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Machado homers in 9th as Padres overcome Acuña's dramatic return, beat Braves 2-1 to end 6-game skid

ATLANTA (AP) — Manny Machado hit a tiebreaking homer off Raisel Iglesias in the ninth inning and the San Diego Padres overcame Ronald Acuña Jr.'s home run in his season debut to beat the Atlanta Braves 2-1 on Friday night and end their six-game losing streak.

Machado led off the ninth by lining his fourth homer off Iglesias (3-4) to left field.

Acuña wasted no time before thrilling the sellout crowd in his much-anticipated return to the Braves' lineup. He crushed the first pitch he saw 467 feet for a home run, turning on a fastball from Nick Pivetta for the shot into the seats in left-center in the first inning. He added a single in his next at-bat.

Acuña also enjoyed a defensive highlight, throwing out Elias Díaz at second base in the eighth following Díaz's single.

Acuña, the 2023 NL MVP, was activated from the injured list almost one year after he tore his left ACL.

Braves starter Chris Sale allowed a second-inning homer to Gavin Sheets.

Jason Adam (5-0) recorded the final out in the eighth. Robert Suarez overcame Alex Verdugo's leadoff single in the ninth for his 16th save.

Eli White, running for Verdugo, was thrown out trying to return to second base following Ozzie Albie's single to center. White apparently thought Jackson Merrill caught the ball in center field.

Key moment

Fernando Tatis Jr. doubled to lead off the sixth and was on third base with one out when Manny Machado hit a grounder to third baseman Austin Riley. Tatis was thrown out at the plate by Riley, preserving a 1-1 tie.

Key stat

The homer by Acuña had an exit velocity of 115.5 mph. It was the hardest hit ball by a Braves player this season.

Up next

Atlanta's Grant Holmes (2-3, 4.01 ERA) will face San Diego's Michael King (4-2, 2.59) in a matchup of right-handers as the series continues on Saturday.

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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb

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