Atlanta’s William Contreras gets a base hit in the fourth inning of the Braves’ 2-1 win over the Marlins on Tuesday in Miami. Wilfredo Lee/Associated Press
MIAMI — William Contreras hit the go-ahead run in the fifth, and the Atlanta Braves clinched their fifth consecutive NL East title Tuesday night by defeating the Miami Marlins 2-1.
Atlanta earned a first-round bye as the No. 2 seed in the NL, behind the Los Angeles Dodgers.
The Braves were 10 1/2 games behind the New York Mets at the start of June and lost four of five to New York in early August. After sweeping the Mets over the weekend to take the division lead, Atlanta entered the series needing a win or a Mets loss to clinch the division crown.
The Marlins delayed Atlanta’s celebration Monday with a 4-0 win. And the Mets beat the Washington Nationals 4-2 Tuesday evening in the first game of a doubleheader, leaving Atlanta in control of its fate in front of a large Braves crowd at loanDepot Park.
Kenley Jansen recorded his 41st save, working a perfect ninth to seal the win.
Starter Jake Odorizzi (6-6) pitched five innings, struck out six, allowed two hits, and one home run to Jesús Sánchez in the fourth.
Reliever A.J. Minter escaped Miami’s threat in the eighth. Jon Berti hit a one-out double then advanced to third after stealing his 41st base of the season. Bryan De La Cruz and Avisaíl García walked to load the bases, but Nick Fortes, pinch hitting for Sánchez, popped out to end the inning.
The Braves did not take advantage of many chances at the plate to stretch their lead, but their pitchers held the Marlins to four hits.
Collin McHugh and Raisel Iglesias pitched scoreless innings in the sixth and seventh in relief of Odorizzi.
METS 4, NATIONALS 2: Brandon Nimmo homered and drove in three runs as New York beat Washington in New Yorkin the first game of a doubleheader.
Nimmo hit his 15th homer, a two-run single and a double. Jeff McNeil opened a three-point lead on Dodgers star Freddie Freeman in the NL batting race with two hits to raise his average to .328.
Carrasco allowed two runs on five hits in four-plus innings. Adam Ottavino (6-3) pitched 1 2/3 innings and Edwin Díaz got four outs for his 32nd save.
AMERICAN LEAGUE
GUARDIANS 5, ROYALS 3: Cal Quantrill finished the regular season unbeaten at home, improving to 14-0 in his career at Progressive Field after Owen Miller hit a two-run homer to send Cleveland to a win over Kansas City.
Quantrill (15-5) was in danger of his unblemished run at home ending before Miller’s shot off Daniel Lynch (4-13) capped Cleveland’s five-run fifth. Quantrill’s 14-game winning streak is the longest in the ballpark’s history.
It also matches the longest unbeaten streak for a pitcher in any ballpark since 1901. Vic Raschi went 14-0 at Chicago’s Comiskey Park from 1947-55.
José Ramírez hit a two-run double and Andrés Giménez had an RBI single in the fifth.
Guardians closer Emmanuel Clase gave up a run in the ninth before getting his MLB-leading 42nd save.
MARINERS 7, TIGERS 6: Catcher Luis Torrens became the first position player in Seattle history to earn a pitching win by working the 10th inning, and the Mariners clinched the AL’s No. 5 seed by beating Detroit in the first game of a doubleheader in Seattle.
With the Mariners focused on preserving arms with the playoffs on the horizon, Torrens (1-0) took the mound when the game went to extra innings and got the unlikely victory when Abraham Toro drove in the winning run with a sacrifice fly.
NOTES
NATIONALS: Stephen Strasburg’s status for 2023 is up in the air after a series of injuries that limited him to one start this season, Washington General Manager Mike Rizzo said.
“It’s still a little bit of a mystery,” Rizzo said about the 2019 World Series MVP before the Nationals were scheduled to play a doubleheader at the New York Mets. “I know that he’s working hard strengthening his core and the other parts of his body. We’re just going to have to see. With the type of surgery and rehab that he’s had, it’s unfamiliar to us. It’s unfamiliar to a lot of people. We’re going to have to take it day by day.”
The 34-year-old right-hander has thrown a total of 31 1/3 innings across just eight starts over the past three seasons combined. He had carpal tunnel surgery in 2020, then needed an operation to correct thoracic outlet syndrome in 2021.
After his only start of 2022, he went back on the injured list with a stress reaction of the ribs.
YANKEES: Reliever Ron Marinaccio was put on the 15-day injured list, another blow to the injury-plagued New York bullpen before the playoffs.
Marinaccio has a stress reaction in his right shin. The rookie right-hander threw only 12 pitches before exiting Sunday because of soreness that he has described as a lingering issue. He will miss the AL Division Series.
Manager Aaron Boone said he is hopeful that Marinacco will be able to return for the AL Championship Series if the Yankees advance in the postseason.
MARINERS: Seattle lost utilityman Sam Haggerty for at least the first two rounds of the playoffs after suffering a groin injury late in Monday night’s loss to Detroit.
Seattle Manager Scott Servais said that Haggerty is not expected to need surgery based off the initial MRI. Seattle placed Haggerty on the 10-day injured list and the severity of the injury could keep him out for a big chunk of October.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
Success. Please wait for the page to reload. If the page does not reload within 5 seconds, please refresh the page.
Enter your email and password to access comments.
Hi, to comment on stories you must . This profile is in addition to your subscription and website login.
Already have a commenting profile? .
Invalid username/password.
Please check your email to confirm and complete your registration.
Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.
Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.