Sports

Acuña, Albies and Baldwin power Braves' 6-3 comeback win over Cubs

September 16, 2026 / 8:40 AM EDT / AP

Ronald Acuña Jr., Ozzie Albies and Drake Baldwin hit late-inning, two-run homers, and the Atlanta Braves rallied to beat the Chicago Cubs 6-3 on Tuesday night.

Chicago's loss clinched Milwaukee's fourth straight NL Central title. The Cubs (84-68) maintained a half-game lead over Philadelphia (83-68) for the top NL wild card.

NL East-leading Atlanta (89-63) opened a 5 1/2-game NL East lead over the second-place Phillies.

Given a 3-0 lead, Cubs starter Kevin Gausman retired 16 of his first 18 batters.

Atlanta Braves v. Chicago Cubs — CHICAGO, IL - SEPTEMBER 15: Atlanta Braves Ronald Acuña Jr. #13 high-fives first base coach Antoan Richardson #86 after hitting a hits a two-run home run in the sixth inning during the game between the Atlanta Braves and the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field on Tuesday, September 15, 2026 in Chicago, Illinois. Lawrence Brown/MLB Photos via Getty Images

Acuña homered off Gausman in the sixth to pull the Braves within a run. Albies went deep in the seventh off Jacob Webb (6-5), his eighth home run in 23 games at Wrigley Field, and Baldwin connected in the ninth against Edward Cabrera.

Martín Pérez (9-9) allowed three runs — two earned — five hits and four walks in six innings. Raisel Iglesias pitched a perfect ninth for his 33rd save in 36 chances.

Pedro Ramirez hit a RBI single in the second. Shortstop Maurico Dubón had a run-scoring throwing error in the fourth inning and Miguel Amaya followed with a sacrifice fly.

Cubs LHP Shota Imanaga (10-10, 3.88 ERA) and Braves rookie RHP JR Ritchie (1-2, 4.50 ERA) start Wednesday night.

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