Kelly's hero with tying and winning hits in Cubs' 7-6 win over Braves

Carson Kelly hit a tying two-run homer in the eighth inning and a game-ending single in the 10th, sending the Chicago Cubs to a wild 7-6 victory over the Atlanta Braves on Monday.

Ian Happ had three hits for Chicago, including his 19th homer. Dansby Swanson drove in two runs, and Matt Shaw had a run-scoring double.

Seiya Suzuki began the Cubs’ 10th on second as the automatic runner. Suzuki advanced on Nico Hoerner’s one-out grounder to second before Kelly hit a liner into the corner in left off John Brebbia (1-1).

Andrew Kittredge (4-3) worked a perfect 10th for the win.

The Cubs trailed 6-1 before Shaw doubled home Swanson in the fifth. Swanson hit a two-run double off Hunter Stratton in the sixth, and Kelly completed the comeback with his 14th homer, setting off a wild celebration for the crowd of 39,673 at Wrigley Field.

Joey Wentz (5-4, 4.92 ERA) starts for Atlanta on Tuesday night, and fellow left-hander Shota Imanaga (8-6, 3.08 ERA) pitches for Chicago.

The Cubs gained to within 5.5 games of division-leading Milwaukee, but time is running out. Coming into Monday, the Cubs "magic number" to clinch a playoff berth was 17 with 25 games remaining.

The Cubs, San Diego Padres and New York Mets are in position for the final three MLB postseason spots, but division races and the wild-card races are far from over in the MLB playoff picture.


(AP Photo Nam Y. Huh)