ST. LOUIS — Braves right fielder Ronald Acuña Jr. has dazzled throughout many “firsts” in his All-Star career. He added a couple more during Saturday afternoon’s game against the Cardinals.
Acuña batted third in Atlanta’s order for the first time in his 766-game career. It was the first time he started in any spot other than leadoff since May 9, 2019.
He needed just four pitches to add another first — his first home run in the No. 3 slot.
The blast set the tone as the Braves hit three homers to edge the Cardinals, 7-6, to take the first two of a three-game series heading into the All-Star break.
“We did a lot of really good things today, a lot of fundamental things to help us win a game,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said.
Acuña pummeled an Erick Fedde sweeper a Statcast-projected 379 feet over the left-center-field wall in the top of the first inning to give the Braves a 1-0 lead. His 12th long ball of the season left his bat at an exit velocity of 108.7 mph.
Snitker wouldn’t rule out an extended look as the No. 3 hitter for Acuña.
“He came up in some big spots, so it’s good,” Snitker said. “[Jurickson Profar has] had some success leading off and I kind of like … that it balances our lineup a little bit.”
Marcell Ozuna followed with a 423-foot rocket into the left-center-field bleachers to lead off the second. Ozuna is now hitting .647 (11-for-17) with three home runs and eight RBIs in his career off Fedde.
Sean Murphy delivered the big blow, with a three-run homer to erase a 5-3 deficit in the eighth. The blast came after Murphy hit his two longest home runs of the season the night before — projected at 437 and 440 feet, respectively. It was the first homer given up by Cardinals reliever Phil Maton this season and his first allowed since July 12, 2024, while a member of the New York Mets.
While the home runs were big, so were the contributions from two players who weren’t on the Braves’ roster the day before — Nacho Alvarez Jr. and Joey Wentz.
Alvarez, who drove in from Indianapolis on Saturday morning after being called up from Triple-A Gwinnett to replace Austin Riley (who was placed on the 10-day injured list before the game), came up with two big hits and a couple of nice defensive plays.
Alvarez’s second hit of the game, off two-time All-Star closer Ryan Helsley, sparked a ninth-inning rally. Drake Baldwin followed with a pinch-hit single and Alvarez broke the 6-6 tie by scoring on a Profar groundout.
“I don’t even think if I drew it up, I’d believe it, but I’m just trying to go out there and compete and start a rally for the boys,” Alvarez said. “And luckily, it was on our side today.”
The two hits nearly equaled the three total hits Alvarez got in his first stint with Atlanta last season, in which he hit .100 (3-for-30) over eight games. The Braves’ No. 3 prospect, according to MLB Pipeline, said that experience helped him step up against the Cardinals.
“Coming up last year and kind of failing a little bit helped me,” Alvarez said. “I went into the offseason and worked my tail off to kind of get back to this place and perform.”
Wentz, who was picked up off waivers on Friday, was impressive in his Braves debut, walking one batter and striking out six over three scoreless innings of relief. His six strikeouts are his most in a game since he fanned nine batters on June 17, 2023, in a start for Detroit against Minnesota.
“Kind of a whirlwind, coming into the day not having thrown the ball as well as I would like to,” said Wentz, who drove in from his home in Kansas City on Friday night after being picked up by the Braves. “But [I’m] really happy with what I was able to do today. And when I get in there, [I’m going to] try to help put the team in an advantageous spot.”
It was definitely a character win.
“It’s good to see these guys have never stopped playing,” Snitker said. “I mean, they’re diving all over the field even when it’s going bad and we’re not scoring runs. They never stopped playing the game. I respect each and every one of them so much.”
