Ronald Acuña Jr. homers, Braves go deep 6 times, rout Marlins 14-6
MIAMI - Marcell Ozuna hit a grand slam among his two home runs, Ronald Acuña Jr also homered and the Atlanta Braves went deep six times to roll past the Miami Marlins 14-6 on Wednesday night.
Acuña's three-run shot to center field in the fifth inning was his sixth home run of the season and made it 11-4 before Austin Riley homered to left-center to add two more runs.
Only the Tampa Bay Rays and Los Angeles Dodgers have recorded more home runs so far this season than the Braves (52).
Acuña, April's National League player of the month, has powered Atlanta (21-10) at the plate.
He's hitting .358 and leads the majors with 43 hits and 14 stolen bases.
Ozuna hit the seventh grand slam of his career and Atlanta's first of the season during a seven-run second in which the Braves sent 12 batters to the plate against starter Braxton Garrett (1-1).
Ozuna also had a solo homer in the third and was 3 of 5 with five RBIs.
Michael Harris II had a two-run homer in the second, and Ozzie Albies added an RBI double.
Albies was 4 of 5 with two RBIs and had a solo shot in the eighth. He leads Atlanta with eight home runs this season.
Garrett allowed 14 hits, 11 runs, four home runs, walked two, and struck out three in 4 1/3 innings before Devin Smeltzer replaced him.
The Marlins got six hits and four runs off starter Kyle Wright, who was lifted in the third after giving up three straight hits to Yuli Gurriel, Luiz Arraez, and Jesús Sánchez.
Arraez, the league leader in batting average (.432), was 1 for 3 with an RBI double in the third that made it 8-3.
Collin McHugh (1-0) replaced Wright and allowed three hits in three scoreless innings.
Sánchez hit a two-run shot to center in the seventh.
EXTRA REST
Atlanta manager Brian Snitker said the Braves plan to have ace Max Fried start against Baltimore at home Friday instead of Thursday at Miami.
"With all these off days, there's a lot of balls in the air," Snitker said. (Atlanta had two games postponed because of rain over the weekend.) "Just trying to stretch these guys and not give them too much rest — and enough rest."
Snitker added that there are no concerns with Fried, and the club will see how Wednesday's game goes before deciding Thursday's starter.
ROSTER MOVES
The Marlins recalled OF Peyton Burdick and selected the contract of LHP Devin Smeltzer from Triple-A Jacksonville. RHP Johan Quezada was designated for assignment.
TRAINERS ROOM
Braves: Harris left after landing awkwardly on his right leg in the sixth. He walked off the field under his own power.
Marlins: INF Garrett Cooper went on the 10-day injured list with an inner ear infection. … RHP JT Chargois (right oblique) threw a 25-pitch bullpen Tuesday. … RHP Tommy Nance (right shoulder) threw a 20-pitch live bullpen Wednesday.
UP NEXT
LHP Jesús Luzardo (2-1) will start for Miami in the series finale.
