Braves 3, Rays 1: Five Straight Hits in the Eighth Deny a Clinch

Bases loaded in the first, then nothing until the eighth

September 10, 2026 - Atlanta - Martín Pérez loaded the bases in the first on three singles and got out of it on a double play that started at first base. Matt Olson threw home. Drake Baldwin threw back to first. Chandler Simpson was out by a step. Truist Park exhaled. Pérez threw six more scoreless innings. The Atlanta Braves still needed the eighth to beat the Tampa Bay Rays 3-1.

The Associated Press recap said a Rays win, plus a Texas loss or a White Sox loss, would have been enough for Tampa Bay to clinch no worse than a wild card, the first club in the majors to punch a ticket. Texas lost. Chicago lost. Tampa Bay lost too. The clinch stays on the calendar.

Partly cloudy, 83 degrees, wind left to right at 3 mph. Attendance 31,664. Game time 2 hours, 7 minutes. Atlanta had scored three runs in a three-game losing streak and had been outscored 14-3 in the first two games of this series. Thursday was two hits through 6 1/3 against Nick Martinez, then five straight hits in the eighth.

Pérez through seven, Martinez through six

Pérez went seven: four hits, no runs, two walks, four strikeouts, 90 pitches. Simpson's double play was the jam. A bunt from Simpson in the sixth was challenged and upheld. Yandy Díaz, Ryan Vilade, and Jonny DeLuca had the first-inning singles. They did not score. Junior Caminero popped into an infield fly. That was the Rays' best inning until the ninth.

Martinez went 6 1/3: two hits, no runs, no walks, three strikeouts, 68 pitches. Ronald Acuña Jr. popped out and later grounded into a double play. Olson singled in the first and did not score. Baldwin singled in the eighth after the damage was done. Atlanta's first six innings were fly balls and quiet at-bats. Martinez handed a 0-0 game to the bullpen and watched it break.

Cam Booser finished the seventh. Didier Fuentes threw a clean eighth: three up, three down, one strikeout, nine pitches, and the win (6-2). The inning that changed the scoreboard was the one after Pérez left, against Kevin Kelly.

Albies triples, Riley singles, Kim drives in two

Kelly (6-4) faced five hitters and retired one. Mauricio Dubón grounded out. Pinch-hitter Ozzie Albies tripled to center, his first triple of the season. Austin Riley singled to right, Albies scoring. 1-0. Mike Yastrzemski hit a ground-rule double down the right-field line, Riley to third. Ha-Seong Kim singled to center, Riley and Yastrzemski scoring. 3-0. Casey Legumina inherited Kim. Baldwin singled, the fifth straight hit. Acuña bounced into a double play. The eighth ended 3-0.

The AP recap called Kim light-hitting and the two-run single crucial. It was. The Braves had been searching for any inning that looked like one. It had taken Atlanta eight innings and a pinch-hit triple to score. Four hits off Kelly and one more off Legumina turned Martinez's night into a no-decision.

Raisel Iglesias opened the ninth by watching Victor Mesa Jr. homer to right-center, his 12th, a pinch-hit line drive. 3-1. Simpson walked. Liam Hicks struck out after a pitch-result challenge. Jonathan Aranda grounded to the mound. Iglesias's 32nd save in 35 chances. Mesa was the only Rays extra-base hit. Four of Tampa Bay's five hits did nothing. The fifth made the ninth loud and not enough.

A series loss, a four-game East lead

Tampa Bay is 87-59. Atlanta is 86-61. The Rays still lead the AL East by three after New York won. They go home to face Houston, Drew Rasmussen lined up for Friday, per the AP notes. The clinch that was available on Thursday is a game they did not take. Martinez deserved better. So did Pérez. Only one of them left with a lead on the board.

Atlanta hosts Philadelphia next, a three-game set with a four-game NL East lead. The Braves needed a night that did not look like Tuesday or Wednesday. They got seven scoreless from Pérez and three runs on five straight hits. Kim drove in two. Riley drove in one. Albies's triple was the first crack. That is a 3-1 you take in September even when the ninth gets a homer.

Cedric Mullins went 0-for-3. Jorge Mateo went 0-for-3. Michael Harris II went 0-for-3. Acuña went 0-for-4. The game was 0-0 into the eighth because both lineups spent two hours making contact that did not move anyone. Then Atlanta strung together the only rally that counted.

AthX Engine after the baseball

AthX Engine (our projection and scoring system) put Martinez at 21.33 pitching fantasy points and Pérez at 21. Mesa had 6 hitting FP on the pinch-hit homer. Atlanta finished with 8 team FP, tied for second. Tampa Bay finished at minus-2. Seven scoreless innings and a three-run eighth will outrank a 1-0 loss even when the loser struck out fewer and threw fewer pitches.

Fantasy points measure the night under platform scoring rules. Share prices also move with traders through dynamic pricing. They are related. They are not the same number.

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*Sources: ESPN recap and box score, MLB.com Gameday wrap, MLB.com schedule, and AthX Engine scoring. Information only; not financial advice.*