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Atlanta Braves squander early lead again, fall to Red Sox for second straight day

Dansby Swanson and Ronald Acuna homered for the Braves, but it wasn't enough to prevent the club's third straight loss (tied for longest of the season).

For the second straight day, the Atlanta Braves learned a hard lesson about playing at quirky Fenway Park:

Early leads are seldom safe.

On Friday night, Atlanta grabbed an early 2-0 advantage, before succumbing in a 6-2 loss.

On Saturday, the Braves' bats started out strong once again ... only to be reined in by the Red Sox' relief corps. The result: An 8-6 defeat to Boston, bumping Atlanta's losing streak to three games (tied for the season's longest skid).

Braves starter Sean Newcomb (no decision) wasn't sharp on this day, giving up three runs, four walks and six hits over three innings—easily his shortest stint for the season.

In fact, prior to Saturday's showing, Newcomb (5-1, 2.75 ERA) had posted six straight outings of at least six innings.

Even with the uncommon shakiness, Newcomb still had a decent chance of collecting his sixth victory early on, thanks to Dansby Swanson's two-run homer in the second inning and Kurt Suzuki's RBI double in the 3rd.

However, the Red Sox retaliated in a hurry, scoring three third-inning runs off Newcomb, the byproduct of a Mitch Moreland triple and three RBI singles (Xander Bogaerts, Blake Swihart, Christian Vasquez).

Three innings later, with the Braves nursing a 6-5 edge, reliever Sam Freeman surrendered an extra-base hit to Moreland, who pulled a line-drive double down the right-field line. Mookie Betts and Andrew Benintendi scored easily, due to Atlanta rookie Ronald Acuna's troubles with fielding Moreland's hit.

The 6th would end up being the turning point for Red Sox (MLB-best 36-16, 1st in AL East), but the game was ostensibly locked up in the seventh inning, when Benintendi crunched a two-run triple to right field. Acuna fielded the ball rather cleanly this time, and yet, Benintendi was able to stretch this typical double into a surprise triple.

The Braves now trailed, 8-5.

Acuna exacted a small measure of redemption in his next at-bat, homering off former Braves closer Craig Kimbrel in the ninth inning, but it was the Boston relievers' only blemish on the day.

For the final 5 2/3 innings, the Red Sox allowed just one run, one walk and five hits.

With the defeat, the Braves (29-21) and Phillies (28-20) are in a virtual tie for first place in the National League East, with Philadelphia three percentage points ahead.

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