ATLANTA — Former Met Travis d'Arnaud hit a walk-off home run in the ninth inning and the Atlanta Braves maintained their postseason momentum with a 2-1 victory over the playoff-bound Kansas City Royals on Saturday night.
Reynaldo López came off the disabled list and pitched strongly for six innings for the Braves, who moved one game ahead of the Mets and half a game ahead of Arizona for the final two wild-card spots in the National League.
The Mets lost 6-0 to Milwaukee, and the Diamondbacks hosted San Diego.
In the 9th inning, d'Arnaud hit a 2-0 pitch from Sam Long (3 wins, 3 losses) over the center field wall, ending his 15th home run of the season with one swing.
Raisel Iglesias (6-2) won.
Lopez pitched for the first time since the game against Washington on September 10th, but he only pitched one inning at that time before returning due to discomfort in his shoulder.
An MRI showed no structural damage, but the Braves placed him on the 15-day disabled list during the playoff race to prevent the situation from worsening.
Lopez looked as good as ever after his return, allowing only two singles but striking out nine. After egging on Adam Frazier with his last of 73 pitches, he came off the mound, tapping his glove with satisfaction, and lowered his ERA to even 2.00 in a dazzling season.
Kansas City started the frame with just two hits from Lopez (back-to-back singles by Freddie Firmin and Garrett Hampson) and took the lead in the third inning. Fermin survived from third base when Dairon Blanco batted into a double play.
The Braves tied the score in the fourth inning with an unearned run.
With two outs, Jorge Soler hit a double that hit the yellow line above the wall in right-center field. d'Arnaud then released a dribbler to pitcher Michael Lorenson, who had enough time to catch the slow-moving catcher before throwing it into the Braves dugout.
Soler was sent home due to an error.
The Royals entered the game with a makeshift lineup a day after clinching their first postseason appearance since 2015.
Bobby Witt Jr. was one of six starters rested from Friday's 3-0 loss, with the other three placed at other positions.
It was Witt's first game missed all season after starting 160 consecutive games, playing 159 games at shortstop and one game as designated hitter.
The absence was an added benefit for the Royals star, who batted .332 with one game left in the regular season and likely clinched the American League batting title.
Seth Lugo, a 16-game winner with Kansas City, pitched two scoreless innings while being limited to 36 pitches, essentially a tune-up for the wild-card series that begins Tuesday.
