Acuña, Albies, Baldwin hit late 2-run homers that lift Braves over Cubs

Atlanta Braves' Ronald Acuña Jr., center, celebrates with Matt Olson, left, and Drake Baldwin after hitting a two-run home run during the sixth inning of a baseball game against the Chicago Cubs in Chicago, Tuesday, Sept. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh) Atlanta Braves' Ronald Acuña Jr., center, celebrates with Matt Olson, left, and Drake Baldwin after hitting a two-run home run during the sixth inning of a baseball game against the Chicago Cubs in Chicago, Tuesday, Sept. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)

By The Associated Press September 15, 2026 2 min read

CHICAGO (AP) — Ronald Acuña Jr., Ozzie Albies and Drake Baldwin hit late-inning, two-run homers, and the Atlanta Braves rallied to beat the Chicago Cubs 6-3 on Tuesday night.

Chicago’s loss clinched Milwaukee’s fourth straight NL Central title. The Cubs (84-68) maintained a half-game lead over Philadelphia (83-68) for the top NL wild card.

NL East-leading Atlanta (89-63) opened a 5 1/2-game NL East lead over the second-place Phillies.

Given a 3-0 lead, Cubs starter Kevin Gausman retired 16 of his first 18 batters.

Acuña homered off Gausman in the sixth to pull the Braves within a run. Albies went deep in the seventh off Jacob Webb (6-5), his eighth home run in 23 games at Wrigley Field, and Baldwin connected in the ninth against Edward Cabrera.