ATLANTA — 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 Arizona Diamondbacks in the race for the final two wild-card spots in the National League.
The Mets lost 6-0 at Milwaukee, while the Diamondbacks were blanked 5-0 by 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.
After an injury plagued season, the Braves can clinch their seventh straight playoff appearance on Sunday with a sweep of the Royals paired with another loss by the Diamondbacks.
Atlanta also has a makeup doubleheader set for Monday against the Mets after two games were washed out by Hurricane Helene in the final week of the regular season, but it may not matter much for the Braves.
“This is big here. This is playoff baseball, literally,” manager Brian Snitker said. “A lot of emotions. That’s why you play this thing, to get in these positions.”
Raisel Iglesias (6-2) earned the win with a perfect top half of the ninth, but the story on the mound was López.
The All-Star right-hander 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 season ERA to an even 2.00.
This is more than López ever could’ve imagined after he signed with the Braves as a free agent last November. Coming off three seasons spent mostly as a reliever, Atlanta moved him back to the starting rotation — and he’s been downright dazzling.
“It’s been a surprising season for me,” López said through a translator. “Not knowing what to really expect and then being able to take full advantage of the opportunity I was given, I just couldn’t have expected this type of season. It’s been tremendous.”
D’Arnaud provided the perfect capper to the night for the Braves.
“It’s great, especially when the wins are so big right now,” he said. “I think what our pitchers did is better than what I did at the end because I wouldn’t have had that chance unless our pitchers kept us in the game like they did.”
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 announced pitching plans for the series finale Sunday. The Braves will go with either Chris Sale, Charlie Morton or rookie Spencer Schwellenbach. The Royals, meanwhile, scuttled plans to start LHP Cole Ragans, preferring to hold him back for the Wild Card Series.
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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb