ATLANTA (AP) —ed base once in his first six at-bats against Nationals ace Max Scherzer.“I think it helps having some previous at-bats against him Ronald Acuna Jr. Jersey ,” Acuna said through a translator. “I just went in with the same approach. I wanted to have fun out there on the field and have good at-bats.”Acuna went 4 for 5, had two RBIs and scored the tiebreaking run in the fourth inning to help the NL East-leading Atlanta Braves win their season-best sixth straight game with a 10-5 victory over the Washington Nationals on Friday night.The Braves stayed 7½ games ahead of second-place Philadelphia. Any combination of nine Atlanta victories or Phillies’ losses will give the Braves their first division title since 2013.Scherzer (17-7) endured his shortest outing of the year, four innings, while allowing six runs — a season high — and seven hits in 102 pitches.Scherzer, a three-time Cy Young Award winner, was no match for Acuna, one of baseball’s hottest hitters since the All-Star break.The 20-year-old left fielder doubled off the wall in his first at-bat. He drove in two runs with a bloop single in the second. He tripled and scored the tiebreaking run on a sacrifice fly in the fourth. His single in the eighth gave Acuna a single-game high in hits.Juan Soto, Washington’s 19-year-old left fielder, was impressive, too, homering in his fourth straight game and running a long way to catch a liner in the third. Soto scored the game’s first run in the second after beating a tag on Acuna’s throw to third. His 20th homer was a solo shot in the fourth.“I would say I’m definitely having fun sharing the field with him,” Acuna said, “but I’m always going out there to have a good time on the field every time.”The third-place Nationals had won four of five, but they dropped to 74-74 and can be eliminated from the division race by any combination of six Atlanta wins or Washington losses.Kevin Gausman (10-10) gave up seven hits, two walks and four runs — three earned — in 5 2/3 innings. Gausman improved to 5-2 with a 2.61 ERA in eight starts since the Braves acquired him in a trade with Baltimore.Scherzer, the majors’ active career leader in strikeouts, threw 31 pitches in the second, the worst coming on a two-out, eight-pitch walk to Gausman that loaded the bases. Acuna http://www.bravesfanproshop.com/authentic-sean-newcomb-jersey , the next batter, fought off a slider on his hands to drop the ball into shallow right field and make it 2-all.“I think with a pitcher of his stature, the only way you’re going to get to him really is to tire him out,” Gausman said. “It was pretty hot, and when you have a long inning like that — yeah, the guys were stringing together some pretty good at-bats and made him work.”Scherzer was sweating so profusely in the second that he had to replace his hat after Acuna’s hit. Sweat was rolling off the bill of his cap, affecting Scherzer’s vision, and he appeared to be struggling with his grip on the ball.“I wasn’t able to get in rhythm,” Scherzer said. “I never felt I had good command of any of my pitches. I could never get in sync.”Atlanta led 4-2 in the third on Tyler Flowers’ two-run single. After Soto’s homer and Wilmer Difo’s RBI double forced a tie in the fourth, Acuna answered in the bottom half of the inning, tripling and scoring on Freeman’s sacrifice fly. Markakis’ RBI single put Atlanta up 6-4.Charlie Culberson’s infield RBI single put the Braves up 7-4 in the sixth. Bryce Harper had an RBI groundout in the sixth for Washington. Markakis drove in two of the Braves’ three runs in the eighth.HE SAID, HE SAIDWashington slugger Bryce Harper and home plate umpire Laz Diaz were arguing with each other much of the night. It started when Harper disagreed with a call in the fifth and continued when Harper was in center field as they yelled at each other during the next inning. It stopped short of reaching a boiling point in the seventh when Diaz called a strike on a pitch that was clearly off the plate. Harper argued with Diaz while looking straight ahead, not making eye contact with the umpire. Nationals manager Dave Martinez came from the dugout to back Harper, but Diaz did not eject either.“I’m not going to make any comment on balls and strikes there, but umpires are supposed to be non-confrontational,” Martinez said. “They’re supposed to uphold the peace on the baseball field. For me MLB needs to take a look at that. . (Diaz) is saying things to Harp, and I thought that was uncalled for.”TRAINER’S ROOMAtlanta 3B Johan Camargo missed his second straight game with left groin tightness. … The Braves returned RHP Arodys Vizcaino from a rehab assignment and reinstated him from the 60-day disabled list. Manager Brian Snitker said Vizcaino, the team’s closer during parts of each of the last three years, will not be used in high leverage situations immediately. Vizcaino missed 63 games with right shoulder inflammation.TIME GONE BYThe 3 hour Preston Tucker Jersey , 54-minute game was the longest nine-inning game Atlanta has played since April 10, 2016 against St. Louis. The last time the Braves played a longer game without needing a bottom of the ninth was June 3, 2000 against the Yankees.UP NEXTNationals: RHP Jeremy Hellickson (5-3, 3.57 ERA) will make his 19th start and first since Aug. 15 at St. Louis. He missed 21 games with a right wrist sprain and was sidelined 22 games earlier this year with a right hamstring strain. Hellickson is 2-0 with a 3.18 ERA in six career starts against Atlanta.Braves: RHP Julio Teheran (9-7, 3.95 ERA) will make his 29th start. Atlanta has won three of his last five outings. Teheran has been hit hard by the Nationals this year, going 0-1 with a 7.56 ERA in two starts. He is 6-5 with a 4.12 ERA in 20 career starts against Washington. ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Marwin Gonzalez was at his best again, homering for the eighth time this month. Justin Verlander didn’t have his best stuff, but he did just enough.Gonzalez and Verlander proved to be a winning combination as they led the Houston Astros to an 8-3 win over the Los Angeles Angels on Saturday night.Gonzalez hit a solo home run to left-center field off reliever Williams Jerez to lead off the four-run eighth inning. Gonzalez has 14 home runs this season, including eight in August. The Astros had been clinging to a one-run lead before he opened the eighth with that homer.“Marwin is a great player,” teammate Jose Altuve said. “He did it last year. He’s been doing it a long time. Sometimes, people get surprised by what he does. Not me, because I’ve seen him play this good.”The Astros (79-50) are in first place in the AL West and have won four consecutive games and five of their last six. They’re the best road team in baseball, improving to 17-5 in California. The Astros are 6-2 against the Angels this season. The Angels have lost five consecutive games.Verlander allowed three runs in six innings, but he was staked to an early 3-0 lead and the offense picked him up.“Awesome. Those guys backed me up today,” Verlander said. “Today was a battle for me physically. Didn’t feel great for whatever reason. One of those games you take pride in battling, knowing I didn’t have anywhere near my best stuff.”Altuve was hit in the elbow by a fastball from Justin Anderson in the seventh, but remained in the game. Ohtani was then hit in the backside by Roberto Osuna in the eighth and both benches were warned. Deck McGuire hit Yuli Gurriel in the leg in the ninth inning and was ejected. Angels manager Mike Scioscia was also ejected.“I would like to think the pitch was not on purpose. I’m not sure about that,” Ohtani said through an interpreter. “We hit their guy. I’m sure it wasn’t on purpose. It’s part of baseball. It happens.”McGuire said there was no intent behind his pitch http://www.oriolesfanproshop.com/authentic-j.j.-hardy-jersey , either.“I was just trying to go in … to a guy who likes to dive over the plate and I missed down the middle, and I’m just trying to make sure it didn’t happen again,” McGuire said. “It’s unfortunate in that situation that (bench) warnings had been issued because there was no intent on my part.”Verlander (13-8) had thrown 26 consecutive scoreless innings against the Angels this season before Shohei Ohtani homered against him in the fourth inning on the first pitch of the at-bat. It was Ohtani’s 14th home run of the season, eight shy of his career best in Japan in 2016.Verlander allowed six hits and struck out six and walked two. He was grooving until the fourth when Ohtani hit a two-run homer to center field. Andrelton Simmons hit a run-scoring triple off Verlander in the sixth.Ohtani was caught stealing for the first time this season. He was thrown out at third by catcher and friend Martin Maldonado, who was traded by the Angels in July. Maldonado was smiling plenty afterward.Jaime Barria (8-8) had a rough outing, lasting just three innings after he gave up four runs on five hits. It was his shortest outing since he threw just two innings in a loss against San Francisco on April 22.CHECK PLEASEOne day after showing off a million-dollar receipt for being a “Dodger killer” for his lunch from The Beverly Hills Hotel on Friday, Verlander revealed that his meal was comped. The hotel jokingly charged him an extra $1 million since Houston beat the Dodgers to win the World Series last year. The receipt went viral, for many things, including how expensive the items were, like the $30 pancakes, $42 chicken salad and $10 cranberry juice.“The manager came over and we ended up laughing about it,” Verlander said. “They actually ended up comping the meal. Everyone was talking about how expensive the pancakes were and the salad. It was comped. It worked out well for both sides.”TRAINER’S ROOMAstros: OF George Springer (quadriceps) is expected to get an at-bat Saturday or Sunday. A decision will be made by Monday whether he will go on the disabled list or not. He has missed five consecutive games. … INF Gonzalez (sore knee) is still in the lineup but experiencing some soreness.Angels: RHP/DH Ohtani (strained right elbow) threw a 21-pitch bullpen session on Saturday. He is scheduled to throw a simulated game next week. … LHP Tyler Skaggs (left adductor strain) played catch again Saturday. … C Rene Rivera (bee sting) was stung on his arm during Friday’s game when he threw a ball back to the mound. He stayed in the game.UP NEXTAstros: LHP Framber Valdez (1-0, 0.00 ERA) will make his first career start and second appearance. He threw 4 1/3 innings in relief in his Major League debut Tuesday, allowing one unearned run on two hits and struck out four.Angels: RHP Felix Pena (1-3, 4.53) struck out 12 in his last start but gave up four earned runs in six innings in the Angels’ 5-4 loss in Arizona on Tuesday.