Home run robbery by Braves' Ronald Acuña turns into inside-the-park homer
Atlanta Braves star Ronald Acuña Jr. had the chance to make one of his best plays of the season on Tuesday. It turned into an embarrassing lowlight instead.
The play started when Philadelphia Phillies utility man Scott Kingery hit a long fly ball to center field, which Acuña tracked to the wall and made a leaping catch. Acuña appeared to have hauled it in, but didn’t complete the process of the catch and saw the ball leak out of his glove as he hauled it down.
Rather than immediately pick up the ball and throw it into the infield, Acuña spent precious seconds waving his arms to appeal to the umpires that he had still made the catch.
By the time Acuña got the ball in, Kingery was rounding third and scored the inside-the-park home run on a close play at home.
It’s safe to say that is a brutal sequence for the 21-year-old Acuña. The Braves felt the effects of that inside-the-park homer, as they ended up losing 6-5. Acuña at least made up for it with his bat by going 3-for-5 with a run.
This is the second questionable-effort play Acuña has made in as many months, as he received a benching from manager Brian Snitker in August for spending time admiring a home run that wasn’t. This time, Acuña could catch flak for a home run that was.
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