ATLANTA -- The National League Division Series¡¯ opening act ended with Carlos Martínez on the mound to close out a 7-6 Cardinals win over the Braves in Game 1 on Thursday at SunTrust Park. Consider it the result and circumstance the Cards wanted, even if it wasn¡¯t exactly the way they drew it up and wasn¡¯t always pretty.

That¡¯s the takeaway from a dramatic back-and-forth Game 1 with regards to Mart¨ªnez, who recorded St. Louis¡¯ biggest out of the night, made things uncomfortably close toward the end and wasn¡¯t thrilled with the way Ronald Acu?a Jr. went about chipping away at the Cardinals¡¯ ninth-inning lead. All told, it was an eventful night wrought with challenges for Mart¨ªnez in his first taste of October as the club¡¯s undisputed closer.

And the Cardinals know Mart¨ªnez will have to do better if they¡¯re going to get where they hope to go.

Mart¨ªnez took issue with how long it took Acu?a to leave the batter¡¯s box after his two-run homer in the ninth, the first of two home runs Mart¨ªnez allowed in a three-batter span. The Cards entered the inning up four, thanks to their four-run rally in the top of the frame.

¡°I wanted him to respect the game and respect me as a veteran player,¡± Mart¨ªnez said through team translator Carlos Villoria. ¡°That¡¯s it. Just play the game.¡±

The rally had broken open a tie game that Mart¨ªnez preserved by striking out Dansby Swanson to strand the tying run on second in the eighth.

¡°That¡¯s a big out on Swanson,¡± manager Mike Shildt said. ¡°You got the go-ahead run at second base. He comes in and makes tough pitches to Swanson. That¡¯s a big job he did right there.¡±

But things got dicey in the ninth. Pitching with a four-run lead, Mart¨ªnez issued a leadoff walk to Billy Hamilton, then coughed up Acu?a¡¯s 455-foot two-run homer. Freddie Freeman added a 460-foot solo homer two batters later; his and Acu?a¡¯s rank as the third- and fifth-longest home runs, respectively, hit in the postseason since Statcast began tracking in 2015.

Acu?a admired his a bit before dropping his bat up the first-base line. He also broke slowly enough out of the box to turn a 331-foot ball off the right-field wall into a single two innings prior. The ninth-inning homer brought Yadier Molina to the mound to make sure Mart¨ªnez¡¯s emotions remained in check.

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¡°When Acu?a hit a home run and Freeman hit a home run, I just tried to focus a little more and compete,¡± said Mart¨ªnez, who explained he was dealing with the recent death of a close friend from the Dominican Republic. Mart¨ªnez did not disclose that person¡¯s name, but he said ¡°she watched me grow up and she was like my mother to me.¡±

¡°I just tried to keep those two things separate,¡± Mart¨ªnez said. ¡°What happened on the field has nothing to do with what happened in my personal life and vice versa.¡±

Molina said: ¡°Carlos is a passionate guy. He takes everything hard. I was just trying to calm him down during the homer.¡±

The three-run, four-out performance was one of Mart¨ªnez¡¯s shakier outings since inheriting the closer role full-time in June; he¡¯d held opponents scoreless in 16 of his past 17 outings prior to Thursday.

The Cardinals probably wouldn¡¯t mind less drama the next time they hand Mart¨ªnez the ball, which could be as early as Friday¡¯s Game 2, given the high-stakes stage of their season.

¡°Honestly, the only issue I had with the whole inning was the walk to Hamilton,¡± Shildt said. ¡°You got a lead regardless of size and you go out and get the leadoff guy on. And he gave up a few homers. But the good news about Carlos was Yadi was right there with him. He wasn¡¯t going to back down, made quality pitches and got great stuff.¡±