Ronald Acuna Jr. hit a grand slam, Grant Holmes produced a quality start, and the visiting Atlanta Braves lowered their magic number to one to clinch the National League East by defeating the Houston Astros 6-3 on Saturday.
The Braves (91-64) secured this three-game interleague series and set the table to win the National League East for the seventh time in nine seasons with a victory in the series finale on Sunday.
The Astros (77-78) fell below .500 for the first time since Aug. 26 and dropped a game behind the Texas Rangers in the American League West after Texas beat the Toronto Blue Jays 6-2.
Isaac Paredes, who recorded both RBIs for the Astros in their 6-2 loss on Friday, homered with two outs in the bottom of the first inning off Holmes (10-5). The clout was his 22nd home run of the season and gave Houston a 1-0 lead.
Two innings later, Paredes struck again. He flipped an RBI single to right with one out in the third, scoring Jeremy Pena. Pena had opened the frame with a triple to left-center.
Holmes stranded runners in the first and second innings but settled down after Paredes doubled the Astros’ lead to 2-0. Holmes retired the final two batters of the third and faced the minimum in the fourth and sixth despite allowing base hits in each frame. Holmes induced Yainer Diaz to ground into a double play, erasing a leadoff single by Jose Altuve in the bottom of the sixth.
Holmes allowed two runs on eight hits and struck out four over six innings.
Astros right-hander Hayden Wesneski appeared set to make the lead stand. He stranded runners on the corners in the top of the first and retired seven consecutive batters entering the sixth.
But Drake Baldwin opened the sixth with a single. He scored two batters later when Matt Olson chased Wesneski with an RBI single.
Acuna struck the decisive blow an inning later when he launched a fastball from Astros reliever Bryan Abreu 411 feet to left-center to give the Braves a 5-2 lead. Three of those runs were charged to Astros reliever AJ Blubaugh (5-3), who loaded the bases before Abreu entered with one out, struck out Baldwin, but allowed the two-out grand slam to Acuna.
Acuna finished 2-for-3 with two walks. Closer Raisel Iglesias notched his 34th save for the Braves.
Wesneski allowed one run on four hits with four strikeouts in 5 1/3 innings.
Altuve went 3-for-4 for Houston.
–Field Level Media
