Atlanta Braves star Ronald Acuna Jr. led off Friday’s game against the Washington Nationals with a homer to become the fifth player in MLB history to hit 40 homers and steal 40 bases in a season.

Acuna belted a 3-2 slider from Washington left-hander Patrick Corbin over the wall in left to join the prestigious club. The other members are Jose Canseco (1988), Barry Bonds (1996), Alex Rodriguez (1998) and Alfonso Soriano (2006).

Acuna, one of the front-runners for National League MVP honors, leads the majors with 68 steals. He is the first member of the 40-60 club.

Acuna went 2-for-4 with three runs and raised his batting average to .337. The homer gave him 101 RBIs on the season, tying his career-high.

The 25-year-old Acuna reached 40 homers for the second time. He hit 41 in 2019. His high for steals entering this season was 37 in 2019.

–Field Level Media

Masataka Yoshida’s RBI single in the bottom of the eighth inning propelled the Boston Red Sox to a 3-2 victory over the visiting Chicago White Sox on Friday night.

Yoshida’s two-out single drove in Rafael Devers from third and broke a 2-2 tie. The Red Sox (76-78) trailed 2-1 entering the eighth but tied the game when Adam Duvall’s sacrifice fly scored Ceddanne Rafaela.

Trevor Story collected three of Boston’s seven hits. Devers had two hits as Boston ended a two-game losing streak.

Mauricio Llovera (2-3) earned the win for pitching a scoreless eighth inning. Chris Martin picked up his third save by retiring the White Sox (58-96) in order in the ninth.

Garrett Crochet, who surrendered Yoshida’s RBI single, took the loss. Crochet (0-2) gave up a run on two hits in two-thirds of an inning. He walked one and struck out one.

Chicago has lost three in a row and 10 of its last 13. The White Sox dropped to 28-51 on the road this season.

The game was scoreless until the bottom of the fifth inning when the Red Sox took a 1-0 lead on Rafaela’s sacrifice fly, which scored Story.

The White Sox took the lead in the sixth. Luis Robert Jr. scored the tying run on Andrew Vaughn’s infield single, and Chicago made it 2-1 when Eloy Jimenez scored on Trayce Thompson’s double. Both runs came against reliever Garrett Whitlock.

Thompson had two hits.

Boston starting pitcher Chris Sale pitched five scoreless innings. He gave up three hits, walked one and struck out seven. Sale allowed two or fewer runs in nine of his last 12 starts.

Chicago starter Touki Toussaint limited Boston to one run in 6 1/3 innings. He gave up five hits, walked two and struck out two.

–Field Level Media

David Fry ripped a two-run double in the bottom of the ninth inning, giving the host Cleveland Guardians a 9-8 walk-off victory over the Baltimore Orioles on Friday.

After Aaron Hicks’ two-run double in the top of the ninth gave Baltimore an 8-7 lead, Cleveland answered in its half of the inning. Andres Gimenez led off with a double, and he went to third on Gabriel Arias’ grounder to second base.

Will Brennan was intentionally walked before Fry sent a first-pitch offering from Yennier Cano (1-4) to left-center field to end the game.

The late uprising made a winner out of Emmanuel Clase (3-9), who retired the first two batters he faced in the ninth and appeared poised to secure his major-league-leading 43rd save. He then hit Anthony Santander with a pitch and allowed an infield single to Ryan O’Hearn. A wild pitch moved up pinch runner Ryan McKenna and O’Hearn to second before Hicks plated both runners with a double to left field.

Kole Calhoun drove in two runs and Brennan, Jose Ramirez, Josh Naylor, Myles Straw and Gimenez each plated one for the Guardians (74-81), who have won the first two contests of a four-game series.

Cleveland was eliminated from playoff contention later Friday night when the Minnesota Twins (82-72) beat the Los Angeles Angels 8-6 to clinch the American League Central title.

Activated from the 60-day injured list earlier on Friday, Cleveland starter Shane Bieber recorded a no-decision after laboring through five innings. The 2020 American League Cy Young Award winner allowed five runs (four earned) on six hits and one walk before exiting after 81 pitches. He struck out five.

Santander collected three hits, drove in three runs and scored once. Gunnar Henderson scored three times and joined Ramon Urias with two hits apiece for the Orioles (95-59), who have lost three in a row following a four-game winning streak.

Baltimore saw its lead in the American League East remain at 1 1/2 games over the Tampa Bay Rays, who dropped a 6-2 decision to the Toronto Blue Jays earlier on Friday.

Santander had an RBI double and scored on a wild pitch to stake Baltimore to a 2-0 lead in the first inning. Cleveland scratched for a pair of runs in its half of the frame before Straw’s RBI single in the second gave his team a 3-2 advantage.

The Orioles bounced back in the third inning, with Henderson contributing an RBI double before scoring on a fielder’s choice. Santander’s run-scoring single pushed Baltimore’s lead to 5-3.

Cleveland countered with three runs in the fourth, capped by Calhoun’s sacrifice fly that plated Ramirez.

Santander and Brennan each had an RBI single for their teams in the seventh inning.

–Field Level Media

Alec Bohm hit a walk-off RBI single to right field off Adam Ottavino to score Trea Turner from second base and the host Philadelphia Phillies defeated the New York Mets 5-4 in 10 innings on Friday.

Bohm had two hits, J.T. Realmuto clubbed a three-run homer and Kyle Schwarber added two hits and his 100th RBI of the season for the Phillies (85-69), who won their third in a row.

Schwarber reached the 100-RBI plateau one day after teammate Nick Castellanos did the same. The pair has become the first Phillies teammates to drive in 100 or more runs in a season since Ryan Howard and Chase Utley in 2008 — Philadelphia’s previous World Series-winning team.

Phillies starter Taijuan Walker gave up five hits and two runs with four strikeouts and one walk in six innings. Walker threw 105 pitches, 62 for strikes.

Seranthony Dominguez (5-5) picked up the win as he loaded the bases in the top of the 10th but struck out Pete Alonso for a scoreless inning.

Francisco Lindor and Brett Baty each hit a solo home run, both in the late innings, and Alonso added an RBI double for the Mets (71-83), who were officially eliminated from playoff contention.

Brandon Nimmo contributed an RBI single while walking twice and Rafael Ortega had two hits and a run.

Mets starter Tylor Megill tossed six innings and allowed five hits and three runs with six strikeouts and one walk. Ottavino (1-6) took the loss.

Lindor hit a solo homer to left off Gregory Soto in the eighth inning to close within 4-3.

Baty crushed a solo blast to center off Craig Kimbrel with one out in the ninth to tie the game at 4.

The Mets went ahead 1-0 in the first when Alonso lofted an RBI ground-rule double down the right field line to score Nimmo, who started the game with a walk.

Schwarber blooped a double to left with two outs in the third for the Phillies’ first hit. Turner flied out to right-center for the third out.

In the fifth, Nimmo hit an RBI single to right for a 2-0 advantage.

Castellanos doubled to open the bottom of the fifth but was left stranded.

Bryce Harper was hit by a pitch with one out in the sixth, but he remained in the game. Bohm reached on an infield single and Bryson Stott struck out. Realmuto followed with a three-run homer to left for a 3-2 lead. It was Realmuto’s 20th home run of the season.

Schwarber hit an RBI single to left in the seventh and the Phillies took a 4-2 advantage.

–Field Level Media

Aaron Judge became the first player in team history with multiple three-homer games in the same season, and the New York Yankees cruised to a 7-1 victory over the visiting Arizona Diamondbacks on Friday night.

Judge hit a three-run homer in the third inning and a two-run home run in the fifth off Arizona rookie starter Brandon Pfaadt (2-9). He got his third homer with a solo shot off Slade Cecconi in the seventh.

It was Judge’s second career three-homer game. He also went deep three times on Aug. 23 against Washington when the Yankees stopped their first nine-game losing streak since 1982.

Judge went 4-for-4 and tied a career-high with six RBIs.

The Diamondbacks (81-73) saw their five-game winning streak stopped, and their lead over the Cubs reduced to one game for the second of three National League wild-card spots.

Trying to avoid their first losing season since going 76-86 in 1992 during Buck Showalter’s first season as manager, the Yankees moved two games over .500 to 78-76.

Judge’s first homer gave the Yankees a 3-0 lead. Two batters after Pfaadt committed an error by misplaying Oswald Peraza’s comebacker, Judge lifted a first-pitch sinker into the New York bullpen in right-center.

The Yankees held a 4-0 lead following Estevan Florial’s RBI double off the left field wall, when Judge drove a fastball into the right field seats for his second blast of the night.

The reigning AL MVP gave the Yankees a 7-0 lead by lining a pitch into the right field second deck. After reaching the dugout, Judge received a curtain call from the crowd of 39,143.

It was Judge’s eighth career four-hit game and fourth game with at least six RBIs.

In his second start since being claimed off waivers from Seattle earlier less than two weeks earlier, Luke Weaver (3-5) allowed four hits in 5 1/3 innings for his first win since July 3 with Cincinnati. He struck out three without a walk.

Jhony Brito allowed Christian Walker’s 31st homer and pitched 3 2/3 innings for his first career save.

Pfaadt allowed six runs (five earned) and eight hits in 4 1/3 innings with eight strikeouts. He did not walk a batter.

–Field Level Media

Ronald Acuna Jr. and Austin Riley homered in the first inning, and the Atlanta Braves defeated the host Washington Nationals 9-6 to move closer to the 100-win mark Friday night.

Marcell Ozuna smashed a three-run homer in the seventh, and Riley drove in runs on three separate plate appearances to finish with four runs batted in for the National League East champion Braves (99-55).

Acuna led off the game with his 40th home run of the season. He became just the fifth player to join the 40-40 club with his 68 steals. He’s the only player in MLB history to have 40 or more home runs and 60 or more steals in the same year.

Two batters after Acuna, Riley’s 37th homer gave Atlanta a 3-0 lead before an out was recorded.

The Nationals (68-87) have lost the first two games of their final home series of the season after a two-game win streak to end the previous series against the Chicago White Sox.

Braves starter Charlie Morton was done after one scoreless inning; the right-hander walked two. He departed because of discomfort in his right index finger, according to information from the team.

Michael Tonkin (7-2) was the winning pitcher with two innings of relief.

The first three batters in Atlanta’s lineup all had two hits and the group combined to drive in six runs.

Patrick Corbin (10-14) took the loss, giving up five runs and five hits in 4 1/3 innings. CJ Abrams drove in three runs, and Jake Alu had two hits for Washington.

Riley’s sacrifice fly in the third inning pushed the Braves’ lead to 4-0. Joey Meneses’ groundout produced Washington’s first run in the bottom of the inning.

The Nationals put two runs on the board in the fourth on Ildemaro Vargas’ run-scoring triple and Alu’s sacrifice fly. They left the bases loaded, stranding seven runners through four innings.

Ozzie Albies doubled for an Atlanta run in the fifth. Riley had another sacrifice fly later in the inning.

The Nationals closed within 6-4 in the sixth on Abrams’ groundout. Ozuna stretched the lead to 9-4 with his 36th home run.

Abrams got the last runs of the day for the Nats with a two-run double in the home half of the eighth to cut the lead to 9-6.

–Field Level Media

The visiting Pittsburgh Pirates hit four solo homers and used seven pitchers to deal Cincinnati a 7-5 loss on Friday, a crushing blow to the Reds’ fading bid for a playoff spot.

Pirates closer David Bednar overcame three baserunners, two of them on walks, in the ninth by inducing a double play and striking out rookie Noelvi Marte to end the game and record his 37th save in 40 chances.

Pittsburgh got long balls from Ke’Bryan Hayes, Henry Davis, Jared Triolo and Endy Rodriguez. The Pirates (73-81) won their third straight game and improved to 15-8 since Aug. 28.

The game featured five lead changes before the Pirates closed it out.

The Reds (79-76) lost their third straight contest and fell 1 1/2 games behind the Chicago Cubs (80-74) in the chase for the third and final National League wild-card spot.

In the seventh, facing Ian Gibaut (8-4), the Pirates tied the game on an RBI single from Bryan Reynolds and then took the lead for good when Miguel Andujar grounded into a fielder’s choice.

After leaving the bases loaded in the first inning against Pirates opener Andre Jackson, the Reds broke through in the second against reliever Luis L. Ortiz.

Elly De La Cruz singled to left-center, stole second and third and scored on Jonathan India’s sacrifice fly.

The Pirates tied the game against Cincinnati starter Andrew Abbott in the fourth.

Hayes opened the inning by driving a fastball to deep right field. Right fielder Will Benson had a bead on the fly but was in the wrong spot on the wall as the ball bounced on top of the yellow padding and into the second row of seats for Hayes’ 15th homer of the season.

Davis homered to the first row of seats in left to open the fifth for a 2-1 Pittsburgh lead.

Abbott had his third consecutive short outing despite allowing just the two runs. The left-hander struck out seven and allowed four hits and two walks over 4 1/3 innings.

The Reds reclaimed the lead in the fifth on a bases-loaded groundout by Joey Votto and an infield RBI single from Marte.

Solo homers from Triolo and Rodriguez off Buck Farmer put the Pirates up 4-3 in the sixth.

TJ Friedl answered in the bottom of the inning when he homered to right off Hunter Stratton with a runner aboard. Friedl’s 15th homer of the season put Cincinnati up 5-4. Despite giving up the go-ahead blast, Stratton (1-0) earned his first major league win in his sixth outing.

–Field Level Media

Josh Donaldson and Christian Yelich homered as part of a 12-run second inning and the visiting Milwaukee Brewers routed the Miami Marlins 16-1 on Friday night and clinched a playoff berth.

The Brewers’ second inning featured nine hits, three walks and one steal. It was the second-biggest frame in Brewers history, topped only by a 13-run fifth inning against the Angels on July 8, 1990.

Yelich, who returned from a back injury and played just his second game since Sept. 9, went 3-for-4 with two home runs, five RBIs and four runs for the Brewers (88-66), who are closing in on their third National League Central title in the past six years. Their magic number to win the division is one.

Milwaukee has won 23 of its past 32 games.

Miami (79-75) fell one game behind the Chicago Cubs for the third and final NL wild-card playoff berth. The Marlins have lost three of their past four games.

The Marlins have also lost four of their past five games against the Brewers, with all of those contests played since Sept. 11.

Miami’s only good news was the return of second baseman Luis Arraez and third baseman Jake Burger. Arraez, who leads the majors with a .354 batting average, had missed two straight games due to a sprained left ankle. Burger, who has hit a career-high 33 homers this year, had left Wednesday’s game due to right quad tightness.

Brewers starter Corbin Burnes (10-8) reached double-figure wins for the third straight season. He allowed two hits, two walks and no runs in five innings. He struck out six.

Marlins reliever Steven Okert (3-2) took the loss, allowing four runs in two-thirds of an inning. But succeeding reliever Bryan Hoeing took the brunt of the pounding as he allowed 10 hits and nine runs in three innings.

Miami made three stellar defensive plays — two by Arraez and one by catcher Nick Fortes — to keep Milwaukee off the board in the first inning.

But nothing could stop the Brewers in the second frame as they got Donaldson’s two-run homer, William Contreras’ RBI single, Carlos Santana’s RBI double, Mark Canha’s two-run double, Sal Frelick’s RBI single, Donaldson’s RBI groundout, Brice Turang’s RBI single, Blake Perkins’ RBI double and Yelich’s two-run homer.

Yelich added a three-run shot in the sixth inning after Santana hit an RBI single in the fifth.

Jon Berti broke up the shutout when he led off the eighth inning with his fourth home run of the season off Milwaukee’s Bryse Wilson.

The Brewers sent position player Rowdy Tellez to the mound to pitch the ninth. Tellez had one strikeout and allowed one hit in his MLB pitching debut.

–Field Level Media