Acuna’s homer heroics carry Braves to sweep of Marlins

Atlanta Braves rookie left fielder Ronald Acuna Jr. joined some elite company Monday when he homered to lead off both games of a doubleheader sweep against the visiting Miami Marlins.Acuna homered to start the first game, a 9-1 Atlanta win, and duplicated the feat in the second game, which Atlanta won 6-1 at SunTrust Park.Acuna became the fourth player to homer as the leadoff hitter in both ends of doubleheader, joining Harry Hooper of the Boston Red Sox in 1913, Ricky Henderson of the Oakland A’s in 1993 and Brady Anderson of the Baltimore Orioles in 1999.According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Acuna, 20 years, 238 days old, also became the youngest player ever to homer in four consecutive games. The old mark was set by Florida Marlins’ Miguel Cabrera in 2004 when he was 20 years, 362 days old.Acuna was 3-for-5 with two runs, his 17th home run and two RBIs in the nightcap after going 2-for-3 in the first game. In 23 games he’s hit leadoff, Acuna is 31-for-90 (.344) with 23 runs and 10 homers. He has a 10-game hitting streak, going 13-for-29 (.448) during that span.Acuna’s hitting overshadowed another strong start from right-hander Mike Foltynewicz (10-7), who won his third consecutive decision and joined teammate Sean Newcomb with double-digit wins. Foltynewicz pitched eight innings and allowed one run on five hits and three walks. He struck out seven and allowed only one hit after the third inning.Foltynewicz improved his career record against Miami to 5-1. In two starts against the Marlins this season, he has allowed one earned run and owns a 0.69 ERA.Dan Winkler finished the game by pitching a scoreless ninth inning in a non-save situation. He struck out two.The losing pitcher was rookie Merandy Gonzalez (2-1), who was making his first start against the Braves. He pitched 4 2/3 innings and allowed three runs on eight hits. Gonzalez struck out three without issuing a walk.Atlanta also got a good night from first baseman Freddie Freeman. He drove in a run with a single in the fifth inning and hit a long solo homer to right-center field in the seventh, his 19th.Miami scored its only run in the sixth on Starlin Castro’s 24th double, which drove in J.T. Realmuto.