Stone Garrett and the Washington Nationals were determined not to waste a superb start by MacKenzie Gore that ended early because of a cracked fingernail and blister. Keibert Ruiz hit a tiebreaking three-run homer in the eighth inning, Garrett homered twice for the first time in his career, and the Nationals beat the Boston Red Sox 6-2 on Wednesday night. After Lane Thomas singled and Joey Meneses was hit by a pitch leading off the eighth, Ruiz drove an 0-1 changeup from Garrett Whitlock (5-4) to right-center to make it 5-2.
Ronald Acuña Jr. slugged three hits and Michael Harris II tagged on a popup to right field and scored on a close call in the eighth inning, lifting the MLB-leading Atlanta Braves to a 6-5 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Wednesday night. Harris raced home on Austin Riley’s fly into shallow right off Carmen Mlodzinski (2-3) that was fielded by backpeddling Jared Triolo. Harris slid in ahead of the throw to home by the second baseman.
Yandy Díaz, Brandon Lowe and Randy Arozarena hit RBI singles in the eighth inning and the Tampa Bay Rays beat the St. Louis Cardinals 4-2 on Tuesday night. Josh Lowe opened the eighth with a triple against Miles Mikolas (6-8).