WASHINGTON (AP) — Ronald Acuña Jr. hit a pair of solo home runs and the Atlanta Braves beat the Washington Nationals 8-2 on Tuesday night for their fourth straight win, moving them into a first-place tie in the NL East with the New York Mets.
Orlando Arcia also homered and Michael Harris II had a two-run triple for the Braves, who caught the Mets when New York lost 6-4 at home to Miami. Both teams have seven games remaining, including a head-to-head three-game series beginning Friday in Atlanta.
With the win, the defending World Series champion Braves (97-58) are guaranteed the No. 2 playoff seed in the National League if they finish ahead of the Mets.
“The hope is to win tomorrow and then the hope is to have a good series against New York this weekend,” Acuña said through a translator. “The division is on the line.”
Acuna is heating up down the stretch. He has hits in seven of his past nine games and is batting .294 (10 for 34) with four homers, eight runs and 10 RBIs during that span.
Victor Robles homered and Luke Voit had two doubles for the last-place Nationals (53-101).
Kyle Muller, recalled from Triple-A Gwinnett to start for the Braves, allowed two runs in 4 2/3 innings and was lifted after a two-out walk.
“He threw the ball really well,” manager Brian Snitker said. “I’d have loved to see Kyle get that last out in the fifth and get the decision but at that point in the game it’s about winning the game.”
Collin McHugh (3-2) pitched 1 1/3 scoreless innings for the win.
Paolo Espino (0-8) retired the first 10 Braves batters before giving up four runs and five hits.
Harris tied the score 2-all with a two-run triple in the fourth over the head of right fielder Lane Thomas, who paused momentarily before racing back…