Braves hit 3 homers off deGrom, join Mets atop NL East
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ATLANTA (AP) — Austin Riley and Matt Olson hit back-to-back homers off Jacob deGrom in the second inning and Dansby Swanson later connected off the Mets ace as the Atlanta Braves beat New York 5-2 Friday night to move into a tie for the NL East lead.
The defending World Series champion Braves are seeking to keep the Mets from winning one game in the three-game series and earn the tiebreaker between the teams. Atlanta, going for its fifth straight NL East title, has won eight of the 17 games in the season series.
Both teams are 98-59 with five games to go in the regular season.
Riley and Olson became the first players to hit back-to-back homers off deGrom (5-4) since Freddie Freeman and Josh Donaldson did it for the Braves on June 18, 2019.
Max Fried (14-7) allowed consecutive singles to begin the second before Francisco Álvarez grounded into a double play in his first major league at-bat. Fried departed after five innings, giving up one run on four hits.
Kenley Jansen hit a batter, gave up a single and issued a walk that loaded the bases one out in the ninth, but struck out the last two batters for his NL-high 38th save in 45 chances.
ORIOLES 2, YANKEES 1
NEW YORK (AP) — Aaron Judge didn’t come close to hitting his 62nd home run, going 1 for 2 with a pair of walks as Baltimore beat New York.
Baltimore (81-76) assured it will stop a streak of four consecutive losing seasons and must win its remaining five games and get some help from Seattle and Tampa Bay in order to reach the playoffs.
Jordan Lyles (12-11) matched his career high for wins, allowing four hits in seven-plus innings. He tied his season high with nine strikeouts and walked one.
Domingo Germán (2-4) walked his first two batters in the sixth and retired Ryan Mountcastle on a groundout. Zack Britton relieved and walked Gunnar Henderson and then threw a pitch to pinch-hitter Jesús Aguilar that went to the backstop, allowing the go-ahead run to score.
Rookie DL Hall pitched a perfect ninth with two strikeouts for his first save since 2019 at Class A.
GUARDIANS 6, ROYALS 3
CLEVELAND (AP) — José Ramírez hit a three-run homer and Emmanuel Clase closed for his major league-leading 40th save as Cleveland beat Kansas City.
Ramírez put AL Central champion Cleveland ahead for good at 4-3 in the sixth inning with his 29th home run of the season, a 404-foot blast off Brady Singer (10-5).
Cleveland has won 10 of 11 and is a major league-best 21-4 since Sept. 5. The Royals dropped their fourth in a row.
Aaron Civale (4-6) threw six innings, allowing three runs — two earned — in winning his second straight start.
PHILLIES 5, NATIONALS 1
WASHINGTON (AP) — Rhys Hoskins hit his 30th home run, Bailey Falter pitched six scoreless innings and Philadelphia beat Washington to boost its lead in the NL wild-card race.
The game was supposed to be the opener of a day-night doubleheader, but the second game was rained out and rescheduled as part of a doubleheader on Saturday.
Philadelphia (84-72) snapped a five-game losing streak and leads Milwaukee for the final NL wild card.
Falter (6-4) allowed three hits and two walks while striking out six.
Nationals starter Erick Fedde (6-12) allowed three runs — two earned — on seven hits in five-plus innings.
BLUE JAYS 9, RED SOX 0
TORONTO (AP) — Vladimir Guerrero Jr., George Springer and Raimel Tapia homered, Alek Manoah pitched six innings and playoff-bound Toronto beat Boston.
The Blue Jays had a clubhouse celebration after the game because they clinched an AL wild-card berth Thursday when the Red Sox beat the Baltimore Orioles.
Guerrero hit a two-run shot off Nick Pivetta (10-12) in the third inning, his 31st.
Manoah (16-7) allowed two hits, struck out four and walked two, his eighth consecutive start allowing two earned runs or fewer.
Left-hander Yusei Kikuchi pitched the final three innings for his first career save.
TWINS 7, TIGERS 0
DETROIT (AP) — Jake Ryan allowed five hits in six innings and Minnesota handed Detroit its 22nd shutout loss of the season.
Detroit had its six-game winning streak snapped and surpassed the 1973 New York Yankees and 1976 Chicago White Sox, whose 21 times shut out were the most in the American League in the DH era.
Ryan (13-8) walked one and struck out eight. Carlos Correa hit a two-run homer for the Twins.
Tigers starter Tyler Alexander (4-11) allowed three runs on five hits and four walks in five innings.
CUBS 6, REDS 1
CHICAGO (AP) — Adrian Sampson threw seven efficient innings, Nico Hoerner drove in three runs and Chicago won its fifth straight.
Sampson (4-5) gave up one run on three hits, struck out six and walked two in his 97-pitch outing.
Reds starter Graham Ashcraft (5-5) gave up six runs, five earned, in 2 2/3 innings. Cincinnati has lost four straight and seven of eight.
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