Braves’ offense clobbers Marlins after Acuña gets hit by pitch

MIAMI — It had been a while since tempers flared in a Braves game. It had been a while since there was any Ronald Acuña Jr. versus the Marlins drama. It had been a while since Braves manager Brian Snitker was ejected.

That changed Wednesday at LoanDepot Park.

Right after first baseman Matt Olson blasted a two-run shot to extend the Braves’ lead in the third inning, Marlins starter Ryan Gusto hit Acuña in the elbow with a fastball. Acuña took exception and yelled at Gusto. Benches cleared, though it remained civil. There’s been a lengthy history of Acuña getting hit by pitches from Marlins starters throughout his career.

Warnings were issued to both sides. Snitker expressed his discontent, later saying that while he didn’t believe Gusto intentionally hit Acuña, given it was a pitch after Olson’s monstrous homer to center, he thought the circumstances warranted an ejection. Second base umpire Mark Wegner ejected Snitker, who hadn’t been tossed since June 25 in San Francisco.

Perhaps Gusto wishes he’d been ejected. From there, the Braves scored another three runs on second baseman Ozzie Albies’ blast off the right-field foul pole. Albies had an animated bat flip after pulverizing Gusto’s ill-placed fastball to cap the five-run frame. Gusto lasted only 3⅔ innings, getting charged nine runs.

Final: Braves 12, Marlins 1. The Braves took two of three in Miami and clinched the season series against the Marlins for an 11th consecutive season.

Snitker said after the game regarding the third-inning situation: “After a guy hits a homer like Matt did, it’s bad optics more than anything. ... Just the fact that you don’t go inside after a home run like that. If you do, and you miss and hit him, things like that happen.

“When it’s the next pitch after the homer, the guy has to go. That’s what I said. It’s no warnings. But it was fine. Nothing came of it after. It wasn’t intentional, he didn’t want to hit him.”

Gusto told Miami reporters after the game that he was sticking to the scouting report that said to throw sinkers in. He said he was surprised by the Braves’ reactions, from Acuña’s to Snitker calling for his ejection.

Gusto said he wasn’t aware of Acuña’s history with the Marlins until he checked social media following the game. It’s notable that almost all the individuals involved in past incidents are no longer with the Marlins franchise, including pitcher Jose Ureña, an infamous Braves nemesis.

“I think I threw a sinker in, it obviously ran off a little bit too far in real time,” Gusto said. “It looked like he kind of just dropped his hand or elbow, like right into the pitch. It looked like he got out of the way, and then at the last second, just moved into it, which is what I was trying to tell him when he was staring me down.

“And I was like, ‘Dude, you kind of, kind of went down into it. Obviously, I’m not targeting you on that. I’m not throwing a two-seam at you, it’s on the scouting report.’ Obviously it went a little bit too far off. But it was just kind of interesting for me that that escalated as much as it did.”

The Braves’ offense didn’t even need a spark. It has been among baseball’s more productive in the second half, and it feasted on Marlins pitching since Edward Cabrera’s dazzling outing Monday. The Braves scored 23 runs across the final two games of the series. They hit eight homers over the past three nights.

It’s too little too late as it pertains to reaching the postseason this year, but the Braves will feel encouraging entering the offseason. If their offense had been anything close to this in the first half, they’d be in wild-card contention.

Left fielder Jurickson Profar is a significant reason why. Imagine if he hadn’t been suspended 80 games for testing positive for a banned substance. He’s been a game-changer atop the Braves’ lineup. He entered Wednesday with a 1.027 OPS this month; he hit a leadoff homer, walked three times, then homered again in the series finale.

“Very, very satisfying,” Profar said. “Like I said, I couldn’t swing a bat for three months during the suspension. To come back and get my timing back, it feels good.”

Albies homered and doubled Wednesday, one night after having his first multi-homer game in two years. He’s salvaging his season, and his 2026 return — the team has a $7 million option with a $4 million buyout — looks increasingly likely.

Outfielder Michael Harris II homered off reliever Freddy Tarnok in the sixth inning for his 11th home run since the All-Star break. Harris has sputtered in recent days, slowing his resurgence, so that was a plus for him to get going again. Harris, Profar and Albies each should have the Braves feeling optimistic about their lineup moving forward.

The Braves have scored double-digit runs five times in the past two weeks, including consecutive nights in Miami. They’ve scored 139 runs this month, second to only MLB-best Milwaukee (165). Their 35 homers are tied for seventh most in the majors over that time.

And so, the Braves have won five of their last six series.

“It was a long time coming, but you know what, we’ll take it whenever,” Snitker said of the offensive renaissance. “It’s good to see the hard work the guys have put in all summer. They’ve never stopped. They continued to work, it didn’t go their way a lot of times, but it didn’t change their intensity, work ethic and everything they did with (hitting coach) Tim (Hyers) and his group. It’s good. Hopefully we just keep it rolling.”

Lefty Joey Wentz rebounded from his first poor outing as a Brave. He surrendered one run on four hits over 6⅓ innings. Braves pitching allowed five runs in this three-game series. And the Braves now have a minus-2 run differential, a stat that suggests they’re better than their 61-72 record (not that that’s any solace for the season).