Ronald Acuna Jr. Ties Unique Record As Braves Sweep Marlins; Matt Chapman, Jed Lowrie Power A's Over Mariners

Players of the Day for Monday, August 13, 2018

American League

Chapman: 3 2B, 3 R

Matt Chapman and Jed Lowrie led an 11-hit attack with five doubles between them and the Oakland A's hung on for a 7-6 win over Seattle in the first of three games in Oakland.

Chapman went 3-for-5, each of his hits a two-bagger, drove in a run and scored three times. Lowrie drove in four runs - two of them scored by Champman - with a 3-for-5 effort, two doubles, a single and four RBI.

Lowrie: 2 2B, 4 RBI

The A's took a 7-1 lead into the eighth inning, but the resolute Mariners, fresh off sweeping four games in Houston from the Astros, nearly made the comeback, scoring two in the eighth and three in the ninth. The game finally ended when Blake Treinen struck out Nelson Cruz with runners on first and second.

With Houston idle, the result left the Athletics two games behind the Astros in the NL West. Seattle is 4 1/2 back.

Winners of 10 of their last 12, the A's host Seattle in game two on Tuesday, 10:05 pm EDT.

National League

It's been a summer-long grind, but the Atlanta Braves have finally wrested control of the NL East from the upstart Philadelphia Phillies. While the Phillies took a day off, the Braves swept a doubleheader from the last-place Marlins, 9-1, and 6-1, taking a one-game lead in the division.

Acuna Jr. ties rare record

Rookie leadoff hitter Ronald Acuna, Jr. tied a rare record by homering to lead off both ends of a double-header.

In the first game, Acuna led off with a home run, added a two-run double in the sixth, stole a base, walked twice and scored three times, going 2-for-3 with three runs and three RBI. In game two, Acuna again started the Braves' first inning with a homer, his 17th, and singled in another run in the sixth. Acuna went 3-for-5 in the second half of the double header with two RBI and two runs.

The 20-year-old Venezuelan is batting .282 with 17 home runs and 39 RBI in 259 at-bats.

According to ESPN via the Elias Sports Bureau, Baltimore's Brady Anderson was the last to hit a pair of leadoff homers in one day against the Chicago White Sox on Aug. 21, 1999.

Before that, the feat was accomplished Oakland's Ricky Henderson against the Cleveland Indians on July 5, 1993. Harry Hooper did it for the Boston Red in a pair of games at the Washington Senators on May 20, 1913.

Atlanta plays two more against visiting Miami, Tuesday and Wednesday. The Braves don't face the Phillies until late September, when they play four at home, September 20-23, and then close out the regular season with three games in Philadelphia.