Michael Harris II went 3-for-5 with three RBIs, Ronald Acuna Jr. homered and the visiting Atlanta Braves posted an 8-3 victory over the Cincinnati Reds in the first contest of a three-game set on Friday.

Jorge Mateo drove in two runs and Dominic Smith had three hits and two runs for Atlanta, which earned its major league-leading 39th win and improved to 20 games above .500. Grant Holmes tossed 4 2/3 innings for the Braves, allowing three runs on seven hits, striking out five and walking one. Didier Fuentes (4-0) earned the win, throwing 1 1/3 scoreless innings.

Chris Paddack (0-7) continued his winless start to the season, allowing four runs on seven hits and three walks across five innings for the Reds, who dropped their second straight after winning five of their previous six. JJ Bleday and Nathaniel Lowe each homered for Cincinnati.

Acuna opened the scoring with a leadoff homer in the first — his fourth home run of the season and second in as many games.

In the second, Smith singled before Austin Riley and Mike Yastrzemski both walked to load the bases with nobody out. Mateo then drove in the second Atlanta run with a groundout. Chadwick Tromp followed with a sacrifice fly to make it 3-0.

After Acuna’s walk, Harris’ RBI single extended the margin to four.

The Reds cut into their deficit in the bottom of the fourth, as Bleday launched his eighth homer of the season to begin the frame. Sal Stewart followed with a double, but was caught stealing by Tromp for the second out.

Lowe sliced the Reds’ deficit to 4-2 with a solo homer to right — his ninth of the year.

Holmes allowed TJ Friedl’s leadoff single in the fifth, before Bleday’s two-out base hit placed runners on the corners. Fuentes then replaced Holmes and surrendered an RBI single to Stewart, cutting the lead to 4-3.

Yunior Marte threw the sixth for the Reds, allowing Smith’s leadoff single before hitting Riley with a pitch. Yastrzemski laced a double to give the Braves a 5-3 edge. Mateo followed with a run-scoring single, and Harris drove in two more with a double to left.

–Field Level Media

A four-run first inning carried the Cleveland Guardians to a 4-3 victory over the visiting Boston Red Sox on Friday in the opener of a three-game series.

Boston had the game-tying run on base when Isiah Kiner-Falefa singled to open the ninth, but Cleveland closer Cade Smith struck out the next three batters to collect his 20th save.

Cleveland’s four-run first included RBI singles by Rhys Hoskins and Angel Martinez, a Ceddanne Rafaela error that allowed Hoskins to score, and a Patrick Bailey sacrifice fly that drove in Kyle Manzardo.

All four runs were charged to Tyler Samaniego (0-3), who was used as an opener before giving way to Brayan Bello after one inning. Samaniego allowed six hits in the inning.

Bello pitched seven scoreless innings. He limited Cleveland to four hits, struck out five and didn’t walk a batter.

The Guardians received two hits from both Manzardo and Chase DeLauter.

The Red Sox pulled within a run by scoring three times in the fifth. After Marcelo Mayer drove in Mickey Gasper with an RBI single and Kiner-Falefa scored on Caleb Durbin’s double, Mayer made it 4-3 by scoring on Jarren Duran’s sacrifice fly.

Cleveland starter Slade Cecconi was pulled with one out in the fifth. He gave up three runs on seven hits. Colin Holderman (3-0) picked up the win for recording the next four outs after Cecconi left the mound.

Boston’s Willson Contreras extended his hitting streak to 12 games with a single in the fourth inning. Contreras also singled with two outs in the eighth.

Nick Sogard pinch ran for Contreras in the eighth and moved to third on Masataka Yoshida’s single, but both runners were stranded when Gasper grounded out to first to end the inning. Gasper, Mayer and Kiner-Falefa each had two hits in the loss.

Boston was seeking its fourth straight road victory.

–Field Level Media

Nia Coffey had 20 points and eight rebounds and Natasha Howard scored 14 as they triggered a third-quarter surge that sparked the visiting Minnesota Lynx to a 79-58 victory over the Chicago Sky on Friday night.

Olivia Miles added 17 points and six assists, Courtney Williams scored 10 points and Coffey went 6-for-9 from 3-point range to offset her teammates making just 2 of 19 from beyond the arc. The Lynx (6-2) won their fourth consecutive game, which includes an 85-75 victory in Chicago six days earlier.

Kamilla Cardoso had 12 points and 13 rebounds and Skylar Diggins scored 14 points to lead the Sky (3-5), who made just 5 of 30 3-point attempts and finished 0-4 on their homestand.

Howard scored the first six points of the third quarter and Coffey added consecutive 3-pointers as Minnesota opened a 45-30 lead. Diggins made a jumper for Chicago’s first points of the half, but Coffey made another 3-pointer in the middle of a 7-0 run that pushed the lead to 20 points.

The Sky got as close as 10 points before Miles had four points and Kayla McBride had two free throws during an 8-0 run that gave the Lynx a 64-46 lead at the end of the third quarter.

Chicago crept within 69-58 on two Cardoso free throws with 3:39 remaining, but Minnesota scored the last 10 points.

At the outset, the lead changed hands three times and the score was tied three times before a 3-pointer by Coffey, a layup by Miles and a 3-pointer by Maya Caldwell gave the Lynx an eight-point lead. Natasha Cloud’s free throw ended that 8-0 run, as well as a three-minute scoring drought, as the Sky trimmed the lead to 19-12 at the end of the first quarter.

Minnesota scored the first four points of the second quarter and led by 11 points a second time before consecutive layups by Aicha Coulibaly and Diggins pulled Chicago within 27-20.

Howard’s layup ended a nearly four-minute scoring drought for the Lynx and extended their lead to 29-20. Cloud and Rachel Banham made consecutive 3-pointers to help the Sky close within 33-30 at halftime.

–Field Level Media