MIAMI -- Atlanta Braves slugger Ronald Acuna Jr. was removed from Thursday's 6-3 win over the Miami Marlins out of precaution after he fouled a ball off his left knee in the sixth inning, just three days after he was removed against the New York Mets with a bruised left shoulder.
Acuna was on the ground for a while grabbing at his left leg, but finished the four-pitch at bat and returned to right field in the bottom of the sixth.
Atlanta manager Brian Snitker said after the game that Acuna is "fine," but was having trouble bending his knee, so the club wanted to get him treatment right away.
"You hit a ball off your knee, it's going to hurt ... but he's going to be fine," Snitker said.
He was then replaced by Sam Hilliard, who went to center field, and center fielder Kevin Pillar took Acuna's place in right field.
Acuna extended his on-base streak to 23 games by reaching on a fielding error by first baseman Yuli Gurriel in the first. He also had an RBI single and a stolen base in the second. He's batting .355, the third-best mark in the major leagues.
Acuna was removed from the second game of Monday's doubleheader against the Mets with a bruised left shoulder after getting hit by a 93 mph fastball from Tylor Megill.
Leading off the game, Acuna was drilled with an 0-2 pitch. He sat on the ground for a bit holding his shoulder in obvious pain while receiving attention from an athletic trainer.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report