Ronald Acuña's Hand Got Crushed and the Braves Are Still Rolling
Ronald Acuña Jr. took a pitch to the left hand in the sixth inning Monday night, and for a second there, Braves fans held their breath. But the good news came fast: X-rays came back negative. He's day-to-day, which means Atlanta can exhale and keep riding the hottest start in baseball right now.
This matters because the Braves are absolutely rolling. They just picked up their sixth straight win, beating Washington 9-4 at Nationals Park, and they've got an MLB-best 16 wins already this season. That's elite stuff this early, even with their rotation beat up. The last thing this team needed was another injury scare.
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👉 Claim Your Free $10 at KalshiMatt Olson Is Playing Like an MVP
Here's what's carrying Atlanta right now: Matt Olson is putting up MVP-caliber numbers. He went deep for his sixth homer of the season in the fourth inning, a two-run shot that tied things up after Jake Irvin had been dealing for the first three innings. That's 13 homers in 30 games at Nationals Park. Only Giancarlo Stanton has done that. Thirteen. In thirty games at one stadium. That's the kind of production that wins you ballgames in April.
The Big Sixth Inning Blew It Open
The Nationals tied it back up at 2-2 with Daylen Lile's solo shot in the fourth, but Atlanta's sixth inning was when things got out of hand. After Acuña got drilled, Drake Baldwin followed with a go-ahead two-run double. Michael Harris tacked on an RBI single to cap off the five-run explosion. Harris has been surging lately too, going 11-for-26 with three homers over his last eight games.
Both benches got warned after Bryce Elder hit Nationals shortstop CJ Abrams in the hip with a pitch in the bottom of the sixth, but the Braves had already built enough of a cushion to cruise from there.
The injury to Acuña's hand is the only worry on a night where literally everything else went right for Atlanta. If the X-rays hold up and he's ready to roll soon, the Braves might actually be building something special here.
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