Keith Hernandez had an old-school baseball take that Braves fans are unlikely to like when it came to the Marlins plunking star Ronald Acuna Jr. in the bottom of the first inning Wednesday night in Atlanta.

“They’re killing you. You lost three games. He’s hit three home runs. You got to hit him,” said Hernandez, speaking to his broadcast colleague Wayne Randazzo. “I’m sorry, people aren’t going to like that. You know, you got to hit him, knock him down. I mean, seriously knock him down if you don’t hit him. You never throw at anybody’s head or neck.

“You hit him in the back. You hit him in the fanny.”

The Braves went on to win 5-2, but Acuna’s chance to extend his three-game streak of leadoff homers was put on hold when Jose Urena hit him with his first pitch, triggering a melee that led to benches and bullpens for Atlanta and Miami emptying twice.

Urena and Braves manager Brian Snitker were ejected. Snitker had angry words for the pitcher as he led the first exodus from Atlanta’s dugout toward the mound.

Urena’s fastball hit Acuna’s left elbow, leaving Acuna in obvious pain. Trainer George Poulis hovered over Acuna, who sat on the ground near the batter’s box while players swarmed near the mound.

Order appeared to be restored until Acuna walked near the mound on his path to first base, took off a shin guard and tossed it to the edge of the mound. That led to players again spilling out of both dugouts and bullpens. No punches were thrown.

Following a long delay to allow right-hander Elieser Hernandez, who replaced Urena, to throw his warm-up pitches, Acuna remained in the game to run the bases.

But Acuna’s stay was short-lived. He left in the top of the second after taking his position in left field. The Braves said X-rays were negative and the result of a CT scan would be available Thursday. Adam Duvall replaced him in left field.

Acuna, 20, entered the game on a rare power streak. He hit two homers in Tuesday night’s 10-6 win over the Marlins. He became the first player to hit leadoff shots in three straight games since Baltimore’s Brady Anderson led off with homers in four straight games in 1996.

He tied Atlanta’s record of five straight games with a homer, set by Brian McCann in 2006.

Urena has a history of control problems. Entering the game, he was tied for second in the National League with 10 hit batters. He tied for the major league lead with 14 hit batters in 2017.

— With AP