Michael Harris II hit two home runs and Mike Yastrzemski broke out of a slump with a homer and three hits to help the visiting Atlanta Braves beat the Miami Marlins 9-3 on Thursday.
Atlanta won the last three games of the four-game series, but it may have lost Ronald Acuna Jr. The star right fielder, who went 2-for-3 with two RBIs, was removed from the game in the sixth inning due to pain in his left thumb.
Acuna had just returned from the injured list on Monday after recovering from a hamstring injury.
Harris went 2-for-5 with three RBIs, with his homers in the first and ninth innings giving him 11 on the year. He went 6-for-15 over the past three games, lifting his batting average to .298.
Yastrzemski had gone 0-for-9 in the series before homering in his first plate appearance on Thursday and then adding a single and a double. It was his sixth multi-hit game and first three-hit game of the season.
The Braves had 13 hits, with Dominic Smith also picking up two hits.
Atlanta starter Spencer Strider (2-0) allowed three runs on only four hits, but three of them were solo homers — one by Owen Caissie, his fourth, and two from Kyle Stowers, his second and third. Strider walked two and struck out a season-high nine.
Dylan Lee (two-thirds of an inning), Robert Suarez (one inning) and Dylan Dodd (one inning) finished the game without allowing further damage.
Miami starter Sandy Alcantara (3-3) pitched six innings and allowed six runs on nine hits. He struck out three without issuing a walk.
The Braves quickly got on the scoreboard in the first inning when Acuna singled and Harris followed with a two-run homer to right-center. Atlanta upped the lead to 3-0 in the second inning when Yastrzemski hit a solo shot.
The Marlins cut the margin to 3-2 with a pair of solo homers to right-center. Caissie went deep leading off the third inning, and Stowers added a solo blast with two outs in the fourth.
Acuna’s two-run single in the fifth and Yastrzemski’s RBI double in the sixth increased the gap to 6-2.
Stowers homered again to open the seventh, but Mauricio Dubon replied with a two-run single in the eighth.
–Field Level Media
