A quick look at the Braves this week:
By the numbers
3
Number of times Braves manager Brian Snitker has been ejected this season. Two of the ejections resulted in arguments after Ronald Acuna was hit by a pitch by a Marlins player. The latest incident occurred Tuesday. The Braves have had a player or manager ejected six times this season.
30
Entering Thursday, Josh Donaldson had 29 home runs. With one more, he will join Freddie Freeman and Ronald Acuna with 30 or more round trippers. Six different Braves teams have had at least three different players reach 30 homers in a season. The last was in 2003 with Andruw Jones, Javy Lopez and Gary Sheffield.
Notable
The Braves scored five runs in Wednesday’s 5-0 win over the Marlins without a single or a double in their three hits. It was the eighth time in the last 112 seasons a team scored that many runs in a game without either of those hits. The Blue Jays did it last on June 5, 2016 in a 5-4 win over the Red Sox on four home runs.
Ronald Acuna surpassed 150 career RBIs on Wednesday. At 21 years, 246 days old, he became the 18th youngest player in baseball history to reach the RBI mark.
Quotable
“I’ve got to be honest: I think it was the best bat flip I’ve ever seen.” - Ronald Acuna on the celebration by Adeiny Hechavarria after his two-run homer against the Marlins Wednesday
“I don’t think that kid would want to hit him, honestly, but in light of what’s happened, then you better keep the ball away from that guy. And if you’re going to miss, miss the other way. Because when I watched it (on replay), I wasn’t so sure (about intent).” – Brian Snitker after he was ejected following Ronald Acuna being hit with the first pitch of the game against the Marlins Tuesday
Look ahead
The Braves wrap up a three-game series at the Mets on Sunday. They then must travel to Denver for a makeup game against the Rockies on Monday. Then it’s back on a plane to fly to Toronto for a two-game interleague series at the Blue Jays. After an off day on Thursday, the Braves start a nine-game homestand on Friday against the White Sox, Blue Jays and Nationals.
