HOUSTON (AP) — Ronald Acuña Jr. made history with a leadoff home run to start things off for the Atlanta Braves in their NL Division Series opener against Miami.
And another hit — once more by the Marlins, this time with Sandy Alcantara’s fastball to the left hip — fired up the Braves and fueled their comeback in a 9-5 win Tuesday.
“I think it woke us up,” said Travis d’Arnaud, who launched a tiebreaking homer during Atlanta’s six-run rally in the seventh inning . “And we took advantage of that momentum.”
D’Arnaud also doubled and singled in driving in four runs and Dansby Swanson homered during the big comeback to help power Atlanta.
After shutting out Cincinnati for 22 innings during a two-game sweep in the wild-card round, the Braves relied on their bats in this opener. Game 2 of the best-of-five series is on Wednesday in Houston.
Acuña got things going for the Braves in the bottom of the first when he sent Alcantara’s second pitch into right-center for a homer. He watched it for a second before flipping his bat and rounding the bases as he became the youngest player (22 years, 293 days old) in postseason history with a leadoff home run.
Things turned testy in the third when Acuña was nailed by a 98 mph fastball. The showy All-Star outfielder held onto his bat and walked a few steps toward the mound before umpires and Braves coaches surrounded him and directed him away from Alcantara, who had started to walk toward him.
After a short delay, featuring plenty of chirping from both dugouts, Acuña took his base. Umpires warned the teams against further trouble.
There’s already been plenty — in 2018, when Acuña was a rookie and on a big homer-hitting streak, José Ureña nailed him with a fastball on his first pitch.
He’s become a Marlins target over the years.
“I looked over to their bench and said, ‘It’s been five times,’” Acuña said through a translator. “At this point I think we’ve grown accustomed to it.”
Alcantara insisted he didn’t intend to hit Acuña and that Miami’s game plan is simply to pitch inside to him, but added some trash talk after the denial.
“If he’s ready to fight, I’m ready to fight, too,” Alcantara said.
Braves manager Brian Snitker said that even though he didn’t believe this pitch was on purpose, the Marlins have hit Acuña far too many times.
“You better be good at going in and not hitting him after a homer,” Snitker said.
Acuña and his teammates quickly got revenge.
The Braves trailed 4-3 in the seventh before Austin Riley and Acuña hit consecutive singles with no outs to chase Alcantara.
“As long as we’ve got a strike left we’re pretty dangerous,” Snitker said. “These guys can score a lot of runs in a hurry.”
And that’s exactly what they did.
Yimi Garcia took over and Freddie Freeman grounded into a forceout that left runners at the corners. Marcell Ozuna lined a single to left that made it 4-all.
Then d’Arnaud, in his first season with Atlanta, belted a slider over the fence in center field for a three-run drive that made it 7-4. The shot caused the Braves dugout to erupt with Acuña jumping over the railing to celebrate.
D’Arnaud, who played for the Mets, Dodgers and Rays last year, began the day as a .169 career hitter in the postseason, striking out 27 times in 83 at-bats.
But the Braves weren’t done yet.
James Hoyt replaced Garcia with one out and Swanson sent his first pitch off the wall in center field for a two-run homer.
“The tide kind of turned,” Miami manager Don Mattingly said. “We get that three-run lead, and then we give two runs right back. From there, really, we got stopped all day.”
The Braves, who have long dominated the Marlins in the NL East, improved to 3-0 this postseason after sweeping the Reds in the wild-card round for their first playoff series win since 2001.
The Marlins overcame a coronavirus outbreak that sidelined more than half the team in July to make the playoffs for the first time since 2003 before sweeping their wild-card series against the Cubs.
And the scrappy Marlins, who lost 105 games in 2019, looked good early in this one, using a three-run third inning to take a 4-1 lead. But their offense stalled after that and the Braves scored two in the third to get within one before putting Miami away with their home run barrage in the seventh.
Alcantara yielded eight hits and five runs with eight strikeouts in six-plus inning.
Atlanta’s scoreless streak in the playoffs ended early in this one when Miguel Rojas homered to the seats in left field to make it 1-all in the second.
Garrett Cooper hit a two-run double to put the Marlins up 3-1 in the third. Brian Anderson followed with an RBI single.
Ozuna doubled with two outs in the inning to score Acuña, and d’Arnaud followed with an RBI double to cut the lead to 4-3.
UP NEXT
Right-hander Pablo Lopez will make his postseason debut when he starts for the Marlins in Game 2 against Ian Anderson. Lopez was 6-4 with a 3.61 ERA in 11 starts this season.
Anderson allowed two hits and struck out nine in six scoreless innings to get the win in Atlanta’s win over Reds in Game 2 of the wild card series.
ASTROS 5, ATHLETICS 2
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Back-to-back home runs off back-to-back pitches. The Houston Astros can’t miss these days.
George Springer hit two homers and Houston kept making more noise in the playoffs, beating the Oakland Athletics 5-2 on Tuesday to take a 2-0 lead in their AL Division Series.
Martín Maldonado also went deep for Houston, which needs one win to reach its fourth straight AL Championship Series. Game 3 in the best-of-five series is Wednesday, when Houston is the home team in the neutral site matchup.
“With every victory, the energy and the confidence grows,” first-year Houston manager Dusty Baker said. “We’re expecting good things to happen.”
Springer put Houston ahead to stay with a two-run, two-out drive in the third on a second straight 90-degree day at Dodger Stadium.
“You don’t know if you’re ever going to get back here, so the times you’re here you might as well try and have fun,” Springer said.
Houston went back-to-back in the fifth, extending the lead to 5-2.
Maldonado’s solo shot chased loser Sean Manaea in his first appearance this postseason. Yusmeiro Petit came in, and Springer connected for his second homer of the game. Maldonado yelled and raised his right arm in celebration from his seat in the dugout.
“Just a couple bad pitches,” Manaea said. “I know we are going to figure this thing out and turn it around.”
Springer’s 17 postseason homers tied Nelson Cruz and Jim Thome for most through a player’s first 54 career postseason games. Five of Springer’s postseason homers have come at Dodger Stadium, where the Astros beat the Dodgers in Game 7 of the 2017 World Series.
“I don’t really pay attention to that stuff,” Springer said. “I’d much rather us win.”
Houston improved to 7-3 in Dodger Stadium since that World Series. Current A’s pitcher Mike Fiers last year told of his old team’s sign-stealing scandal used in 2017, a revelation that rocked baseball.
The scandal led to season-long suspensions of Houston general manager Jeff Luhnow and manager AJ Hinch, who both were fired. Boston manager Alex Cora and Mets manager Carlos Beltrán also lost their jobs as fallout their roles with the ’17 Astros, and Houston still draws ire of other players and fans.
“This is a team that believes in one another and sticks together and really tries to enjoy the day,” Springer said.
Houston turned three double plays, including one to end the game. Second baseman José Altuve got the first two going and had a hand in all three.
“What kept us in the game was our defense,” Baker said. “Jose made some great plays.”
Hot, sunny and dry conditions again created an ideal environment for the long ball. The teams combined for five homers, raising the series total to 11.
Winner Framber Valdéz allowed two runs and five hits in seven innings, struck out four and walked one. The 26-year-old left-hander, making his first postseason start, retired his final 10 batters.
“His ball is moving all over the place. His breaking ball was good,” A’s manager Bob Melvin said. “Our bats were better early. He got more confidence as the game went along. Last three times out he has pitched with a lot of confidence.”
Valdez dazzled in his relief appearance against Minnesota in the AL wild card series opener, tossing five scoreless innings and scattering two hits to go with five strikeouts.
Enoli Paredes retired the side in the eighth. Ryan Pressly worked around Marcus Semien’s leadoff single in the ninth, Oakland’s only hit past the fourth inning, to finish a six-hitter for his second save of the postseason.
Oakland didn’t have an at-bat with a runner in scoring position. The A’s are hitting 14 for 62 (.226) in the series.
“We have nothing to lose from here,” A’s infielder Chad Pinder said.
Oakland got on board with Khris Davis’ second-inning home run, his third of this postseason that put the A’s ahead.
After Springer’s first homer, the Astros extended their lead to 3-1 on Carlos Correa’s RBI groundout in the fourth that scored Michael Brantley, who doubled leading off.
For the second straight game, Oakland’s starting pitching failed to go deep. Manaea gave up four runs and five hits in 4 2/3 innings. Chris Bassitt didn’t get out of the fourth in Game 1, allowing three runs and nine hits.
“We just have to win tomorrow and worry about the next day after that,” Melvin said. “Anything further than that is a distraction.”
GREINKE HURT
Baker said right-hander Zack Greinke is dealing with arm soreness. He hasn’t pitched in the series and Baker said the team is awaiting test results. “It’s pretty evident the last three, four starts that he wasn’t himself,” the manager said.
OFF DAY
Correa was 0 for 3 with a RBI and a strikeout after homering twice in Game 1 and becoming the first shortstop in major league history with two multi-homer games in postseason play.
UP NEXT
Astros: RHP Jose Urquidy goes in Game 3. He started Game 2 of the AL wild card against Minnesota, allowing one run and two hits in 4 1/3 innings. He struck out three and walked two.
Athletics: LHP Jesús Luzardo starts for Oakland. He started and lost the wild card opener against the Chicago White Sox, giving up three runs and six hits in 3 1/3 innings with five strikeouts and no walks.
DODGERS 5, PADRES 1
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Justin Turner and the Los Angeles Dodgers had a walk in the new park to start their National League Division Series.
The patient Dodgers had already drawn nine free passes before Mookie Betts got their first hit in the sixth inning, and they went ahead to stay on Corey Seager’s sacrifice fly right after that in a 5-1 win Tuesday night over the NL West rival San Diego Padres.
“We didn’t get a lot of hits early, but we took great at-bats and we made those guys work,” said Turner, who drew two bases on balls. “Our offense is at its best when we’re walking as many times as we’re getting hits.”
Mike Clevinger made it only two pitches into the second inning of his postseason debut for the Padres before leaving with the same elbow injury that sidelined him during the first round. San Diego’s heavily worked bullpen couldn’t keep putting up zeros — or keeping runners off base, even though the Padres gave up only four hits.
Game 2 in the best-of-five series at the Texas Rangers’ new ballpark is Wednesday night.
When Chris Taylor, the No. 9 batter in the Los Angeles order, walked with one out in the sixth in a 1-1 game, it was the Dodgers’ ninth walk through 27 batters and the Padres were already on their sixth pitcher. Betts then doubled into the left-field corner to break up the no-hitter, sending Taylor to third and setting up Seager’s sac fly.
“We felt like it was a matter of time,” Cody Bellinger said. “We grinded, and it was a good team win.”
Los Angeles got all its hits in the sixth, including RBI singles by Turner and Bellinger. Another run scored on a wild pitch and the Dodgers also drew their 10th walk, matching Atlanta in 1997 for the most in a nine-inning NLDS game.
The Dodgers scored an unearned run in the fourth when Bellinger reached on a two-out throwing error by rookie second baseman Jake Croneworth after two walks and a wild pitch earlier in the inning.
Dustin May (1-0), the 23-year-old Dodgers right-hander who grew up about 30 miles away in Justin, Texas, struck out three over two perfect innings in relief of Walker Buehler. Kenley Jansen, the fourth reliever, finished a three-hitter for Los Angeles.
Garrett Richards (0-1) was gone after giving up the hit to Betts. So was rookie manager Jayce Tingler, who was ejected by plate umpire Lance Barrett for arguing balls and strikes when making yet another pitching change.
“Bottom line, we lost the battle of the strike zone on both sides,” Tingler said. “We know they’re a disciplined team, and they didn’t chase. At the same time, we had chances offensively and they made some big pitches to get out of some jams.”
With injured starters Clevinger and Dinelson Lamet out for the first round, the Padres became the first team to use at least eight pitchers in three consecutive playoff games. Nine relievers combined on a four-hit shutout in the Game 3 clincher over the St. Louis Cardinals last Friday.
The nine pitchers in a nine-inning game is a postseason record, and the Padres have now done it three times in four games.
Clevinger left his last regular-season start Sept. 23 after one inning because of an elbow impingement, but was added to the Padres’ 28-player NLDS roster earlier Tuesday, when he was named the starter for Game 1. The herky-jerky right-hander, acquired from Cleveland in a nine-player trade Aug. 31, walked two and threw a wild pitch in a scoreless first.
Clevinger said he first felt tightness when facing Seager in the first inning, and did several things to try to get loose before going out for the second.
“It was like a NASCAR pit stop almost,” Clevinger said. “Just tried to keep it going. It wasn’t there.”
The pitcher was being evaluated after the game, and the Padres didn’t rule out a potential return in this series.
Buehler struck out eight, but the right-hander who has dealt with blisters all year needed a season-high 95 pitches to get through four innings. He walked four and allowed only two singles.
That included Austin Nola’s two-out RBI single in the fourth that drove home Wil Myers, who walked before stealing second base.
In the stadium where the Padres began their record streak of grand slams in four consecutive games, Buehler walked the bases loaded with one out in the second inning. Buehler got out of the jam with strikeouts of Jurickson Profar and leadoff hitter Trent Grisham, but finished that inning already with 53 pitches and more balls than strikes (27-26).
GRAND TIME
The Padres had lost five in a row when they got to Texas on Aug. 17, but hit grand slams in four consecutive games against the Rangers — two at the new stadium when the roof was closed, and then the next two games played in San Diego. That was also the start of a seven-game winning streak that pushed the Padres into second place in the NL West for the rest of the season.
ROOKIE DEBUT
Padres rookie left-hander Ryan Weathers made his major league debut, throwing 1 1/3 scoreless innings. The 20-year-old Weathers became the second pitcher in two days to make his MLB debut in a playoff game, following Tampa Bay reliever Shane McClanahan on Monday night against the New York Yankees. Weathers was the seventh pick in the 2018 amateur draft. He was the fifth player in big league history to debut in a playoff game.
SCORELESS STREAKS
Dodgers pitchers had thrown 14 consecutive scoreless innings until San Diego got on the board in the fourth. Los Angeles has only three longer streaks in the postseason, the record being 21 in a row in 2016. … Padres pitchers made it to 13 in a row, with all but one of those innings by a reliever, before the Dodgers’ unearned run in the fifth.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Padres: While Clevinger was back briefly, Lamet (right biceps tightness) was left off the NLDS roster. Lamet, who left his last regular-season start Sept. 25, has been playing catch, but hasn’t yet thrown a bullpen.
Dodgers: INF Edwin Rios was left off the NLDS roster because of a groin issue. Manager Dave Roberts said Rios tweaked his groin after making a play to his right and making a throw to first during a workout Sunday.
UP NEXT
Clayton Kershaw, who still lives in nearby Dallas where the three-time NL Cy Young Award winner grew up, pitches an MLB game in Arlington for the first time in his 13 big league seasons with the Dodgers. The Padres hadn’t announced a starter for Game 2.
RAYS 7, YANKEES 5
SAN DIEGO (AP) — With their pitching staff providing a record 18 strikeouts, the Tampa Bay Rays showed some pop of their own against the New York Yankees.
Randy Arozarena, Mike Zunino, Manuel Margot and Austin Meadows homered, and Tyler Glasnow struck out 10 to set a postseason record for the Rays, who beat the Yankees 7-5 Tuesday night to even their AL Division Series at one game apiece.
The Rays had enough power to overcome a huge game by Giancarlo Stanton, who had two home runs and four RBIs. His impressive power display included a 458-foot, three-run homer that landed under the giant video board in left field at Petco Park. It was reminiscent of the mammoth shots he hit in winning the Home Run Derby here in 2016.
Each team has hit six home runs in two games at the downtown ballpark, where the outfield once had the reputation as a place where fly balls went to die. The fences were moved in before the 2013 season.
“We had each other’s back,” Meadows said. “If a guy’s having a tough game, I feel like the next guy up really picks him up. For us, to continue to try to hit the ball hard, especially in big situations, our offense is pretty deadly when we can do that.”
Manager Kevin Cash was relieved with his team’s power display. Teams improved to 16-0 in the postseason when outhomering opponents.
“Randy, it’s unbelievable what he’s doing right now,” Cash said. “Z came up with just a big homer for us. Meadows, it’s good to see him get going; Manny just separated the game right there was good. Unfortunately we didn’t get that shutdown inning we were looking for. We needed every bit of them.”
Four Rays pitchers struck out 18, an MLB postseason record for a nine-inning game and a postseason record for Yankees batters.
“It’s a credit to our stuff,” Cash said. “And that’s saying something for that group over there because they’re selective and that’s a very talented, very deep offense. But it does speak volumes to the amount of stuff on a given night we can feature.”
DJ LeMahieu had hit an RBI single with two outs. in the ninth, and Pete Fairbanks retired Aaron Judge on a grounder with runners on the corners to end the game.
Game 3 in the best-of-five series is Wednesday night. The Rays, who won the AL East at 40-20 and are the top seed, were the home team for the first two games while the Yankees will be the home team for the next two games.
Stanton became the first Yankees player to homer in four straight games in the same postseason when he lined a shot into the home run porch in right field off Glasnow leading off the second. Stanton, who’s from Los Angeles, joined Reggie Jackson and Lou Gehrig as the only Yankees to homer in four straight postseason games overall.
“That was a good swing,” Stanton said of his long homer. “I was just glad to put the barrel on it. I didn’t really care how far it was going. I knew it was out. That’s all I cared about. You kind of black out sometimes on those.”
But the Rays have pop, too. Arozarena homered for the second time this series, with two outs in the first against rookie Deivi García, who at 21 years, 140 days, became the youngest Yankees pitcher to make a postseason start. Arozarena’s opposite-field shot landed in the home run deck in right.
García served as an opener for J.A. Happ, who surrendered Zunino’s two-run shot off the façade of the second deck in left with two outs in the second for a 2-1 lead. Happ also gave up Manuel Margot’s two-run homer to straightaway center with one out in the third that made it 5-1.
Margot played for the San Diego Padres for four seasons before being traded to the Rays for reliever Emilio Pagán
Happ, who had not pitched since Sept. 25, said he preferred to be used as a starter.
“They explained to me that it was going to be a short outing,” García said. “I didn’t know exactly how many pitches, how many innings, anything like that, (but) I just went about it like a regular outing. Preparation was the same and routine was the same.
“I feel really good and healthy, but I don’t know. We’ve got to see, but ideally I could be ready to pitch tomorrow or Thursday.”
The lead was just enough to survive Stanton’s three-run shot.
Glasnow walked Aaron Hicks to open the sixth and Diego Castillo came on and struck out 2020 home run leader Luke Voit and Stanton on three pitches each before retiring Gio Urshela on a fly ball.
Glasnow allowed three hits and four runs in five-plus innings, while walking three. His 10 strikeouts surpass the previous Rays postseason record of nine, done three times. The most recent was by Blake Snell in Game 1 of the wild-card series against Toronto.
It was the Rays’ 10th straight win when Glasnow pitches. He won his fifth straight start and seventh consecutive decision.
Nick Anderson, the Rays’ third pitcher, came on with two runners on and no outs in the seventh and struck out Gary Sánchez, LeMahieu and Judge. Anderson then pitched a perfect eighth.
Tampa Bay added on with Kevin Kiermaier’s RBI single in the fifth and Meadow’s solo homer to leading off the sixth, both off Jonathan Loaisaga.
UP NEXT
Rays: RHP Charlie Morton (0-0, 0.00 ERA) is scheduled to make his 2020 postseason debut Wednesday night for Tampa Bay, He is 4-2 with a 3.83 ERA in 10 starts against the Yankees, including 0-0 with a 2.25 ERA in two starts this season. He started against New York in Games 3 and 7 of the 2017 ALCS, going five scoreless in the deciding game to send the Astros to the World Series.
Yankees: RHP Masahiro Tanaka is scheduled to go for New York. It’ll be his 10th postseason start and second of 2020. With García going just an inning, that means LHP Jordan Montgomery would appear likely to go in Game 4 and if needed, ace Gerrit Cole in Game 5, which would be his first ever start on short rest.
