ATLANTA — Travis d’Arnaud hit a walk-off homer within the ninth inning and the Atlanta Braves stored up their postseason push with a 2-1 win over the playoff-bound Kansas Metropolis Royals on Saturday night time.
Reynaldo López got here off the injured listing to throw six robust innings for the Braves, who moved one sport forward of the Mets and Arizona Diamondbacks within the race for the ultimate two wild-card spots within the Nationwide League.
The Mets misplaced 6-0 at Milwaukee, whereas the Diamondbacks have been blanked 5-0 by San Diego.
D’Arnaud, a former Met, ended it with one swing within the ninth, launching a 2-0 pitch from Sam Lengthy (3-3) over the center-field wall for his fifteenth homer this season.
After an damage plagued season, the Braves can clinch their seventh straight playoff look on Sunday with a sweep of the Royals paired with one other loss by the Diamondbacks.
Atlanta additionally has a make-up doubleheader set for Monday towards the Mets after two video games have been washed out by Hurricane Helene within the closing week of the common season, however it might not matter a lot for the Braves.
“That is massive right here. That is playoff baseball, actually,” supervisor Brian Snitker mentioned. “Lots of feelings. That’s why you play this factor, to get in these positions.”
Raisel Iglesias (6-2) earned the win with an ideal prime half of the ninth, however the story on the mound was López.
The All-Star right-hander pitched for the primary time since Sept. 10, when he lasted just one inning at Washington earlier than popping out with shoulder discomfort.
An MRI examination confirmed no structural harm, however the Braves positioned him on the 15-day disabled listing within the warmth of playoff race to verify issues didn’t worsen.
López seemed pretty much as good as ever in his return, permitting solely two singles whereas hanging out 9.
After fanning Adam Frazier with the final of his 73 pitches, he pounded his glove in satisfaction strolling off the mound, having lowered his season ERA to a fair 2.00.
That is greater than López ever might’ve imagined after he signed with the Braves as a free agent final November.
Coming off three seasons spent largely as a reliever, Atlanta moved him again to the beginning rotation — and he’s been downright dazzling.
“It’s been a stunning season for me,” López mentioned via a translator. “Not realizing what to essentially anticipate after which with the ability to take full benefit of the chance I used to be given, I simply couldn’t have anticipated this sort of season. It’s been great.”
D’Arnaud offered the right capper to the night time for the Braves.
“It’s nice, particularly when the wins are so massive proper now,” he mentioned. “I feel what our pitchers did is healthier than what I did on the finish as a result of I wouldn’t have had that likelihood until our pitchers stored us within the sport like they did.”
Kansas Metropolis went forward within the third after beginning the body with its solely two hits off Lopez — back-to-back singles by Freddy Fermin and Garrett Hampson.
Fermin got here dwelling from third when Dairon Blanco hit right into a double play.
The Braves tied it up within the fourth with an unearned run.
With two outs, Jorge Soler hit one off the yellow line on the prime of the wall in right-center for a double. D’Arnaud adopted with a dribbler that was fielded by pitcher Michael Lorenzon, who had loads of time to get the slow-running catcher however threw it within the Braves dugout.
Soler got here dwelling on the error.
The Royals went with a makeshift lineup at some point after clinching their first postseason look since 2015.
Bobby Witt Jr. was amongst six starters from Friday’s 3-0 loss who bought the night time off, whereas three others have been slotted into totally different positions. For Witt, it was the primary sport he’s missed all season after making 160 consecutive begins — 159 at shortstop and one sport because the designated hitter.
Sitting out had an additional benefit for the Royals star, who seemingly locked up the AL batting title with a .332 common and only one sport left within the common season.
Sixteen-game winner Seth Lugo pitched two scoreless innings for Kansas Metropolis, restricted to 36 pitches in what was basically a tune-up for the Wild Card Sequence that begins Tuesday.
