr. hit a pair of home runs to reach 39 and stole his 67th base as the Atlanta Braves ended a four-game losing streak with a 9-3 win over the Philadelphia Phillies on Tuesday.

  Acuna is one home run shy of becoming the first player with 40 homers and 60 steals in a season, much less 40 home runs and 70 stolen bases.

  The Braves' superstar is batting .386 with 11 home runs, 26 RBIs, 23 runs and eight steals in his last 20 games.

  Acuna’s first home run was his seventh leadoff blast this season and 33rd of his career. Of his 205 hits this season, 51 have come in the first inning.

  His performance overshadowed Spencer Strider’s major league-leading 18th win.

  The right-hander allowed three runs and four hits over seven innings with 11 strikeouts to raise his MLB-best total to 270.

  Marcell Ozuna drove in three runs with three hits, including a two-run double in the fifth, as Atlanta avoided its first five-game skid since September 2017.

  Bryce Harper hit a three-run home run for the Phillies, who hold the top wild-card spot in the NL.

   

  Padres lose combined no-hitter in 9th, walk-off Rockies

  Blake Snell threw seven no-hit innings, and the San Diego Padres lost a combined no-hitter in the 9th before Xander Bogaerts hit a walk-off two-run homer in a 2-0 win over the Colorado Rockies.

  Snell struck out 10 with four walks over the first seven innings and threw 104 pitches but was replaced by Robert Suarez, who worked a perfect eighth.

  Closer Josh Hader gave up a leadoff single to Brendan Rodgers in the ninth before getting three outs.

  Bogaerts homered off Tyler Kinley with two outs in the ninth to give San Diego its season-high sixth straight win.

   

  Hays hits 2 homers as Orioles defeat Astros

  Austin Hays went deep twice and Ryan O’Hearn added a two-run shot to lift the Baltimore Orioles to their fourth straight win, 9-5 over the slumping Houston Astros.

  Hays hit a three-run shot off starter Hunter Brown in the third inning to snap a 2-2 tie and put Baltimore ahead for good.

  O’Hearn’s two-run homer in the first opened the scoring and rookie Heston Kjerstad connected for his second career home run in the seventh, one batter after Hays’ second of the game gave the Orioles an 8-5 lead.

  Baltimore maintained a 2 ½-game lead over Tampa in the race for the AL East title, while Houston’s lead in the West was trimmed to one-half game over Texas and Seattle.