Acuna homers, hit by pitch again as Braves blank Marlins

Ronald Acuna Jr. homered and got hit by another pitch, and Sean Newcomb pitched six innings of two-hit, scoreless ball to lead the Atlanta Braves past the host Miami Marlins 5-0 on Thursday night.Acuna’s third-inning solo blast was his 21st homer of the season and his seventh in 16 games against Miami. It had an exit velocity of 105 mph and gave him the home run lead among all major league rookies this season.He also has 18 RBIs this season against the Marlins, and his 432-foot monster blow on Thursday seemed like sweet revenge. After all, Marlins right-hander Jose Urena was ejected on Aug. 15 (and later suspended) when he hit the red-hot Acuna with the first pitch of that game.Acuna was hit again on Thursday, this time by Marlins reliever Javy Guerra, who lost control of a 94 mph fastball on an 0-2 count.Acuna reacted by angrily tossing his helmet to the ground and glaring at Guerra.In the bottom of the sixth, Newcomb — who hadn’t hit a batter all season — plunked Miami’s top rookie, third baseman Brian Anderson, with a 94 mph fastball.Anderson was also hit by a 78 mph curveball in the eighth inning by reliever Jesse Biddle.Newcomb (11-6) allowed Miami to load the bases in the sixth before retiring Austin Dean on a groundout.Overall, Newcomb struck out eight and walked three. In 24 innings against Miami this year, he has allowed just 11 hits and a 0.75 ERA.Elieser Hernandez (2-7) took the loss, allowing three hits, two walks and three runs in three innings.Marlins reliever Jarlin Garcia was removed from the game in the fifth when he was hit by a batted ball on his right shin.Atlanta opened the scoring in the second inning. Ozzie Albies drew a one-out walk on a full count. On the next pitch, Charlie Culberson unloaded on a 90 mph fastball, driving it deep to left for his 10th homer of the season.Acuna’s homer made it 3-0 as he went deep for the 14th time since the All-Star break. Among National League players, only Matt Carpenter of the St. Louis Cardinals leads him in that category this year.Atlanta extended its lead to 5-0 in the fifth on Ender Inciarte’s solo homer and Johan Camargo’s RBI double. It was Inciarte’s eighth homer of the season.