Acuña stays hot in Braves' first win of 2021
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Ronald Acuña Jr. continued to swing a hot bat and Travis d'Arnaud delivered a key double during a five-run second inning that propelled the Braves to their first win of the season, a 7-6 victory over the Nationals in the first game of Wednesday afternoon’s doubleheader at Nationals Park.
Ozzie Albies’ first hit of the season -- a seventh-inning leadoff single -- put him in position to score on a wild pitch from Wander Suero. The insurance run proved significant when Will Smith allowed a Starlin Castro RBI double in the bottom of the same frame before notching his first save in this seven-inning contest.
While snapping its four-game losing streak, Atlanta overcame a rough outing by Max Fried, who exited shortly after his right calf was struck by a Juan Soto comebacker in the second inning. Fried allowed five runs and eight hits over just two innings.
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“Obviously, I wasn’t necessarily as effective as I wanted to be,” Fried said. “But I’m happy the team was able to pick me up, and I was able to get the win.”
After a two-run homer from Trea Turner highlighted Washington’s four-run first, the Braves responded against Nats starter Erick Fedde. Fried followed Ender Inciarte’s double with a run-scoring infield single and advanced when Acuña drove in another run with a single.
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Acuña produced his sixth career multi-homer game on Tuesday, and he has gone 5-for-9 with three extra-base hits through the first two games of this series. His leadoff double positioned him to score on a passed ball in the first, and his second-inning single led to him sprinting home when d’Arnaud hit the double off the left-center-field wall.
“That was very encouraging to see us keep an inning going with just the way we were swinging the bat,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said. "So that was good. I knew it was gonna happen at some point.”