NEW YORK >> Ronald Acuña Jr. homered, Spencer Schwellenbach pitched seven strong innings and the Atlanta Braves held off the New York Mets 3-2 on Monday night in the opener of a four-game series.

Michael Harris II and Sean Murphy each had an early sacrifice fly for the Braves, who beat starter Paul Blackburn (0-2) for the second time in six days and improved to 4-0 against the Mets this season.

Juan Soto hit a two-run homer that pulled the Mets within one, but he struck out against left-hander Dylan Lee with runners at the corners to end the eighth.

New York has dropped nine of 10, including a three-game sweep by its NL East rival in Atlanta last week.

Schwellenbach (6-4) allowed consecutive singles in the third for New York’s first two hits. The scoring threat ended when third baseman Austin Riley made a diving catch of Brandon Nimmo’s popup near the tarp in foul territory.

Nimmo walked with two outs in the sixth and Soto drove a sinker into the left-center stands for his 17th homer of the year and eighth in 21 games this month.

Cardinals 8, Cubs 2 >> Alec Burleson and Brendan Donovan each hit two-run homers in the fifth inning, Matthew Liberatore pitched seven strong innings, and St. Louis beat Chicago.

Lars Nootbaar and Nolan Gorman also homered as the Cardinals hit a season-best four home runs for the first time since April 30 at Cincinnati.

Liberatore (5-6) allowed two runs on six hits and struck out five for the Cardinals, who have won six of their last seven games.

Mariners 11, Twins 2 >> Cal Raleigh hit his major league-leading 32nd home run, one of four by Seattle in the Mariners’ victory over Minnesota.

Raleigh hit a two-run shot to left in the ninth inning off reliever Joey Wentz.

Orioles 6, Rangers 0 >> Trevor Rogers allowed three hits in a career-high eight innings in his home debut, Jackson Holliday hit a three-run homer and drove in the game’s first four runs and Baltimore beat Texas with the game temperature reaching 100 degrees.

Reds 6, Yankees 1 >> Elly De La Cruz homered, tripled and drove in three runs as Cincinnati defeated New York.

Gavin Lux also went deep for the Reds, who have won two straight and 11 of 16.

Pirates 5, Brewers 4 >> Nick Gonzales went 5 for 5 with two RBIs, Isiah Kiner-Falefa tripled home the go-ahead run in the sixth inning and Pittsburgh beat Milwaukee to snap the Brewers’ four-game winning streak.

Tommy Pham hit a one-out single off Nick Mears (1-1) and scored when Kiner-Falefa sent a line drive into the right-field corner. Pham also hit his first homer of the season, a two-run shot off Chad Patrick in the fourth.

Diamondbacks 10, White Sox 0 >> Pavin Smith homered twice and drove in four runs, and Arizona beat Chicago in a game that saw the Diamondbacks lose Eugenio Suárez and Josh Naylor to injuries.

Suárez left after he was hit on the right hand in the first inning on a pitch from Shane Smith. The team announced he had a right-hand contusion and X-rays were negative.