Acuña’s homer, Riley’s triple stun Phillies in 5-4 Braves win

PHILADELPHIA — In a season full of memorable victories, this one was as good as it gets.

Ronald Acuña Jr., fast becoming villain No. 1 in the hearts and minds of Phillies fans, hit a game-tying, three-run home run in the eighth and Austin Riley hit a game-winning RBI triple in the ninth before Raisel Iglesias stranded the tying run at third in a 5-4 Braves win over the Phillies at Citizens Bank Park on Sunday.

Now up five games in the NL East, and having trimmed the magic number to clinch the division to 15, the Braves (85-58) were four outs away from a second straight loss to their division rival. Instead, Acuña stunned the feral Philly crowd with one out in the eighth, then Riley ripped his triple off All-Star closer Jhoan Duran with one out in the ninth.

Iglesias struck out Edmundo Sosa in the ninth, with 42,793 standing, and Bryson Stott left dormant at third base.

“Philly got a really good team; we have really good team,” Acuña said. “So this game feels like October.”

Acuña’s at-bat was October-esque.

Mike Yastrzemski, facing right-handed reliever Alex McFarlane, had lobbed a single to center with one out, and Drake Baldwin lined a hustle double to the gap in right, setting the stage for Acuña.

McFarlane threw six straight fastballs, all registering 100 or 101 mph, to the Braves’ right fielder. Acuña missed the first two. He fouled off the third. The fourth missed down and away. The next two were fouled off.

The seventh? At 100.5 mph? Crushed 414 feet into the left-field seats.

“Every pitch was fastball,” Acuña said. “I’m looking fastball every single AB, and I made good contact. It’s hard. It’s hard sometimes, but when you crush, best feeling ever. Believe me.”

“Great view. It’s a great seat to have for that,” Yastrzemski said. “Just resiliency there. He’s sticking with the game plan, and guy’s throwing 100, and he’s ready for it every time and got one he can handle and put a great swing on it.

“It’s about as big of a regular-season moment as you get right there. Especially coming in here, hostile environment, big series. And he’s played great all series, and he’s really stepped up. That’s what you expect, unfairly, from your star players. That’s the type of guy he is. I know he has continued to work to get to where he is right now, and it’s awesome to see it pay off.”

Booed loudly since the start of this four-game series, and even more so after hitting a solo home run in Saturday’s contest, Acuña took a faux curtain call from the visitors dugout after his home run.

That was a ballsy move from the young star given the game was far from over.

Dylan Lee (6-0) had to keep the Phillies quiet in the bottom of the eighth, and he did just that by retiring the side in order.

Duran (2-5), the hard-throwing righty with 30 saves and a 1.58 ERA, came to try to get the game to the bottom of the ninth. Ozzie Albies immediately ruined that plan by lining a double into the gap in right-center.

Albies went to third on Sean Murphy’s chopper to short and was stationed there when Riley stepped in. A first-pitch splitter was sent 394 feet to center, tailing away from center fielder Derek Hill.

Albies walked home. Riley slid into third with a head-first slide for his 13th career triple and second of the season.

“The way the ball’s been flying today, I was like, ‘Ah, there’s a good chance (Hill) catches it.’ Luckily he didn’t,” Riley said. “I saw it bounce right there and that’s when it crossed my mind (to go for three).”

Still, the result hung in the balance.

Iglesias gave up a leadoff single to Bryson Stott in the bottom of the ninth, allowing the crowd, sensing a walk-off win, to reach a fever pitch. Stott went to second on Hill’s grounder to first, then took third when Murphy had a 2-2 fastball pop out of his glove.

With the infield drawn in, Bryan De La Cruz lined a 3-2 fastball toward shortstop where Mauricio Dubón picked it out of the air with a backhand. Sosa then struck out on three straight pitches.

“It’s tough competition. It’s tough coming in here playing games,” Riley said. “The crowds, every little thing that goes their way, they buy into it. And you can see it. It’s a tough and fun atmosphere for sure. This is just fun baseball.”

Right before the late-game dramatics, though, it appeared as if the Phillies (80-63) had put the game out of reach.

In a 2-1 game in the bottom of the seventh, Hill, as a pinch-hitter, gave the Phillies some breathing room with a solo home run to left off Braves lefty Dylan Dodd. Two batters later, Kyle Schwarber hit his MLB-leading 42nd homer, tomahawking a 1-1 sinker up in the zone out to right.

Dodd had not allowed a home run since Aug. 12 and had allowed two home runs just once before this season, on June 16 against the Giants.

Trailing after seven innings this season, the Braves had been just 7-50 before Sunday. The odds were not favorable that they could do what they did in the next two innings.

Having Acuña, now 17-for-his-last-34 with three doubles, three homers and nine RBIs, can sometimes defy odds, no matter how much the opposing fans let him know how much they despise him.

“I love it, I love it,” Acuña said. “Every time when the fans boo me, every single AB, that’s motivation for me, for our team.”

A costly error put the Braves in an early hole Sunday, a hole that they looked destined to be left buried in.

After walking Schwarber, Braves starter Tyler Mahle got a double-play ball off the bat of Trea Turner out to Dubón. But Dubón’s throw to second went into right field, allowing Schwarber to scamper to third and Turner to reach second.

Schwarber scored on a Luis Arraez sacrifice fly to center field. With two outs, Alec Bohm ripped an RBI double to left, putting the Phillies ahead 2-0.

Dubón’s error was just his fourth of the season.