Bob Horner, the power-hitting third baseman who was the No. 1 overall draft pick in 1978 and hit a home run in his debut with the Atlanta Braves after skipping the minor leagues, has died. He was 68.

The Braves, who said Tuesday they were informed of Horner’s death in Texas by his wife, Chris, announced the news on their X account. The team did not report Horner’s cause of death.

Horner hit 218 homers in his 10-year career, including nine seasons with the Braves. The total included a four-homer game in 1986. He joined two-time MVP Dale Murphy to form the heart of the Braves’ lineup through much of the 1980s.

Following a standout career at Arizona State that earned him a place in the College Baseball Hall of Fame’s first class, Horner became the first Braves draft pick to skip the minor leagues and play his first professional game in the major leagues. In his debut, Horner hit a homer off future Hall of Fame pitcher Bert Blyleven of the Pittsburgh Pirates on June 16, 1978.

Horner was the NL Rookie of the Year after hitting .266 with 23 homers in 89 games.

On July 6, 1986, against Montreal, Horner became the first Braves player to hit four home runs in a game.

He hit .277 for his career and had three seasons with more than 30 homers, including a career-high 35 in 1980. He was an All-Star in 1982 when he hit .261 with 32 homers and 97 RBIs.

Horner left the Braves after the 1986 season, signing to play one season in Japan before returning to the major leagues to play for St. Louis in 1988. He retired during spring training of 1989.

At Arizona State, Horner was the MVP of the 1977 College World Series and won the first Golden Spikes Award as the top player in college baseball in 1978 after setting the NCAA career record with 56 homers. The record now is held by Oklahoma State’s Pete Incaviglia, who hit 100 from 1983-85.

Pirates 12, Cubs 1: Esmerlyn Valdez hit a two-run home run to cap a five-run first inning on Tuesday night and host Pittsburgh extended Chicago’s losing streak to 10 games. The Cubs are just the second team in major league history to have two 10-game winning streaks and one 10-game losing streak in the same season, joining the 2017 Los Angeles Dodgers.

Braxton Ashcraft (4-3) allowed one run on seven hits in 6 1/3 innings while striking out five. He is 3-0 with a 1.82 ERA in five starts in May.

Angels 10, Tigers 6: Vaughn Grissom hit a grand slam and drove in six runs as visiting Los Angeles defeated Detroit.

Detroit led 6-4 going into the eighth, and Will Vest (1-4) got the first two outs with a runner on second. Logan O’Hoppe’s double made it a one-run game, Zach Neto singled and Mike Trout walked to load the bases for Grissom.

Braves 7, Red Sox 6: Michael Harris II had four hits, including a two-run home run, and Matt Olson added another two-run homer for Atlanta.