MIAMI — Two days after the Braves won the National League East title, Venezuelan Ronald Acuna Jr. left Atlanta in the eighth inning. By 9-6 Friday night at Lone Depot Park in the first game of the series against the Marlins because of a right calf strain.
“I feel great,” Acuna said after the game. “I felt like a cramp. But yeah, we’ll see how tomorrow goes [cómo] I sit down and, you know, see if I play.
Acuna was hurt when he hit a grounder into a double play in the eighth. After hitting the ground ball, he didn’t even run to first base. He looked good when he moved to right field and came into position in the bottom half of the inning. But before Puerto Rican reliever Joe Jimenez could throw a pitch, Braves trainers and manager Brian Snitker came out to check on Acuna, and he left the game, replaced by Forrest Wall, who entered left field while Kevin Piller was sliding to right.
“I only had tightness in my calf, so I wanted to confirm [de que está bien]”Snitker commented. “I saw him touch himself after the shift, so he’s going to get treatment. … I have no idea. “How bad it is, or what it is, I have no idea.”
Acuna, three homers away from a 40-40 season (though he had 66 stolen bases), went 2-for-3 with an RBI on Friday and reached 200 hits for the first time in his career. He leads the Braves in batting average at .337.
