D'Arnaud, Braves rally in 7th, beat Marlins 9-5 to open NLDS

HOUSTON (AP) — Ronald Acuña Jr. made history with his leadoff homer, Travis d’Arnaud hit a tiebreaking shot in Atlanta’s huge seventh inning and the Braves beat the Miami Marlins 9-5 Tuesday in Game 1 of the NL Division Series.

D'Arnaud also doubled and singled in driving in four runs and Dansby Swanson homered during a six-run seventh to help power Atlanta.

After shutting out Cincinnati for 22 innings during a two-game sweep in the wild-card round, the Braves relied on their bats in this opener.

Game 2 of the best-of-five series is on Wednesday in Houston.

The Braves trailed 4-3 in the seventh before Austin Riley and Acuña hit consecutive singles with no outs to chase Miami starter Sandy Alcantara.

Yimi Garcia took over and Freddie Freeman grounded into a forceout that left runners at the corners. Marcell Ozuna lined a single to left that made it 4-all.

Then d’Arnaud, in his first season with Atlanta, belted a slider over the fence in center field for a three-run drive that made it 7-4. The shot caused the Braves dugout to erupt with Acuña jumping over the railing to celebrate.

D'Arnaud, who played for the Mets, Dodgers and Rays last year, began the day as a .169 career hitter in the postseason, striking out 27 times in 83 at-bats.

But the Braves weren’t done yet.

James Hoyt replaced Garcia with one out and Swanson sent his first pitch off the wall in center field for a two-run homer.

Acuña got things going for the Braves in the bottom of the first when he sent Alcantara’s second pitch into right-center for a homer. He watched it for a second before flipping his bat and rounding the bases as he became the youngest player (22 years, 293 days old) in postseason history with a leadoff home run.

The Braves, who have long dominated the Marlins in the NL...

source https://www.chron.com/sports/article/D-Arnaud-Braves-rally-in-7th-beat-Marlins-9-5-15626104.php