Braves walk-off Royals, inch one step closer to clinching NL Wild Card berth

ATLANTA (AP) — Travis d’Arnaud hit a walk-off homer in the ninth inning and the Atlanta Braves kept up their postseason push with a 2-1 win over the playoff-bound Kansas City Royals on Saturday night.

Reynaldo López came off the injured list to throw six strong innings for the Braves, who moved one game ahead of the New York Mets and a half-game in front of Arizona for the final two wild-card spots in the National League. The Mets lost 6-0 at Milwaukee and the Diamondbacks were hosting San Diego.

D’Arnaud ended it with one swing in the ninth, launching a 2-0 pitch from Sam Long (3-3) over the center-field wall for his 15th homer this season.

Raisel Iglesias (6-2) earned the win.

López pitched for the first time since Sept. 10, when he lasted only one inning at Washington before coming out with shoulder discomfort. An MRI showed no structural damage, but the Braves placed him on the 15-day disabled list in the heat of playoff race to make sure things didn’t get worse.

López looked as good as ever in his return, allowing only two singles while striking out nine. After fanning Adam Frazier with the last of his 73 pitches, he pounded his glove in satisfaction walking off the mound, having lowered his ERA in a dazzling season to an even 2.00.

Kansas City went ahead in the third after starting the frame with its only two hits off Lopez — back-to-back singles by Freddy Fermin and Garrett Hampson. Fermin came home from third when Dairon Blanco hit into a double play.

The Braves tied it up in the fourth with an unearned run.

With two outs, Jorge Soler hit one off the yellow line at the top of the wall in right-center for a double. D’Arnaud followed with a dribbler that was fielded by pitcher Michael Lorenzon, who had plenty of time to get the slow-running catcher but threw it in the Braves dugout. Soler came home on the error.

The Royals went with a makeshift lineup one day after clinching their first postseason appearance since 2015.

Bobby Witt Jr. was among six starters from Friday’s 3-0 loss who got the night off, while three others were slotted into different positions. For Witt, it was the first game he’s missed all season after making 160 consecutive starts — 159 at shortstop and one game as the designated hitter.

Sitting out had an added benefit for the Royals star, who likely locked up the AL batting title with a .332 average and just one game left in the regular season.

Sixteen-game winner Seth Lugo pitched two scoreless innings for Kansas City, limited to 36 pitches in what was essentially a tune-up for the Wild Card Series that begins Tuesday.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Royals: 1B Vinnie Pasquantino (broken righ thumb) holds out hope he may be able to return to the lineup during the playoffs. He took another step in his recovery by facing live pitching for the first time since his injury. Before the game. he took swings against LH Will Smith, who is recovering from low back spasms, and RH Steven Cruz, who has been optioned to the minors.

Braves: With López coming off the injured list, RHP John Brebbia was optioned to Triple-A Gwinnett — merely a procedural move since the minor-league team’s season is over.

UP NEXT

Neither team had announced pitching plans for the series finale Sunday. The Braves are holding back ace Chris Sale as long as possible, perhaps looking ahead to the makeup doubleheader against the Mets on Monday. The Royals, meanwhile, scuttled plans to start LHP Cole Ragans, preferring to hold him back for the Wild Card Series.