MIAMI — As the Miami Marlins were celebrating one of the more electric offensive highlights of the season on Saturday midway through an eventual 5-4 loss, their opposition was reeling as one of its star players was injured in the process.
Jazz Chisholm Jr. was rounding the bases in the fifth inning for what became an inside-the-park home run. The Atlanta Braves’ Ronald Acuna Jr., meanwhile, laid motionless in right field after his right knee buckled while leaping in an attempt to make a catch on the fly ball as it neared the warning track. Acuna landed awkwardly after the leap, crashed into the wall and fell to the ground.
A 12-minute injury delay followed as the Braves’ athletic training staff tended to the outfielder. Acuna attempted to walk to the dugout under his own power with a noticeable limp but only made it halfway to the infield from the warning track in right field before stopping and sitting back down. He was eventually carted off the field.
Chisholm recorded the Marlins’ first inside-the-park home run since J.T. Riddle on May 29, 2018. It was the first for the Marlins at home since J.T. Realmuto on Sept. 8, 2015.
It also nearly started a Marlins rally. Miami’s next three hitters — Garrett Cooper, Jesus Sanchez and Jesus Aguilar — all singled to load the bases with one out. Max Fried, however, struck out Jon Berti and Jorge Alfaro to end the inning, stranding all three runners and keeping Miami’s deficit at two.
The Marlins (38-50) got to within one run when Chisholm’s two-out RBI single in the ninth scored Magneuris Sierra. Cooper came feet from a walk-off home run but the ball died at the end of the warning track in center field to seal the Marlins’ third consecutive loss.
Freddie Freeman drove in three runs for the Braves on an RBI single in the third and a two-run home run in the fifth. Atlanta (44-44) also scored a pair of runs in the fourth on a Dansby Swanson double and Guillermo Heredia sacrifice fly.
Miami went 3 for 11 with runners in scoring position and left eight runners on base.
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Trevor Rogers needed 81 pitches to get through four innings in his final start before heading to Denver for the All-Star Game. The rookie left-handed pitcher held the Braves to three runs (two earned runs) on four hits and two walks while striking out four in the outing.
A few things to note about Rogers’ start:
— His four innings pitched were tied for the fewest in a start this season, matching only his season debut on April 5 against the Cardinals.
— Saturday marked the fourth consecutive start in which Rogers did not throw at least six innings after hitting that mark in nine of his first 14 starts.
— Rogers’ fastball velocity averaged just 93.7 mph, his third-lowest mark of the season.
Rogers enters the All-Star Break with a 2.31 ERA, 122 strikeouts against 34 walks and a .204 batting average against over 101 1/3 innings in 18 starts. The Marlins have said they want to keep him around 175 innings for the season.
Other notables
— The Marlins have played 29 games decided by one run this season. They are 9-20 in those games.
— Center fielder Starling Marte was a late scratch from the Marlins’ lineup as he tended to personal matters. Magneuris Sierra started in Marte’s place and batted eighth.
— Adam Duvall, who started in left field, left the game after the fourth inning with mild intercostal soreness. Sanchez replaced him. Duvall went 2 for 2 with a double and a two-run single before being taken out of the game.
