Two rare: Acuna feat powers Braves’ sweep
Leadoff homers highlight twin-bill romp
ATLANTA — Perfect games? Unassisted triple plays? They’re not as rare as what Ronald Acuna Jr. pulled off Monday.
His legend growing with each game, the 20-year-old rookie hit leadoff home runs in both games of a doubleheader to lead the firstplace Atlanta Braves to a sweep of the Miami Marlins.
Acuna appeared to be the fourth major leaguer to accomplish the feat. And the youngest.
Two others, Rickey Henderson and Harry Hooper, are in the Hall of Fame.
By comparison, there have been 23 perfect games and 15 unassisted triple plays.
“It’s pretty special,” said Braves star Freddie Freeman, who homered in Game 2. “He’s some kind of hot right now. What he’s doing at the plate, you just don’t see it very often.”
Acuna hit an opposite-field drive into the Braves’ bullpen in the opener, powering Atlanta to a 9-1 victory. Haitian-american Touki Toussaint pitched six strong innings to claim the win in his major league debut.
It was more of the same from Acuna in the nightcap. He sent a towering shot into the seats in left-center, sparking the Braves to a 6-1 win behind another strong pitching outing from Mike Foltynewicz.
Over the course of about nine hours, Acuna went 5-for-8 with two homers, five RBIS, five runs, two walks and a stolen base.
“I just found out,” he said through a translator when asked if he knew about his unique double. “I give thanks to God for the opportunity to make history in my own sense.”
The Elias Sports Bureau said Baltimore’s Brady Anderson was the last to hit two leadoff homers in one day, against the Chicago White Sox on Aug. 21, 1999.
Before that, it was accomplished by Oakland’s Henderson against Cleveland on July 5, 1993. Hooper did it more than a century ago, playing for the Boston Red Sox during two games at the Washington Senators on May 20, 1913.
The Braves stretched their lead in the National League East to one game over Philadelphia.
Acuna has flourished since moving into the leadoff role. He has 17 homers this season — four leading off games.
Foltynewicz (10-7) matched his career high for wins and had an RBI single — his third hit of the season. He went eight innings, allowing five hits and the lone Miami run.
Merandy Gonzalez (2-1) took the loss after being called up from Double-a Jacksonville for his first big league start.
Freeman connected on his 19th homer of season. He’s piled up big numbers against the Marlins, hitting .434 with seven homers and 15 RBIS in 13 meetings.