CINCINNATI (Interstat) — Ronald Acuña Jr. homered twice, including a tiebreaking shot in the third inning and an insurance blast in the ninth, as the Atlanta Braves defeated the Cincinnati Reds 5-2 on Saturday night at Great American Ball Park.

The victory improved Atlanta’s major-league-best record to 40-19 and gave the Braves a second straight win over the Reds to open this three-game series. Cincinnati fell to 29-28.

Acuña finished 2 for 4 with two home runs and two RBIs. His first homer, a solo drive to right-center field off Reds starter Brady Singer in the third inning, erased a 2-1 deficit. After the Reds had taken the lead on JJ Bleday’s two-run homer in the bottom of the second, Acuña’s blast restored equilibrium.

The Braves then took the lead for good in the fifth when shortstop Jorge Mateo homered to left field, his third of the season. Mateo finished 1 for 4 with the solo shot.

Matt Olson added a solo homer in the seventh for Atlanta, his 16th of the year, and Acuña struck again in the ninth with a solo shot to center off Reds reliever Tony Santillan, his sixth home run of the season.

Atlanta scored one run in each of the second, third, fifth, seventh and ninth innings. The Braves collected seven hits total, while the Reds managed five.

Martín Pérez earned the win, improving to 3-3. The left-hander worked six innings, allowing two runs on four hits and three walks while striking out four. Pérez retired 10 of the final 11 batters he faced after Bleday’s homer.

Brady Singer took the loss, falling to 2-5. The right-hander gave up three runs on four hits and three walks over five innings, striking out three. He allowed Acuña’s tying homer and Mateo’s go-ahead shot.

Raisel Iglesias earned his 10th save of the season, working a perfect ninth inning with two strikeouts.

The game began with both starting pitchers working efficiently. Singer retired the side in order in the first, while Pérez needed just seven pitches to get through the bottom of the inning, aided by a double play groundout from Sal Stewart after a leadoff walk to Blake Dunn.

Atlanta broke through in the second. Ozzie Albies led off with a ground-rule double down the left-field line, moved to third on a Dominic Smith groundout and scored on a single to center by Mike Yastrzemski. Mauricio Dubón walked ahead of Yastrzemski’s hit, but the Braves could not add more when Mateo lined out.

Cincinnati answered immediately in the bottom of the second. Spencer Steer walked with one out, and Bleday followed by launching a 1-1 pitch from Pérez over the right-field wall for his ninth homer of the season, giving the Reds a 2-1 lead. It was a swift turnaround, but the Reds could not extend the advantage as Pérez retired Tyler Stephenson on a liner and induced a flyout from Matt McLain and a flyout from TJ Friedl to end the inning.

Acuña’s response came in the top of the third. After Sandy León flied out, Acuña drove a 2-0 pitch from Singer deep to right-center, tying the game at 2-2. The next two Braves batters, Michael Harris II and Olson, lined out to right field to end the inning.

The Reds had a chance to regain the lead in the bottom of the third when Elly De La Cruz tripled to right field with one out. But Pérez bore down, getting Stewart to ground out to third and striking out Eugenio Suárez to leave De La Cruz stranded at third.

Both pitchers settled in during the fourth. Singer set down the Braves in order on groundouts, and Pérez worked around a two-out single by Steer, erasing him on a double play started by Albies.

Mateo broke the tie in the fifth. Leading off, he sent a 1-0 pitch from Singer over the left-field wall for his third homer of the season, giving Atlanta a 3-2 lead. Singer then walked Acuña and Harris with two outs and walked Olson to load the bases, but Albies flied out to left to end the threat.

Pérez continued to cruise. He set down the Reds in order in the fifth and sixth innings, striking out Stewart and getting groundouts from Suárez and Steer. His final line included just one hit allowed after the second inning.

Atlanta added a key insurance run in the seventh. After Acuña struck out and Harris flied out, Olson crushed a 1-1 pitch from Reds reliever Sam Moll over the center-field wall for his 16th homer, making it 4-2. Albies followed with a lineout to left.

The Braves bullpen took over from there. Tyler Kinley pitched a scoreless seventh, allowing one hit and striking out one. Dylan Lee worked a perfect eighth, striking out one. Iglesias closed it out in the ninth.

Acuña punctuated the victory with a solo homer to center leading off the ninth, his second of the night and sixth of the season.

The attendance was 36,848. The game lasted 2 hours, 29 minutes.

Atlanta’s previous game was an 8-3 win at Cincinnati on Friday. The Braves have won five of their last six overall. Cincinnati has lost two straight and three of its last four.

The Braves will look for a three-game sweep Sunday at Great American Ball Park. Atlanta then returns home to host the Toronto Blue Jays for a three-game series beginning Tuesday. The Reds will host the Kansas City Royals on Monday.

Interstat’s game simulator had projected a final score of Atlanta Braves 6, Cincinnati Reds 5. Interstat’s ELO system had projected Atlanta with a 57.80 percent probability to win. Atlanta had been installed as a pregame favorite with a spread of minus-1.5. The total score of 7 went over the over/under line of 9.5.