Acuña, Albies, Baldwin hit late 2-run homers that lift Braves over Cubs 6-3
Atlanta Braves' Ronald Acuña Jr., center, celebrates with Matt Olson, left, and Drake Baldwin after hitting a two-run home run during the sixth inning of a baseball game against the Chicago Cubs in Chicago, Tuesday, Sept. 15, 2026. Credit: AP/Nam Y. Huh
CHICAGO — Ronald Acuña Jr., Ozzie Albies and Drake Baldwin hit late-inning, two-run homers, and the Atlanta Braves rallied to beat the Chicago Cubs 6-3 on Tuesday night.
Chicago's loss clinched Milwaukee's fourth straight NL Central title. The Cubs (84-68) maintained a half-game lead over Philadelphia (83-68) for the top NL wild card.
NL East-leading Atlanta (89-63) opened a 5 1/2-game NL East lead over the second-place Phillies.
Given a 3-0 lead, Cubs starter Kevin Gausman retired 16 of his first 18 batters.
Acuña homered off Gausman in the sixth to pull the Braves within a run. Albies went deep in the seventh off Jacob Webb (6-5), his eighth home run in 23 games at Wrigley Field, and Baldwin connected in the ninth against Edward Cabrera.
Martín Pérez (9-9) allowed three runs — two earned — five hits and four walks in six innings. Raisel Iglesias pitched a perfect ninth for his 33rd save in 36 chances.
Pedro Ramirez hit a RBI single in the second. Shortstop Maurico Dubón had a run-scoring throwing error in the fourth inning and Miguel Amaya followed with a sacrifice fly.
Atlanta Braves' Ronald Acuña Jr. celebrates as he round the bases after hitting a two-run home run during the sixth inning of a baseball game against the Chicago Cubs in Chicago, Tuesday, Sept. 15, 2026. Credit: AP/Nam Y. Huh
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Cubs LHP Shota Imanaga (10-10, 3.88 ERA) and Braves rookie RHP JR Ritchie (1-2, 4.50 ERA) start Wednesday night.
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