Acuña ‘day-to-day’ after being hit on hand by pitch
WASHINGTON — Tensions began to simmer Monday in the nation’s capital, and it had nothing to do with politics.
Braves star Ronald Acuña Jr. ended up leaving the game after being hit by a 91-mph fastball in the left hand by National’s starter Jake Irvin in the sixth inning. Braves starting pitcher Bryce Elder threw a dart and hit Nationals shortstop CJ Abrams flush in the buttocks with one out in the bottom of the frame.
Both dugouts received a warning following Elder’s shot at Abrams. There was no further incident in what was a 9-4 win by the Braves.
Acuña, who was hit below the left elbow by Irvin‘s 92-mph sinking fastball in the fourth inning, had been replaced in right field to start the bottom of the sixth by Eli White. The Braves said Acuña had an X-ray taken on his left hand and results were negative.
“He’s gonna be fine,” Braves manager Walt Weiss said, adding there were no plans for Acuña to get an MRI. “It hit him in the meaty part of the hand. It was swelling up pretty good. We just got him out of there.”
Weiss, Elder and catcher Drake Baldwin all stuck to the same tune that Elder was simply trying to come inside on Abrams with a 91-mph fastball that was, indeed, very much inside.
Abrams took his time walking to first and the umpires decided to huddle together before home plate umpire Erich Bacchus issued a warning to both teams, signifying the next hit batter would result in an ejection for the guilty pitcher.
Said Weiss: “That’s kind of how it goes when guys get hit, we’ve seen that before. (Elder), he’s pitching Abrams away all night and tried to go in and yanked it.”
Said Baldwin: “Just tried to try to throw a fastball in and it ended up hitting him. We were going in, and that one got him.”
Elder’s take: “He swings, and so I was trying to drive the four-seam in there because I had stayed away all day — away, away, away. So I was trying to drive one in there and just tugged it.”
Elder threw four balls well out of the strike zone, high or away, to Abrams resulting in a first inning walk. Two pitches to Abrams in the third were low and away and the second was hit to left field for an out. The first pitch to Abrams in the sixth caught him right on the backside.
Acuña left the clubhouse Monday with his left hand wrapped. He and the Braves are scheduled to face the Nationals in the second game of a four-game series at 6:45 p.m. Tuesday.
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