Ronald Acuña Jr. homered for the third straight night at Dodger Stadium and Orlando Arcia hit a three-run shot in the 10th inning that sent the streaking Atlanta Braves to a 4-2 victory over Los Angeles
ByJILL PAINTER LOPEZ Associated Press
September 3, 2023, 12:20 AM
Atlanta Braves’ Michael Harris II, Orlando Arcia and Eddie Rosario, from left, celebrate the team’s 4-2 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers in 10 innings in a baseball game Saturday, Sept. 2, 2023, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
The Associated Press
LOS ANGELES — Ronald Acuña Jr. homered for the third straight night at Dodger Stadium and Orlando Arcia hit a three-run shot in the 10th inning that sent the streaking Atlanta Braves to a 4-2 victory over Los Angeles on Saturday.
Bryce Elder pitched six effective innings and the Braves (90-45) won their sixth consecutive game, becoming the first major league club to reach 90 wins this season.
Atlanta will try for a four-game sweep Sunday in this much-anticipated matchup between the top two teams in the National League.
Married north of Los Angeles before Thursday’s game, Acuña once again outshined Dodgers star Mookie Betts in their chase for NL MVP.
With one out in the third inning, Acuña launched a 454-foot homer to center field that came off his bat like a rocket at an astounding 121.2 mph. It was the 32nd homer this year and third of the series for Acuña, the first player in big league history with 30 home runs and 60 stolen bases in a season.
Los Angeles tied it 1-all in the bottom half when Austin Barnes doubled on his bobblehead night and scored on Will Smith’s double-play grounder.
That’s how it stayed until the 10th, when Sean Murphy drew a two-out walk from Alex Vesia (0-5) to put two runners on. Arcia drove the next pitch to left-center to give Atlanta a 4-1 lead.
Raisel Iglesias allowed Max Muncy’s sacrifice fly in the bottom half before finishing for his 28th save. Michael Tonkin (6-2) worked a hitless inning for the win.
Betts went 0 for 4 with a walk and scored once. He struck out three times, including with the bases loaded in the fourth when he went down looking.
Los Angeles starter Emmet Sheehan permitted one run in four innings.
Elder worked around four walks and struck out four for the Braves, who have won 20 of 25 overall.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Dodgers: DH J.D. Martinez (left groin tightness) took batting practice. He will head to Arizona for a day of work, then will join Triple-A Oklahoma City in Texas on a rehab assignment. He’s expected to return to the Dodgers next weekend in Washington. … RHP Michael Grove (right lat tightness) will go to Triple-A Oklahoma City and then join the Dodgers next weekend as well. … RHP Joe Kelly (right forearm inflammation) is expected to go on a rehab assignment soon before rejoining the Dodgers.
UP NEXT
Braves: RHP Charlie Morton (14-10, 3.29 ERA) won four of his five starts in August with a 1.91 ERA during that span. He allowed just one earned run in a six-inning win against Colorado on Tuesday.
Dodgers: RHP Bobby Miller (8-3, 4.00) has allowed four earned runs in back-to-back starts. The rookie had given up a combined two earned runs in his previous three starts over 15 2/3 innings.
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