Atlanta Braves star outfielder Ronald Acuna Jr. left Saturday’s game against the Philadelphia Phillies after getting hit in the left hand by a pitch.
The Atlanta Braves saw their three-game winning streak end on Friday night in a 12-2 loss to the Philadelphia Phillies. Entering Saturday night’s game with the goal of entering the win column again, they instead have to worry about star outfielder Ronald Acuña Jr.
In the bottom of the seventh inning, Acuña stepped up to the plate as the tying run with the Braves trailing 3-1. During the at-bat, the outfielder took a 98-mph sinker from Phillies reliever Sam Coonrod to the hand as he checking his swing. Acuña immediately clutched his hand in pain and retreated to the team clubhouse, where he was replaced by pinch-runner Josh Tomlin
With Braves fans expecting the worst, they can breath a sigh of relief after the latest update on Acuña. Prior to the game ending, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reported that Acuña’s X-rays came back negative. He is considered day-to-day with a left pinky finger contusion.
Braves: Ronald Acuña leaves Saturday’s game with left pinky contusion
This is the best news possible, because it did not look good when watching the hit by pitch happen in real-time.
Prior to exiting the game, Acuña had gone hitless through three at-bats while striking out once. As for the Braves, they did tie the game up on a two-run, pinch-hit home run by Pablo Sandoval in the bottom of the ninth to send the game into extra innings.
Entering Saturday, Acuña was slashing .321/.414/.670 while recording 10 home runs, 22 RBI, 29 runs scored and 36 hits through 30 games played.
While Acuña has avoided a serious injury, he will be out for short-term as he works his way back from this left pinky contusion.