Ronald Acuña Jr. did Ronald Acuña Jr. things, and the Braves started off the second half of the season with a bang by beating the Yankees 7-3 on Friday in front of a sellout crowd at Truist Park.
Acuña went 2-for-3 at the plate with a triple, two RBIs and a walk, and made a jaw-dropping double play from right field. Three days after starting in the All-Star game, the 27-year-old was at an MVP level in helping his team scratch within 10 games of .500.
“I think we have a commitment to play well the second half of the season so hopefully we can continue to do that in the rest of the games that we have,” Acuña said.
The play of the night from Acuña that had the crowd aghast came in the third.
Yankees first baseman Cody Bellinger skied a fly ball toward the line in right with one out and a runner on second. Acuña, seemingly nonchalantly, caught the ball, spun and threw a heat-seeking missile to third.
Jorbit Vivas, tagging from second, figured he would make it to third easily. But the ball arrived just as Vivas was pulling up into third, without a slide, and Braves third baseman Nacho Alvarez Jr. caught the throw and swiped Vivas’ back in one swift motion for the final out of the inning.
“I think I just always try to make those plays. That’s really what I always try to focus on is just sort of anticipating the play before it happens,” Acuña said via team interpreter Franco Garcia. “I wasn’t really trying to do anything besides that, I was just trying to get ready and, thankfully, I have a good arm. I have confidence in it, and I think sometimes in a play like that you might just sort of forget what’s happening out there.”
Braves manager Brian Snitker said the play was reminiscent of the throws Roberto Clemente once made. Braves starter Spencer Strider thought Bellinger’s ball was going foul and out of play so was as shocked as anyone to see what transpired next.
Alvarez admitted he was not fully prepared for what was happening before his own eyes.
“I tried to play it off as best I could. I didn’t think (Acuña) was gonna come to me, I thought he was gonna try to go to second,” Alvarez said. “I got to third and as soon as I saw him turn my way I kind of tried to hide it as best as I can. I saw it was gonna be in the air, so I was like, ‘I just need to get in the best angle possible to put a tag on him.’ Everything worked out perfectly.
“I got (Vivas) on the back of the shoulder. Luckily, I got him in time. That’s the best play I’ve ever seen in my life. That’s ridiculous. To have no momentum behind you and just turn around and throw it in the air? That’s why he’s one of the best in the game.”
The seven runs from the Braves offense were more than Strider needed. Strider (4-7) wasn’t particularly sharp but threw six innings of scoreless ball and worked around three hits and three walks.
Strider threw 96 pitches (46 fastballs and 42 sliders) and struck out eight. It was just his second scoreless outing of the season.
“They’re a more patient offense. I don’t want to be wrong, but I think maybe they’re the lowest swing rate in baseball right now,” Strider said of the Yankees’ lineup. “That’s generally indicative of a pretty good offense, they know what they wanna do. Saw some good adjustments the second time through the lineup from them.
“That makes it hard, for sure. That’s goal No. 1 as a pitcher, at least for me, I think for everybody, is to make guys swing. When they’re coming up with an approach to be patient and really look for a zone that they wanna hit in, you gotta be willing to fall behind and make pitches from behind. I thought we did a good job and (catcher) Drake (Baldwin) did a good job, and it ended up working out.”
The Braves (43-53) began the night by rudely greeting Yankees relief pitcher Ian Hamilton, starting on this night, with a first-pitch single by Jurickson Profar and RBI double into the right field corner by Matt Olson. Acuña’s hustle double on a ball lobbed into shallow right scored Olson and made it 2-0.
Albies’ sacrifice fly to left put the Braves up 3-0 and matched the average run support Strider had received over his previous 11 starts this season.
Albies hit a three-run homer in the third off Yankees reliever Rico Garcia, a ball that hugged the right field line before bouncing off the facade of the Chop House. It was Albies’ eighth homer of the year and just his second since May 29.
After Acuña’s triple into the left field gap with two outs in the fourth off Scott Effross, Baldwin dribbled a ball between the mound and first to score Acuña and make it 7-0.
The Yankees (53-44) got a two-run, pinch-hit double from Giancarlo Stanton in the seventh off Braves reliever Aaron Bummer. Bellinger drove in another run with an RBI single later in the inning off Dylan Lee.
Lee, however, got Aaron Judge to strike out on a 3-2, letter-high fastball with runners at first and third to end the top of the seventh.
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