Machado homers in 9th as Padres overcome Acuña's dramatic return, beat Braves 2-1 to end 6-game skid

ATLANTA (AP) — Manny Machado hit a tiebreaking homer off Raisel Iglesias in the ninth inning and the San Diego Padres overcame Ronald Acuña Jr.'s home run in his season debut to beat the Atlanta Braves 2-1 on Friday night and end their six-game losing streak.

Machado led off the ninth by lining his fourth homer off Iglesias (3-4) to left field.

Acuña wasted no time before thrilling the sellout crowd in his much-anticipated return to the Braves' lineup. He crushed the first pitch he saw 467 feet for a home run, turning on a fastball from Nick Pivetta for the shot into the seats in left-center in the first inning. He added a single in his next at-bat.

Acuña also enjoyed a defensive highlight, throwing out Elias Díaz at second base in the eighth following Díaz's single.

Acuña, the 2023 NL MVP, was activated from the injured list almost one year after he tore his left ACL.

Braves starter Chris Sale allowed a second-inning homer to Gavin Sheets.

Jason Adam (5-0) recorded the final out in the eighth. Robert Suarez overcame Alex Verdugo's leadoff single in the ninth for his 16th save.

Eli White, running for Verdugo, was thrown out trying to return to second base following Ozzie Albie's single to center. White apparently thought Jackson Merrill caught the ball in center field.

Fernando Tatis Jr. doubled to lead off the sixth and was on third base with one out when Manny Machado hit a grounder to third baseman Austin Riley. Tatis was thrown out at the plate by Riley, preserving a 1-1 tie.

The homer by Acuña had an exit velocity of 115.5 mph. It was the hardest hit ball by a Braves player this season.

Atlanta's Grant Holmes (2-3, 4.01 ERA) will face San Diego's Michael King (4-2, 2.59) in a matchup of right-handers as the series continues on Saturday.

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Atlanta Braves outfielder Ronald Acuna Jr. reacts after making an outfield assist in the eighth inning of a baseball game against the San Diego Padres, Friday, May 23, 2025, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Colin Hubbard)

San Diego Padres' Manny Machado hits a home run in the ninth inning of a baseball game against the Atlanta Braves, Friday, May 23, 2025, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Colin Hubbard)

San Diego Padres' Manny Machado, left, rounds third base after hitting a home run in the ninth inning of a baseball game against the Atlanta Braves, Friday, May 23, 2025, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Colin Hubbard)

San Diego Padres pitcher Nick Pivetta delivers in the third inning of a baseball game against the Atlanta Braves, Friday, May 23, 2025, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Colin Hubbard)

San Diego Padres' Fernando Tatis Jr. hits a double in the sixth inning of a baseball game against the Atlanta Braves, Friday, May 23, 2025, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Colin Hubbard)

Atlanta Braves' Ronald Acuna Jr. hits a home run in the first inning of a baseball game against the San Diego Padres, Friday, May 23, 2025, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Colin Hubbard)

Atlanta Braves' Ronald Acuna Jr. celebrates in the dugout after hitting a home run in the first inning of a baseball game against the San Diego Padres, Friday, May 23, 2025, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Colin Hubbard)

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — An ailing astronaut returned to Earth with three others on Thursday, ending their space station mission more than a month early in NASA’s first medical evacuation.

SpaceX guided the capsule to a middle-of-the-night splashdown in the Pacific near San Diego, less than 11 hours after the astronauts exited the International Space Station.

“It’s so good to be home,” said NASA astronaut Zena Cardman, the capsule commander.

It was an unexpected finish to a mission that began in August and left the orbiting lab with only one American and two Russians on board. NASA and SpaceX said they would try to move up the launch of a fresh crew of four; liftoff is currently targeted for mid-February.

Cardman and NASA’s Mike Fincke were joined on the return by Japan’s Kimiya Yui and Russia’s Oleg Platonov. Officials have refused to identify the astronaut who had the health problem or explain what happened, citing medical privacy.

While the astronaut was stable in orbit, NASA wanted them back on Earth as soon as possible to receive proper care and diagnostic testing. The entry and splashdown required no special changes or accommodations, officials said, and the recovery ship had its usual allotment of medical experts on board. It was not immediately known when the astronauts would fly from California to their home base in Houston. Platonov’s return to Moscow was also unclear.

NASA stressed repeatedly over the past week that this was not an emergency. The astronaut fell sick or was injured on Jan. 7, prompting NASA to call off the next day’s spacewalk by Cardman and Fincke, and ultimately resulting in the early return. It was the first time NASA cut short a spaceflight for medical reasons. The Russians had done so decades ago.

The space station has gotten by with three astronauts before, sometimes even with just two. NASA said it will be unable to perform a spacewalk, even for an emergency, until the arrival of the next crew, which has two Americans, one French and one Russian astronaut.

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

This screengrab from video provided by NASA TV shows the SpaceX Dragon departing from the International Space Station shortly after undocking with four NASA Crew-11 members inside on Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. (NASA via AP)

This photo provided by NASA shows clockwise from bottom left are, NASA astronaut Mike Fincke, Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Platonov, NASA astronaut Zena Cardman, and JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Kimiya Yui gathering for a crew portrait wearing their Dragon pressure suits during a suit verification check inside the International Space Station’s Kibo laboratory module, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. (NASA via AP)

This screengrab from video provided by NASA shows recovery vessels approaching the NASA's SpaceX Crew-11 capsule to evacuate one of the crew members after they re-entered the earth in a middle-of-the-night splashdown near San Diego, Calif., Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (NASA via AP)

This screengrab from video provided by NASA shows the NASA's SpaceX Crew-11 members re entering the earth in a middle-of-the-night splashdown near San Diego, Calif., Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (NASA via AP)

This screengrab from video provided by NASA shows the NASA's SpaceX Crew-11 members re entering the earth in a middle-of-the-night splashdown near San Diego, Calif., Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (NASA via AP)