Sept. 29 – Travis d’Arnaud hit a walk-off homer in the ninth inning, giving the Atlanta Braves a 2-1 win over the visiting Kansas City Royals on Saturday (Kansas City Royals).
With one out, d’Arnaud launched a fastball from Royals reliever Sam Long (3-3) 421 feet to the center field wall.
The Braves are one game ahead of the Arizona Diamondbacks and New York Mets for the second National League wild-card spot.
Closer Razor Iglesias (6-2) pitched a perfect ninth to seal the victory for the Warriors (88-71), who have won five in a row.
Kansas City (85-76) has lost nine of 12 games.
The Royals struggled to get on base after an early scoreless innings against Braves starter Reynaldo Lopez. Lopez pitched six innings, striking out nine and holding Kansas City to two hits, four no-balls, and one walk.
In the seventh inning, after Braves reliever Pierce Johnson came in, Mike Garcia walked, but was caught by Salvador Pérez at home plate. Pérez followed with a ground-rule double, but two strikeouts ended the inning.
In the eighth inning, Garrett Hampson and pinch-hitter Michael Massie walked on four straight pitches with two outs before Adam Frazier’s grounder ended the inning.
The Royals were up 1-0 in the third quarter. Freddy Fermin hit a single to center in the first and moved to third on Hampson’s next single, giving Kansas City two runs with no outs. Fermin scored when Dillon Blanco grounded into a double play.
The Warriors tied the game in the fourth quarter. Jorge Soler hit a sharp fly ball over the wall, leading to a two-out double when Michael Lorenzen hit Ramon Laureano) then lobbed the ball to Hampson, who scored.
The hosts had a chance to take the lead in the fifth when Daniel Lynch IV came on for the Royals. Orlando Arcia launched a double to left, Michael Harris II followed with a walk, but Ozzie Albies hit a double.
——Visual-level media
