Ronald Acuña Jr. and Ozzie Albies were the centerpieces when the Braves began their run of six straight National League East titles in 2018, and on Tuesday night at Wrigley Field they pushed Atlanta a step closer to another one.
Both homered in a 6-3 win over the Cubs, giving the Braves another important boost in a division race that now has them 5 1/2 games ahead of the Phillies. Acuña delivered the first big swing with a two-run shot in the sixth inning, and Albies followed with the go-ahead two-run homer in the seventh after a rough stretch at the plate.
Albies’ blast came after Braves manager Walt Weiss had dropped him to the eighth spot in the lineup. The second baseman had been stuck in a deep skid, batting .155 (11-for-71) with a .500 OPS over his previous 19 games. That all disappeared when he turned on Jacob Webb’s 2-1 changeup and sent it over the ivy in right-center field.
It was Albies’ 22nd home run of the season, but his first since Sept. 1 and only his second since Aug. 11.
Going into Wednesday, he had a .557 OPS against right-handed pitchers since Aug. 14.
Acuña’s night fit the shape of his recent surge. He had been inconsistent through much of August, then got a mental reset when he was left out of the lineup for the Aug. 27 series finale against the Dodgers. Since then, the 2023 NL MVP has looked far more like the version of himself the Braves know so well.
Cubs starter Kevin Gausman, who also helped the Braves clinch the 2018 NL East title, kept Atlanta off the board until Acuña jumped a one-out pitch and sent it just over the left-center field wall in the sixth. That was Acuña’s 18th homer of the season and his fifth in his last 13 games.
He entered Tuesday hitting .379 with a 1.069 OPS over his previous 17 games. Three of the four homers he hit during that stretch came against the Phillies, and this latest one only added to Philadelphia’s problems in the race. Martin Pérez’s strong start helped make sure it stood up, and the Braves kept rolling from there.
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