HOUSTON (AP) — Ronald Acuña Jr. hit a go-ahead grand slam in the seventh inning, and the Atlanta Braves beat Houston 6-3 Saturday night to drop the Astros out of the AL West lead.
Houston (77-78) fell one game behind Texas (78-77) and trails the Chicago White Sox (79-76) by two games for the last AL wild card. The Astros had held at least a share of the division lead each day since Aug. 25.
Atlanta assured its eighth playoff berth in nine seasons on Friday and is in position to clinch its first NL East title since 2023 on Sunday.
Atlanta Braves’ Ronald Acuña Jr. hits a grand slam during the seventh inning of a baseball game against the Houston Astros in Houston, Saturday, Sept. 19, 2026.(Ashley Landis | AP Photo/Ashley Landis)
Trailing 2-1, Atlanta loaded the bases against AJ Blubaugh (5-3) and Acuña homered off Bryan Abreu for his second grand slam this season and the fifth of his big league career.
Acuña singled and walked twice in his first three plate appearances. He has homered in three of his last four games.
Mike Yastrzemski added a solo homer in the eighth inning.
Grant Holmes (10-5) allowed two runs and eight hits over six innings.
Yainer Diaz hit an RBI double in the eighth off Dylan Lee, who struck out pinch-hitter Nelson Velázquez to end the inning.
Raisel Iglesias pitched a perfect ninth inning for his 34th save in 37 chances.
Jose Altuve had three hits for Houston, while Isaac Paredes was 2 for 3 with a home run, walk and two RBIs.
Christian Walker had two hits after entering the game hitless in his previous 23 at-bats.
Hayden Wesneski allowed one run on four hits over 5 1/3 innings.
Up next
Astros RHP Hunter Brown (6-3, 3.43 ERA) and Braves LHP Martín Pérez (9-9, 3.07 ERA) start Sunday.
Copyright 2026 WANF. All rights reserved.