MLB

Braves' Acuña Carted Off With Apparent Leg Injury in Win Over Marlins

He slammed into the outfield wall and crumbled on the warning track, immediately grabbing toward his right knee while Chisholm sprinted out an inside-the-park homer

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Braves star Ronald Acuña Jr. was carted off the field in tears with an apparent right leg injury during Atlanta's 5-4 win over the Miami Marlins on Saturday.

Acuña landed awkwardly on his right leg after jumping on the warning track in right field to try to catch a drive from Jazz Chisholm Jr. in the fifth inning. He slammed into the outfield wall and crumbled on the warning track, immediately grabbing toward his right knee while Chisholm sprinted out an inside-the-park homer.

Acuña tried to walk off but dropped back to the ground in shallow right field. A trainer tended to him while a cart was retrieved, and concerned teammates gathered quietly around him.

Tears welled in the 23-year-old's eyes as he waited. When the cart pulled around to the nearby warning track, he had to be helped over and did not put any weight on his right leg.

No further details on the extent of the injury were immediately available.

Acuña is slated to start in the outfield for the NL All-Star team in Tuesday’s game, his third appearance. He is hitting .283 with 24 home runs and 52 RBIs for the three-time defending NL East champions, who started the day in second place behind the New York Mets.

Freddie Freeman had a two-run homer and an RBI single, while Dansby Swanson and Austin Riley ripped doubles as the first three Braves reached base off All-Star pitcher Trevor Rogers (7-6) in the fourth inning. Atlanta has won three straight over Miami.

Acuña doubled in the top of the fifth and scored on Freeman’s shot over the right-field wall.

Max Fried (6-5) gave up three consecutive hits after Acuña was injured but went five innings with five strikeouts. He surrendered nine hits.

Rogers lasted four innings and gave up three runs, two earned, while striking out four and walking two.

Rogers’ own miscue led to an unearned run in the third. After walking Jonathan Lucroy, the lefty threw wildly past first baseman Jesus Aguilar. Lucroy later raced home from second on Freeman’s single.

Prior to leaving the game in the fifth with mild intercostal soreness, Adam Duvall continued to be a nemesis to his former team. The Marlins slugger lined a two-out double in the first inning and followed that with a two-run single in the third.

The Marlins loaded the bases with one out after Acuña’s injury, but Fried struck out Jon Berti and Jorge Alfaro to maintain Atlanta's two-run advantage. Miami left runners on second and third in the first inning, too.

Chisholm’s RBI single accounted for the Marlins’ final run in the ninth inning.

CAREER FIRST

Chisholm's inside-the-park home run was not only the first of his career but the first by the Marlins since JT Riddle accomplished the feat on May 29, 2018 in San Diego. It was also the first for the Marlins at home since J.T. Realmuto on Sept. 8, 2015.

ROSTER MOVES

Marlins: LHP Shawn Morimando, who pitched five scoreless innings on Friday, was designated for assignment. RHP Preston Guilmet was recalled from Triple-A Jacksonville as a long-relief option.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Braves: C Travis d’Arnaud (torn ligaments in left thumb) continues to make strides and is swinging a bat with both hands, and RHP Huascar Ynoa is progressing with long tosses and will throw off the mound in a couple days.

UP NEXT

RHP Ian Anderson (5-4, 3-27) gets the start for the Braves, while the Marlins counter with RHP Pablo López (4-5, 2.94) in the finale for both teams prior to the All-Star break.

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