Sep 4, 2020 4 min read

Ronald Acuña Jr. homered twice, Dansby Swanson added a two-run shot and the Atlanta Braves beat the struggling Washington Nationals 7-1 in the first game of a doubleheader.

The defending World Series champion Nationals have lost seven consecutive games. The NL East-leading Braves have won five in a row.

Nationals fielder Juan Soto was scratched less than an hour before the game because of a sore left elbow. Another outfielder, Adam Eaton, was held out after leaving Thursday night’s game at Philadelphia with a jammed knee.

American League

Toronto 8, Boston 7: Danny Jansen hit a two-run homer, Travis Shaw had a solo shot and the Toronto Blue Jays held off the Boston Red Sox 8-7 in the opener of a doubleheader.

The Blue Jays, pushing for a playoff spot, have won three straight and seven of nine.

Shaw went 3 for 4 with a double off the top of right field wall and single, Rowdy Tellez had two singles with a sacrifice fly and Randal Grichuk added a two-run single.

Yairo Muñoz went 3 for 3 with hit a two-run homer and RBI double for the Red Sox, who have lost five in a row, nine of 12 and fell a season-high 15 games under .500 for the first time since 2014.

N.Y. Yankees 6, Baltimore 5: Miguel Andújar singled in the tiebreaking run in the ninth inning, and the New York Yankees ran their winning streak against the Baltimore Orioles to 19 games with a 6-5 victory in the opener of a doubleheader.

Gary Sanchez homered and Brett Gardner drove in two runs for the Yankees, who have won 18 in a row at Camden Yards – tied for the second-longest road streak in major league history by one team against another. The record is 19, by Brooklyn at Cincinnati from 1947-49.

Minnesota 2-3, Detroit 0-2: Marwin Gonzalez singled home Willians Astudillo in the eighth inning, and the Minnesota Twins rallied to beat the Detroit Tigers 3-2 and sweep a doubleheader.

Astudillo started on second base with the eighth inning considered an extra inning due to the seven-inning doubleheader rule. Gonzalez hit a grounder up the middle and Detroit center fielder Derek Hill, making his major league debut, bobbled the ball, allowing Astudillo to score easily.

Sergio Romo (1-1) pitched a perfect seventh and Trevor May picked up his second save in four chances as Minnesota won its fourth straight game.

Joe Jimenez (1-3) allowed Gonzalez’s hit to take the loss after Gregory Soto blew a save in the seventh. Soto walked the first two batters of the inning and Jorge Polanco followed with an RBI single.

Miguel Cabrera had a pair of hits for Detroit and three hits in the doubleheader, tying Brooks Robinson for 48th on the all-time list with 2,848.

Polanco and Josh Donaldson hit back-to-back homers to lead off the bottom of the first inning of the opener, and Randy Dobnak (6-2) bounced back with five scoreless innings.

Polanco and Donaldson became the first duo to lead off the game with homers for the Twins since Eduardo Núñez and Brian Dozier in 2016 against Kansas City.

Interleague

Tampa Bay 5, Miami 4: Rookie left-hander Josh Fleming won his third consecutive start, Michael Perez had a three-run double and the AL East-leading Tampa Bay Rays beat the Miami Marlins 5-4.

Yoshi Tsutsugo homered for the Rays, who have won 20 of 25. Tampa Bay has a nine-game winning streak against Miami.

The Marlins got homers from Corey Dickerson and Jesús Aguilar.

Milwaukee 7, Cleveland 1: Corbin Burnes pitched six strong innings, Keston Hiura hit an RBI double in Milwaukee’s four-run seventh inning and the Brewers scored three times on two weak infield grounders in a 7-1 win over the Cleveland Indians.

Burnes (2-0) didn’t allow an earned run and only three hits to the offensively inconsistent Indians, who got just four hits. He recently returned to the rotation after a three-game relief stint and had his second straight solid outing.