Drake Baldwin leads off, Ronald Acuña Jr. back in right field in Marlins series opener

ATLANTA, GA - AUGUST 2: Ronald Acuña Jr. #13 of the Atlanta Braves walks to the on deck circle in the first inning during the game against the Washington Nationals at Truist Park on August 2, 2026 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Matthew Grimes Jr./Atlanta Braves/Getty Images) | Getty Images The waili

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What is the story about?

The wailing and gnashing of teeth can cease, everyone: the Atlanta Braves Baseball Club returns to action after their much-needed off day. That’s what the uptick in site traffic was for, right?

With reinforcements in hand, the Atlanta Braves kick off a new series versus the Miami Marlins tonight at Truist Park. With the Marlins sending the righty Ryan Gusto to the mound, we do not yet get our first appearance of our shiniest acquisition, Lane Thomas. Nor do we see the recently-reinstated Sean Murphy

or Ha-Seong Kim. Instead, the lineup for Walt Weiss looks entirely familiar.

Ronald Acuña Jr. returns to right field after DH’ing in the Nats series finale. Mike Yastrzemski gets the start in left field and will bat sixth. Dominic Smith follows at seven as the DH; Austin Riley remains in eighth. Jim Jarvis rounds out the batting order as the declared everyday shortstop as utilityman Mauricio Dubón joins Kim and company on the bench. Hoping for a cleaner, error-less game for Jarvis and the Braves in general.

As we mentioned in the preview, the Braves have not had much trouble getting to Marlins starter Ryan Gusto in the past: he’s 0-2 with 12 ER versus the Braves in two games. More of that would be appreciated.

This will be updated with the Marlins lineup once available.