The Atlanta Braves’ Ronald Acuña Jr. delivered the crucial two-out, seventh-inning single that drove in the tying and go-ahead runs in a 5-2 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Sunday. The Braves became the first team to clinch a playoff berth with the victory.
Atlanta (93-49) has now reached the postseason for a sixth straight year. That is the second-longest streak in franchise history. The Braves won 11 straight NL East titles from 1995 to 2005. Also, this is the 23rd time in 33 seasons in which the Braves have made the postseason, having missed only nine times (excluding the strike-shortened 1994 season).
Up next are the matters of clinching the NL East and securing the best record in MLB, which comes with home-field advantage throughout the playoffs. Following a Monday doubleheader split against the Philadelphia Phillies, the Braves hold a 15-game lead over second-place Philadelphia in the NL East with 18 games remaining.
Braves Clinch Playoff Berth
Atlanta Takes Hard-Fought Series Against Young Bucs
On Sunday, Brad Hand (4-1) won in relief of rookie Allan Winans, who allowed two runs and six hits while striking out eight in 6 1/3 innings. A.J. Minter struck out the side in the eighth and Raisel Iglesias pitched a scoreless ninth for his 29th save in 31 chances. Colin Selby (2-1) gave up four runs in one-third of an inning. Pirates rookie Luis Ortiz had allowed one run and three hits in 5 1/3 innings against the major leagues’ highest-scoring offense.
The young and plucky Pirates, with a starting lineup that at times featured as many as six rookies, took three of seven in head-to-head matchups against the Braves this season. Bryan Reynolds and Jack Suwinski had RBI doubles in the sixth. Olson’s run-scoring groundout cut the deficit in the sixth. With the Braves trailing 2-1 in the seventh and chants of “MVP” cascading throughout Truist Park, Acuña hit a two-run single to deep right-center. The ball short-hopped the wall and Acuña retreated to first base after drawing a cutoff throw as two runs scored. Matt Olson, who went 2-for-3 on the day, added a two-run single later in the inning.
We would like to welcome y’all to the Ronald Acuña Jr. show. 😤
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— MLB (@MLB) September 10, 2023
The Weekend That Was
On Friday, Acuña reached another milestone in an 8-2 win. He hit his 35th home run of the season and became the fifth player in MLB history to have at least 35 home runs and 35 stolen bases in multiple seasons. He joined Barry Bonds, Bobby Bonds, Willie Mays, and Alfonso Soriano as the only other players to do so. Soriano owns the record for the most such seasons with three.
On Saturday, before an 8-4 loss to the Pirates, the Braves retired Andruw Jones’ number 25. Jones, who won 10 Gold Gloves in a career that began with 12 seasons in Atlanta, became the 11th Braves player or manager to have his number retired. The following is a list of the other 10 Braves whose numbers have been retired, their positions, numbers, and the dates on which the distinction was bestowed.
- Warren Spahn, LHP, 21, on Dec. 11, 1965
- Eddie Mathews, 3B, 41, on July 26, 1969
- Hank Aaron, OF, 44, on April 15, 1977
- Phil Niekro, RHP, 35, on Aug. 8, 1984
- Dale Murphy, OF, 3, on June 13, 1994
- Greg Maddux, RHP, 31, on July 17, 2009
- Tom Glavine, LHP, 47, on Aug. 7, 2010
- Bobby Cox, manager, 6, on Aug. 12, 2011
- John Smoltz, RHP, 29, on June 8, 2012
- Chipper Jones, 3B, 10, on June 28, 2013
Photo Credit: John David Mercer-USA TODAY Sports
