Braves’ Toussaint makes a Hatian sensational debut

ATLANTA — Touki Toussaint wants to lead other Haitians to the big leagues. He set quite a compelling example in his debut with the Atlanta Braves.

The 22-year-old Haitian American broke into the majors with six dazzling innings , leading the Braves to a 9-1 rout of the Miami Marlins in the first game of a doubleheader Monday. Ronald Acuna Jr. homered to lead off for the Braves and drove in three runs to make things easier for his fellow rookie.

Acuna Jr. hit a leadoff homer in the second game to lead the first-place Braves to a 9-1 win and a sweep of Miami.

Looking cool as can be on a sweltering summer day in Atlanta, Toussaint took full advantage of his temporary promotion to serve as the team’s 26th player.

The right-hander hopes word of his success gets back to Haiti, an impoverished Caribbean nation that has no passion for baseball and has never sent a native-born player to the majors.

“To be able to play on this stage, to be able to represent my country, it’s definitely humbling,” Toussaint said. “Hopefully kids see that, go ahead and take a shot at it.”

Toussaint (1-0) was born in Florida but moved to Haiti just a few months later, living there for about eight years. He returned to Florida after his parents split up and gave baseball a try, though it didn’t go well at first.

“I was terrible,” Toussaint recalled. “I had 24 at-bats and struck out like 22 times.”

He walked away from the game for about a year, focusing on soccer, but eventually returned to America’s pastime. He took up pitching at a relatively late age, getting serious during his sophomore year of high school. He quickly blossomed into a top prospect who was picked in the first round by Arizona in 2014.

INDIANS: Cleveland outfielder Leonys Martin is recovering from a bacterial infection that team president Chris Antonetti described as “life-threatening.”

Martin is in stable condition at the Cleveland Clinic.

Doctors determined Martin had a bacterial infection that entered his bloodstream and created toxins that damaged his internal organs, compromising their function.

YANKEES: New York has put pitcher CC Sabathia on the 10-day disabled list because of right knee inflammation.

Sabathia was put on the DL a day after pitching six shutout innings of one-hit ball against Texas. The 38-year-old lefthander is 7-4 with a 3.32 ERA in 22 starts. DODGERS: Closer Kenley Jansen expects to have a second heart surgery in the offseason but is confident he’ll be able to come off the disabled list within the next few weeks.

The All-Star reliever, out since Thursday with an irregular heartbeat, rejoined the Dodgers when they returned home Monday and threw a light bullpen session. He plans to throw bullpens again on Wednesday and Friday.