Trending
ATLANTA -- Ronald Acuna Jr. hit a two-run home run in the first inning and the Atlanta Braves ended their season with a 4-1 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Sunday.
Chris Sale (7-5) allowed one run on four hits with nine strikeouts and five walks in 5ª innings after coming on in the second inning for opener Charlie Morton making possibly his final major league appearance. Raisel Iglesias earned his 22nd save of the season.
Acuna's 21st home run was hit approximately 451 feet. Matt Olson's eighth-inning RBI single gave the Braves an insurance run and he subsequently scored on Jared Triolo's throwing error to first base.
Morton allowed two hits and a walk over 1• scoreless innings. The 41-year-old Morton, who was signed by the Braves on Sept. 22, got the start so he can potentially retire as a Brave, the team he was drafted by in 2002 and debuted for in 2008.
For the Pirates, right-handed starter Johan Oviedo (2-1) allowed two runs on three hits with three strikeouts over five innings.
The Pirates, who finished 71-91, scored their run in the sixth when Bryan Reynolds hit a one-out double and Joey Bart followed with an RBI single. Bart represented the tying run but he was caught attempting to steal second base by Braves catcher Drake Baldwin. Sale struck out Alexander Canario to get out of the inning.
Chandler shines
Nick Gonzales and Jack Suwinski had RBI hits in the sixth inning and Bubba Chandler pitched one-run ball through 5ª innings as the Pirates beat the Braves 3-1 on Saturday night.
Chandler, from Bogart, Georgia, allowed one run on four hits with six strikeouts and no walks and improved to 4-1 on the season.
The Braves got on the board first with Marcell Ozuna's RBI single in the second inning. Pittsburgh tied the game on catcher Henry Davis' seventh homer of the season, a solo shot, in the third.
The Pirates went ahead to stay in the sixth when Gonzales hit an RBI double and Suwinski followed with a run-scoring single.
Dennis Santana worked one inning and picked up his 16th save.
Reds in, Mets out
MILWAUKEE -- The Cincinnati Reds are back in the playoffs for the first time since 2020 after overtaking the New York Mets for the National League's third and final wild card on the season's final weekend.
Cincinnati got to the postseason with plenty of help from the stumbling Mets. The Reds blew an opportunity to clinch a playoff spot on their own Sunday when they squandered a 2-0 lead in a 4-2 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers. But they still earned the NL's last postseason spot when the Mets lost 4-0 to the Miami Marlins.
Guardians, Tigers make it
CLEVELAND -- Brayan Rocchio hit a three-run homer in the 10th inning and the Cleveland Guardians rallied for a 9-8 victory over the Texas Rangers, putting an exclamation point on their improbable AL Central title. When the Detroit Tigers lost 4-3 at Boston earlier in the day, the Guardians completed the largest comeback to win a division or league championship in major league history.
Texas took an 8-5 lead on pinch-hitter Rowdy Tellez's three-run homer off Zak Kent in the top of the 10th. Bo Naylor hit an RBI double to bring Cleveland within two. Petey Halpin drew a walk before Rocchio drove a 1-2 fastball from Jose Corniell off the right-field foul pole to give the Guardians their ninth walk-off win this season. They will face Detroit now, which got in as the last wild card.