Chicago Cubs @ Atlanta Braves
Yastrzemski drives in tiebreaking run, Dubón and Baldwin homer as Braves beat Cubs 4-1
ATLANTA -- — Mike Yastrzemski drove in the tiebreaking run with a pinch-hit double in the eighth inning, and Mauricio Dubón finished off Chicago with a two-run homer that carried the Atlanta Braves to a 4-1 victory over the Chicago Cubs on Wednesday night.
The Braves extended baseball's best record to 30-13 and made it two in a row over the Cubs, who arrived in Atlanta with the NL's second-best mark but now have lost a season-high four in a row.
Shota Imanaga (4-3) was the hard-luck loser for Chicago. He pitched into the eighth, surrendering a homer to Drake Baldwin but left with the score tied at 1 after giving up an infield single to Michael Harris II leading off the decisive inning.
Ha-Seong Kim followed with his first hit of the season, a single to left against Phil Maton. Pinch-hitter Dominic Smith struck out, but manager Walt Weiss got the hit he needed when he sent up Yastrzemski to bat for José Azócar.
Robert Suarez (4-0) earned the win with a scoreless eighth and Raisel Iglesias remained scoreless on the season with his eighth save.
Baldwin went deep in the fourth inning, turning a sweeper into a 402-foot drive into the Braves bullpen in deep right-center.
The Cubs tied the game their next time up and finished off Braves rookie starter JR Ritchie. Carson Kelly led off with a single and Ritchie was lifted after a one-out walk to Dansby Swanson. Tyler Kinley couldn't escape the jam, giving up an RBI single to Nico Hoerner.
Ritchie went 4 1/3 innings, giving up just two hits but struggling a bit with his command. He walked three while throwing 87 pitches in his fourth big league start.
The Cubs managed just four hits — all singles — after being held to a single hit in the series opener, a 5-2 victory for the Braves.
The teams wrap up their three-game series on Thursday, with LHP Chris Sale (6-2, 2.20 ERA) going for the Braves against Cubs RHP Ben Brown (1-1, 1.82).
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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb
ATL leads 2-0
Game Information
- Umpires:
- Home Plate Umpire - Sean Barber
- First Base Umpire - John Libka
- Second Base Umpire - James Hoye
- Third Base Umpire - Tyler Jones
2026 National League Central Standings
| Team | W | L | PCT | GB | STRK |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chicago | 27 | 16 | .628 | - | L4 |
| Milwaukee | 23 | 17 | .575 | 2.5 | L1 |
| St. Louis | 24 | 18 | .571 | 2.5 | L1 |
| Pittsburgh | 23 | 20 | .535 | 4 | L1 |
| Cincinnati | 22 | 21 | .512 | 5 | L2 |
2026 National League East Standings
| Team | W | L | PCT | GB | STRK |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Atlanta | 30 | 13 | .698 | - | W4 |
| Washington | 21 | 22 | .488 | 9 | W2 |
| Philadelphia | 20 | 23 | .465 | 10 | L1 |
| Miami | 20 | 23 | .465 | 10 | W1 |
| New York | 17 | 25 | .405 | 12.5 | W2 |

