NL EAST NEWS AND NOTES

ATLANTA BRAVES

As upset as the Braves were when Marlins pitcher Jose Urena hit Ronald Acuna Jr. with the first pitch Aug. 15 at Sun-Trust Park, they were every bit as excited when Acuna returned to the lineup the next day against the Colorado Rockies.

Acuna told manager Brian Snitker he wouldn’t be sidelined by the Urena pitch, which hit him just above his left elbow. He then went 5-for-11 in the first three games against the Rockies, extending a streak in which he was 21-for-45 (.467) with eight home runs and 15 RBI in a 12-game span.

Acuna scored 15 runs in the first 10 games of the Braves’ homestand, the most by a Braves player in a homestand since the team moved to Atlanta in 1966, according to Stats Inc.

❚ The Braves had resisted the trend of using position players to pitch, something Bobby Cox never had to do in his 21 years managing the team. But Snitker reluctantly called on Charlie Culberson when the Braves trailed the Rockies 10-2 in the ninth inning Aug. 17. Culberson hadn’t pitched since he was in high school, but his fastball was clocked as high as 93.7 mph by MLB.com’s Statcast.

MIAMI MARLINS

Jose Urena appealed his six game suspension for throwing at Braves outfielder Ronald Acuna Jr., but manager Don Mattingly said Urena won’t pitch in a four-game series against the Braves on Aug. 23-26.

Mattingly said Elieser Hernandez will replace Urena against the Braves. Hernandez started five games for the Marlins in May and June.

Urena, who was tied for the National League lead in hit batters with 11, insisted he wasn’t trying to hit Acuna.

❚ The Marlins promoted first baseman Austin Dean, who had a combined .922 OPS (onbase plus slugging percentage) in 109 games at Class AA Jacksonville (Fla.) and Class AAA New Orleans. Dean homered Aug. 17 at Washington for his first major league hit.

NEW YORK METS

Finally, the talk about Jacob deGrom has moved on from how the Mets could never win despite his brilliant pitching. He won his third consecutive start Aug. 18 in Philadelphia, and it was impressive enough to boost his already strong case for the NL Cy Young Award.

DeGrom didn’t allow an earned run in throwing his first complete game of the season and lowering his ERA to 1.71. He threw his three hardest fastballs of the night — two at 99 mph and one at 98 — to the final batter of the game.

DeGrom has allowed more than three runs just once in 25 starts, and that came on April 10, when he gave up four in his third start of the season.

❚ Even before September call-ups, the Mets tied the franchise record (set in 1967) when they added their 54th player of the season, reliever Daniel Zamora.

Only the Los Angeles Angels, with 57, had used more players in 2018. Zamora was the 29th pitcher used by the Mets, tying the franchise record.

PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES

Right-hander Aaron Nola has pushed his way into the Cy Young race with a 14-3 record and 2.24 ERA, but his hopes ebbed when he lost to the Mets’ Jacob deGrom on Aug. 18.

DeGrom and Nationals righthander Max Scherzer are considered the favorites for the award, but Nola has given up only four earned runs in his last four starts, covering 27 innings.

Nola’s ERA is the lowest by a Phillie through 25 starts since Chris Short in 1964.

❚ Manager Gabe Kapler has not hesitated to use position players to pitch, and he strongly defended his decision to use Roman Quinn and Scott Kingery for the final three innings of a 24-4 loss to the Mets in the first game of an Aug. 16 doubleheader. “We used strategy to best position the Phillies to win games,” he said. “We’re going to continue to do that. My job is to protect the Phillies. That’s it. That’s what I did.”

WASHINGTON NATIONALS

The Nationals were down to their fourth-choice closer with Sean Doolittle, Kelvin Herrera and Ryan Madson all on the disabled list.

Right-hander Koda Glover, just back after a long DL stay himself, took over temporarily, but Herrera was expected back in late August.

Herrera looked like a solid acquisition when the Nationals picked him up in a June 18 trade with the Kansas City Royals. But after compiling 14 saves and a 1.05 ERA in 27 games with the Royals, he had a 4.76 ERA in his first 19 games with the Nats. He went on the DL on Aug. 8 because of a sore shoulder.

The Nationals have leaned heavily on their bullpen because their starters other than ace Max Scherzer rarely pitch deep into games. The Nats also have been hit by injuries in the rotation — Jeremy Hellickson (sprained right wrist) joined Stephen Strasburg (cervical nerve impingement) on the DL.

❚ Bryce Harper reached two milestones when he got to 30 home runs for the second time in his career and drove in his 500th career run.

PLAYER SPOTLIGHT

WILSON RAMOS, PHILLIES

Ramos was on the disabled list because of a left hamstring strain when the Phillies acquired him from the Rays at the July 31 deadline, so he didn’t make his Philadelphia debut until Aug. 15. He made it count, with three extra-base hits and three RBI in a 7-4 win over the Red Sox. The last player to have three hits in his Phillies debut was Ed Freed in 1942.