Atlanta Braves Ronald Acuña Jr. moved two steps closer to making history.
Acuña went 2-for-5 with a home run, two RBIs, a run scored, and a stolen base in the first game of a road doubleheader against the Philadelphia Phillies at Citizens Bank Park on Wednesday.
He increased his season home runs to 36 and stolen bases to 65, furthering his chances of becoming the first player in major league history to reach 40 (home runs) and 70 (stolen bases). His 30-homer, 60-steal season (he had 62 stolen bases at the time), which he achieved with a single home run against the Los Angeles Dodgers on April 1, was also a major league first.
With a .336 (195-for-581) batting average, 36 home runs, 95 RBIs, 131 runs scored, 65 doubles, a .418 slugging percentage, .587 on-base percentage, 1.005 OPS, and 341 runs batted in, Acuña led both leagues in runs scored, hits, doubles, slugging percentage, and RBIs. In the NL, he is third in batting average, fifth in home runs and RBIs, third in on-base percentage, and second in OPS.
He’s one game ahead of Mookie Betts of the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NL MVP race. Atlanta rode Aquino’s bat to a 10-8 victory to improve to 94-49 and take the overall lead in wins.
The game was bittersweet from the start, with a back-and-forth battle that went into extra innings.
Tied 2-2 in the top of the fifth, Atlanta attacked. Leadoff hitter Michael Harris II led off with a walk and advanced to second on a grounder by Acuña. Aji Albies followed with a double to right to cut the lead to 3-2, and after Austin Riley walked to load the bases, Matt Olson singled up the middle to put runners on the corners. A three-run lead at 5-2.
However, the Phillies got a run back in the bottom of the fifth on a two-out single by Alec Bomb and a two-run double to right by Bryson Stott to make it 5-4.
In the top of the sixth inning, Atlanta extended its lead back to 8-4 with two home runs. With one out, second baseman Michael II hit a two-run shot to center and Acuña followed with a back-to-back solo shot to left. Acuña pulled a 93-mph fastball from right-hander Andrew Bellatti over the left field fence. It traveled 420 feet.
But the Phillies’ backstop was persistent. After a Kyle Schwarber walk in the bottom of the seventh, Trey Turner cut the deficit to two runs with a two-run homer over the left-center field fence, and with two outs in the bottom of the ninth, Bryce Harper lined a 90-mph changeup from right-hander Raisel Iglesias just over the left-center field fence to tie the game. 소닉카지노
Atlanta’s focus ultimately carried them to victory in extra innings. In the top of the 10th, Kevin Pillar singled to make it 9-8, then Orlando Arcia doubled to left center to score Pillar and make it 10-8. In the bottom of the 10th, Atlanta sealed the win when closer Kirby Yates retired the next three batters with the bases loaded.
Acuña led off the inning with a walk and then failed to steal second when Albies struck out swinging, but after leading off the inning with an infield single, he stole second off Albies.