Braves star Ronald Acuña Jr. made even more MLB history Wednesday night as he established the 40-70 club while helping Atlanta secure home-field advantage through the National League playoffs.
Acuña delivered a run-scoring single in the 10th inning against the Chicago Cubs that tied the game at 5, then immediately took off for second to swipe his second base of the night and 70th this season.
He has 41 homers, extending a historic season that already saw him become the first 40-50 and 40-60 player.
“It was one of those numbers that wasn’t impossible but seemed impossible,” Acuña said through an interpreter after Atlanta’s 6-5 win. “Thankfully, we were able to get it done.”
Acuña is the second Braves player with 70 steals in a season since 1900, joining Otis Nixon in 1991 (72).
The Braves (102-56) need one win to guarantee home-field advantage through the World Series.
“It felt like a playoff atmosphere,” Acuña said of Wednesday’s game, “and hopefully we can take that going into the postseason.”
Chicago dropped into a tie with Miami for the NL’s third and final wild card at 82-76. The Cubs blew a six-run lead in Tuesday’s series opener, capped by Seiya Suzuki dropping a routine fly ball that handed the Braves a 7-6 victory.
This time, Atlanta erased deficits of 3-1, 4-3 and 5-4, with Marcell Ozuna hitting a tying homer in the ninth before Acuña and Ozzie Albies drove home the tying and winning runs in the 10th off Daniel Palencia.
Albies also homered for the Braves. Jesse Chavez earned the win.
Jameson Taillon allowed three hits over six-plus innings, retiring 17 of 18 hitters at one point. Mike Tauchman and Ian Happ homered for the Cubs.
Tauchman launched a 402-foot drive into the Chop House restaurant in right field for his eighth homer this season. Two batters later, Happ sent one even deeper over the center-field wall for his 20th homer.
Darius Vines made his second big league start for the injury plagued Braves, who are down two starting pitchers in the final days of the regular season. He went six innings, surrendering four hits and two earned runs.
Braves manager Brian Snitker was ejected in the second after the umps botched the call on a checked swing by Jeimer Candelario, allowing the Cubs to tie the game at 1.
The replay clearly showed that Candelario’s bat fouled the ball off, but the umpires did not detect the contact and the play was not subject to video review.
As catcher Sean Murphy was reaching back to umpire Shane Livensparger for another baseball, the one that Candelario struck rolled to the backstop. Cody Bellinger trotted home from third on what was ruled a passed ball.
ESPN Stats & Information and The Associated Press contributed to this report.