Pirates Fall To Braves Once Again

ATLANTA — Ozzie Albies is feeling much better about Atlanta’s lineup lately. Of course, helping the Braves hit a combined 10 homers in back-to-back lopsided wins certainly helps. Albies hit home runs from both sides of the plate and Ronald Acuña Jr. led off with his major league-best 15th homer as the Braves again showed off their power game and beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 6-1 on Saturday. The Braves’ three homers on Saturday followed a seven-homer attack, including blasts by Albies and Acuña, in a 20-1 rout of the Pirates on Friday night. After Acuña hit one of Atlanta’s two grand slams on Friday night, he didn’t wait to keep the offense rolling. With fans in the sellout crowd of 40,068 still arriving, Acuña pulled Mitch Keller’s first-pitch fastball over the left-field wall. Acuña hustled out of the box as there was no certainty the line drive was going to clear the fence. He slowed down for the rest of his home-run trot. It was his 22nd career leadoff shot, extending his franchise record, including three this season. The Braves lead the major leagues with 75 homers. At times, the all-or-nothing approach hasn’t worked, but Atlanta’s batters have connected in consecutive win over the Pirates.